Iowa Nice: State Among Top in Nation for Volunteerism

"Iowa nice" is apparently more than a phrase.

Iowa ranked No. 3 among all states last year in the amount of time given to volunteering, according to a report out today by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

More Americans volunteered in 2011 than at any time in the previous five years, the Chronicle reported. About 64.3 million Americans volunteered at charities last year, providing 7.9 billion hours of service valued at $171 billion. 

Iowa had been ranked second for the past two years but dropped to third place as Idaho jumped eight spots in state rankings, landing at No. 2. Utah was No. 1, and Minnesota and South Dakota rounded out the Top 5.

Iowans, though, appear to have taken seriously a plea from Gov. Terry Branstad for every resident to volunteer at least 50 hours a year. The state average for volunteer hours in Iowa was 41.9 last year, the Chronicle reported, up nearly eight hours from the state’s average of 34.2 a year earlier.

From the story:

The 1.5 million additional volunteers boosted the national rate to 26.8 percent of the population, a half percentage point higher than 2010. But the dollar value dipped by $2 billion as the average hours American volunteered in a year dropped to 32.7 from 33.9, the Corporation for National and Community Service reported. 

Robert Grimm, director of the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Maryland, said the increase was mainly the result of the growth in the American population, not a response to the economy or other factors.

National volunteer rates hit their peak of nearly 29 percent from 2003 to 2005, but have been stuck at around 26 percent ever since, according to a survey of about 100,000 people age 16 and older conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

"Our community is doing some absolutely fantastic things, and we know the volunteerism across the state of Iowa has continued to increase," Lauren Finke, Executive Director of the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley, said. "Last year Waterloo-Cedar Falls was ranked 11th in the nation for a mid-sized city for volunteer hours."

The Volunteer Center has a wide range of volunteer opportunities listed online. New to volunteering and not sure where to start? Check out the Volunteer Center's blog - they just put up a list of tips.