Glossary

  1. Activities
  2. Additional Cities
  3. Adult
  4. Baby Boomers
  5. Change in Foreclosure Rate
  6. College Students
  7. Commuting Time Average
  8. Current Population Survey (CPS)
  9. Current Population Survey (CPS) Volunteer Supplement
  10. Five-year moving average
  11. Four-year moving average
  12. Generation X
  13. Homeownership Rate
  14. Intensive Volunteer Rate
  15. Large Cities
  16. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
  17. Mid-Size Cities
  18. Millennial Generation
  1. Multi-Unit Housing Rate
  2. National Service
  3. Nonprofits per Residents
  4. Older Adults
  5. Organizations
  6. Pooled Volunteer Rate
  7. Technical Note
  8. Teenagers
  9. Three-year moving average
  10. Unemployment Rate
  11. Veteran
  12. Volunteer
  13. Volunteer Hours Per Resident
  14. Volunteer Rate
  15. Volunteer Retention
  16. Young Adults
  1. Activities: Activities are the specific tasks the volunteer did for his or her main organization. Examples include tutoring, fundraising, and general labor.
  2. Additional Cities: Major cities for this report were selected based on population of the surrounding metropolitan areas, as well as the number of metropolitan area residents in the CPS sample. All volunteer data for cities are collected from the metropolitan area in which the city is located, including metro area residents outside the city limits. For metropolitan areas that met these population requirements, but did not have enough respondents in the CPS sample, no city volunteer statistics were published. The additional cities on this Web site represent metropolitan areas with populations of less than 1 million people but greater than 100,000, and have CPS samples large enough to provide reliable estimates for a limited number of volunteer statistics. See the Technical Note for more information about city data.
  3. Adult: Individuals aged 16 years old and older. The Current Population Survey (CPS) also collects labor force and volunteering data for 15-year-old respondents. As in most other publications that use data from the CPS, 15-year-old respondents are excluded from the volunteer statistics published here.
  4. Baby Boomers: Individuals born between 1946 and 1964.
  5. Change in Foreclosure Rate: The percentage point difference in the rate of foreclosures between 2009 and 2010. The Corporation is unable to publish the foreclosure rates for each year based on a copyright agreement with RealtyTrac.
  6. College Students: Individuals aged 16-24 years old who are enrolled in college at the time of the survey.
  7. Commuting Time Average: The average number of minutes spent traveling from home to work for residents who don’t work at home.
  8. Current Population Survey (CPS):The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The survey has been conducted for more than 50 years. The CPS is the primary source of information on the labor force characteristics of the U.S. population. For more inforation about the CPs,please visit http://www.census.gov/cps/ or http://www.bls.gov/cps/. Each September since 2002, the CPS administers its Supplement on Volunteering (Volunteer Supplement) to adult respondents.
  9. Current Population Survey (CPS) Volunteer Supplement: Each September since 2002, the CPS administers its Supplement on Volunteering (Volunteer Supplement) to adult respondents. The CPS Volunteer Supplement collects information on the incidence of volunteering, the characteristics of volunteers, and civic life indicators in the United States.
  10. Five-year moving average: Shows data that combines responses from the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 volunteer supplements to increase the reliability of the estimates.
  11. Four-year moving average: Shows data that combines responses from the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 volunteer supplements to increase the reliability of the estimates.
  12. Generation X: Individuals born between 1965 and 1981.
  13. Homeownership Rate: The percentage of housing units occupied by the owner, as reported by the American Community Survey.
  14. Intensive Volunteer Rate: The percentage of people who served more than 100 hours for or through one or more organizations during the year prior to the CPS Survey Volunteer Supplement.
  15. Large Cities: The large cities on this Web site represent the 50 largest metropolitan areas in terms of estimated 2010 population, plus Rochester, NY (ranked 51st in metro area population). All major cities for this report have a sufficient number of metropolitan area residents in the annual CPS sample to calculate single-year estimates of basic volunteer statistics. All volunteer data for cities are collected from the metropolitan area in which the city is located, including metro area residents outside the city limits. For metropolitan areas that met these population requirements, but did not have enough respondents in the CPS sample, no city volunteer statistics were published. See the Technical Note for more information about city data.
  16. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): All city statistics published here are collected from Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), which includ residents of large cities as well as area residents living outside the city limits. MSAs carry the name of one or more principal cities, the most heavily urbanized cities in the area; the names of the principal cities are used as designations for the city data published here. The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is responsible for determining and publishing the boundaries of MSAs. In order for an area to be designated an MSA , the area has to have at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more in population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the urban core as measured by commuting ties. The MSA definitions used in the CPS Volunteering Supplements can be found in the Appendix to OMB Bulletin #03-04, issued June 30, 2003. Since then, OMB’s periodic updates have changed the names and principal cities for some MSAs, but the same county-based geographic definitions described in OMB Bulletin #03-04 remain in place today.
  17. Mid-Size Cities: The mid-size cities on this Web site are located in metropolitan areas with population of generally less than 1 million* people but greater than 100,000, according to 2010 Census population estimates. All the mid-sized cities for this report were selected based on population of the surrounding metropolitan areas, as well as the number of metropolitan area residents in the CPS sample. All volunteer data for cities are collected from the metropolitan area in which the city is located, including metro area residents outside the city limits. For metropolitan areas that met these population requirements, but did not have enough respondents in the CPS sample, no city volunteer statistics were published. See the Technical Note for more information about city data. *For the first time, according to the 2010 Census estimates, one of the Mid-Size Cities (Tucson, AZ) has a population greater than 1 million.
  18. Millennial Generation: Individuals born in 1982 and after who are at least 16 years old. The Current Population Survey (CPS) also collects labor force and volunteering data for 15-year-old respondents. As in most other publications that use data from the CPS, 15-year-old respondents are excluded from the volunteer statistics published here.
  19. Multi-Unit Housing Rate: The percentage of housing units located in multi-unit residential properties (such as condominium and apartment buildings), as reported by the American Community Survey.
  20. National Service: National service refers to the Corporation's National Service Programs. National service participants in Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs provide dedicated volunteer service in local communities and the nation to address issues such as education, the environment, public safety, and disaster relief.
  21. Nonprofits per 1000 Residents: The number of nonprofit organizations (not counting churches and congregations) per 1000 residents. Data were collected in July 2011from the August 2010 Internal Revenue Service’s Business Master File. State and county data from this master file were downloaded from the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics and aggregated to form organizations per 1000 residents for metropolitan areas, regions, and the USA.
  22. Older Adults: Individuals aged 65 years old and older.
  23. Organizations: Organizations are established associations, societies, or nonprofits who share a common interest. Examples include youth groups, civic organizations, churches, synagogues, and other religious institutions. The charts published in Volunteering in America represent the percentage of volunteers whose main organization (the one where they serve the most hours) is classified under a given category.
  24. Pooled Volunteer Rate: The volunteer rate, calculated using combined data from two or more successive CPS Volunteer Supplement samples.
  25. Technical Note: This document provides background information on data sources and survey instruments, addresses issues of statistical reliability, and defines terms used in the report.
  26. Teenagers: Individuals aged 16 to 19 years old. The Current Population Survey (CPS) also collects labor force and volunteering data for 15-year-old respondents. As in most other publications that use data from the CPS, 15-year-old respondents are excluded from the volunteer statistics published here.
  27. Three-year moving average: Shows data that combines responses from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 volunteer supplements to increase the reliability of the estimates.
  28. Unemployment Rate: The percentage of unemployed individuals in a specified population. This number excludes individuals who are not in the labor force due to retirement or other circumstances.
  29. Veteran:a person who has served on active duty in the United States armed forces.
  30. Volunteer: Persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities at any point during the 12-month period, from September 1 of the prior year through the survey week in September of the survey year. Volunteers answer "yes" to one of the following questions: "Since September 1st of last year, have you done any volunteer activities through or for an organization?" and "Sometimes people don't think of activities they do infrequently or activities they do for children's schools or youth organizations as volunteer activities. Since September 1st of last year, (have you/has he/has she) done any of these types of volunteer activities?"
  31. Volunteer Hours Per Resident: Volunteer hours per resident are calculated as the total volunteer hours served divided by the population aged 16 and over, as estimated from the CPS, for that specific area.
  32. Volunteer Rate: The percentage of individuals who responded on the Current Population Survey's Volunteer Supplement that they had performed unpaid volunteer activities for or through an organization at any point during the 12-month period that preceded the survey.
  33. Volunteer Retention: The proportion of volunteers who also perform volunteer service in the following year. Since the CPS Volunteer Supplement samples overlap by 50% in successive years, volunteer retention rates are calculated using matched pairs of CPS Volunteer Supplement datasets, so that year-1 and year-2 statistics are available for individual respondents. Data from the overlapping portions of the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 Volunteer Supplements are used to compute retention rates for states, regions, and the USA. Data from the overlapping portions of the 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 Volunteer Supplements are used to compute retention rates for metropolitan areas (cities).
  34. Young Adults: Individuals aged 16 to 24 years old.