The Value of Volunteering: New York and National Data

September 11th has become recognized as our National "Day of Service". In 2009, Congress designated September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance under bipartisan federal law, and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with helping to support this effort across the country. Similarly, April is National Volunteer Month, which grew out of National Volunteer Week. National Volunteer Week began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing the week as an annual celebration of volunteering. Every president since has signed a proclamation promoting National Volunteer Week.

Obviously volunteering is a large part of our culture. But how large ? And at what cost?

New York, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), ranks only ahead of Louisiana when it comes to our volunteer rate. What is the volunteer rate? It's defined as the percentage of individuals who responded on the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey's Volunteer Supplement that they had performed unpaid volunteer activities for or through an organization at any point during the 12 preceding months. While the national volunteer rate was 26.8% in 2011, only 20.7% of New Yorkers volunteered during that same time period. In Louisiana, 19.4% had volunteered services in comparison.  Here's a couple other graphics that they have about New York volunteer services. Click any of the graphics below to see larger versions.

New York versus National Volunteerism 2002-2011

Urban, Suburban, Rural Volunteers in New York

Types of Volunteerism Among New Yorkers

 Among the things the CNCS highlights are the following when it comes to New York volunteerism:

• More than 3 million people volunteered during 2011
• They provided more than 410 million hours of service
• This averages to 26.6 volunteer hours per resident of New York State
• Almost 60% of residents said that they do favors for their neighbors

Of course non-profit organizations rely heavily on volunteers to provide their needed services. According to the independentsector.org, New York has more than 100,000 nonprofit organizations. They are broken out by the type of agency below.

Click to Enlarge

Independent Sector goes on to point out that:

• New York nonprofits employ 1.25 million people–15%of the state’s workforce
• New York nonprofits pay wages of $55.6 billion
• New York nonprofits hold assets of $372 billion and generate annual revenues of $194.7 billion
• New York City nonprofits employ 500,000 people –15% of NYC’s workforce and are the city’s largest private employer
• New York foundations annually give over $6.9 billion and rank first in the USA in total giving

But the question that many organizations wish they could put their finger on is the value of their volunteers. It is very difficult to put a dollar value on volunteer time. Volunteers provide many intangibles that can not be easily quantified. For example, volunteers demonstrate the amount of support an organization has within a community, provide work for short periods of time, and provide support on a wide range of projects.

That being said, the Independent Sector has worked with Bureau of Labor Statistics data to determine the average value of volunteer time based on the hourly earnings of all production and non-supervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls. The Independent Sector indexed this figure to determine state values and then increased it by 12 percent to estimate for fringe benefits. In essence the value of volunteer time presented here is the average wage of non-management, non-agricultural workers plus a fringe of 12%.

Below, then, is their table which suggests that the the value of a volunteer hour of service in New York is more than $28. Perhaps this can help put all those volunteer hours out there in our region in perspective!

Click to Enlarge

26.6 volunteer hours per resident.

59.3% do favors for their neighbors.

87.4% eat dinner with their family a few times a week or more.

52.3% discuss politics a few times a month or more.

3.22 million volunteers.

413.2 million hours of service.

$9.0 billion of service contributed.

- See more at: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/NY#sthash.J6ow54bC.dpuf

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.

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. - See more at: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/about/glossary.cfm#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. - See more at: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/about/glossary.cfm#volunteer_rate

The Economics of Leaf-Peeping

According to observers for Empire State Development’s I LOVE NEW YORK and their most recent Fall Foliage Report for New York State, beautiful peak fall colors are expected to make their first appearance of the season this weekend in the Adirondacks region of New York State. Foliage approaching midpoint of change is starting to appear in the Catskills, as well as other areas of the state.

In Central New York, spotters in southern Herkimer County expect midpoint to near peak foliage with 40 percent leaf change and bright red leaves with some yellow mixed in. Oneida County also expects up to 40 percent color change with assorted shades of orange, gold, bronze and amber, along with splashes of fiery red. Northern Oneida County is showing more rapid change, with orange, golds and reds predominating. In Chenango County, expect 35 percent change with yellow, red and orange fall colors of average brilliance. Otsego County predicts 30 percent change with yellow, green, red and orange leaves of average brilliance. Both Broome and Madison counties are predicting 25 percent change by the weekend with average to bright leaves of yellow, orange and red. Schoharie County expects 20 percent change.

Why is this important ? Well according to Bostonmagazine.com the average leaf-peeper spends between $85 to $110 per day when taking in the view!

BONUS POST: Don't forget that this is the last weekend that the Trenton Falls Trails are open !

Regional HIV and AIDs cases

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a new interactive database on the prevalence of international HIV infections and AIDs cases and deaths. The data represents a compilation of information from 219 countries and areas, and has data for more than 100 countries not included in past releases. Major updates include new data for China, Ghana, Ethiopia, India and Cameroon. The database focuses on HIV/AIDS surveillance data for countries and areas with at least 5,000 population, but does not have information on Northern America (including the United States) and U.S. territories. Public health surveillance involves the collection, analysis and use of data to provide public health prevention resources where needed.

In terms of New York State, the State Department of Health released county related data last August in a report on HIV/AIDs. It provides a variety of information for the year 2010, including the number of HIV and AIDs cases among the general public (including prisoners), and the number of cases without prisoners included. I've pulled out the Herkimer and Oneida County data from the DOH report below.

Changing Television and Video Viewing Habits of Consumers Worldwide

According to a study released from Ericsson ConsumerLab, the times, they are a'changing. The explosion of connected mobile devices in the home has opened a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to viewing TV and video content. Consumer viewing habits now involve so much more than just the living room TV and traditional broadcast services. Today people take their entertainment with them around the house – and beyond. Viewing TV and video is now something that happens throughout the day, and as our exposure to content increases, so does our attitude and behavior towards it.

The modern consumer has a wealth of choice over their device and content sources, allowing them to adapt their viewing experience to suit their needs and putting them in charge of their TV and video consumption. However, this abundance of choice creates greater complexity for users. There is now an opportunity for service providers to forge new aggregate services that will help consumers simplify the management and selection of their content, enabling them to enjoy the TV and video experience of tomorrow.

Click on the table below to see some of their major findings about more modern viewing habits. These findings are based on more than 15,000 interviews in 15 different countries. Although that may skew the results somewhat in regard to American consumers experiences, it clearly shows a more involved, and at the same time more selective, viewing process is taking hold.

Click to Enlarge

August 2013 Labor Profile for the Mohawk Valley

The New York State Department of Labor recently released its August 2013 Labor Profile for the Mohawk Valley. It provides a comparison between August and July of this year, as well as a comparison with August of 2013 and 2012 for the Utica-Rome MSA (Herkimer and Oneida Counties combined). It includes data on the number of people employed and unemployed, as well as some analysis by employment sector. 

For more information on employment you might consider contacting Mark Barbano, our Regional Economist for the Mohawk Valley with the State Department of Labor !

 

Click to Enlarge