VOLUNTEERS MENTORING YOUTH:

Implications for Closing the Mentoring Gap 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BACKGROUND

To develop a greater understanding of the characteristics

and traits that distinguish individuals whose

volunteering includes mentoring youth from volunteers

who do not mentor, the Corporation for National and

Community Service conducted a close analysis of the

2005 Volunteer Supplement of the Current Population

Survey (CPS).1 Corporation researchers examined

whether demographic, socioeconomic, or other

observable factors could be used to distinguish between

volunteers who mentor and the general population of

volunteers who do not mentor, as well as to determine

which of the above factors are most influential in

predicting who is most likely to be engaged in mentoring

activities. The expectation is that the information

gleaned will help mentoring programs better identify

and recruit the types of individuals who are most likely

to be favorably disposed toward mentoring, and thereby

help to reduce the “mentoring gap.” 2

KEY FINDINGS: 

Mentoring Is a Common Part of American

Volunteering

n18% of all volunteers—or 11.5 million of America’s 65.4

million volunteers— engage in some youth mentoring

activities each year through an organization.

The Propensity to Be a Mentor Declines With Age

nVolunteers 16 to 24 years old are the most likely

group to be mentors.

nVolunteers 65 years and older are the least likely

group to mentor. 

nStill, 41% of volunteers who engage in mentoring youth

are baby boomers—i.e., between the ages of 41 and 59.3

Black Volunteers Are More Likely Than White

Volunteers to Be Mentors 

n24% of black volunteers are engaged in mentoring,

compared to 17% of white volunteers.

nHowever, minorities do volunteer at lower rates —

22% for blacks versus 30% for whites.

nHispanic volunteers are slightly less likely to be

engaged in mentoring compared to non-Hispanics.

However, when all other factors are considered, there

are no real differences between Hispanic and nonHispanic volunteers in their probability of being

engaged in mentoring.

Male and Female Volunteers Engage in Mentoring

at Similar Rates

n18% of male volunteers and 17% of female

volunteers are engaged in mentoring.

nHowever, males do volunteer at lower rates—25% for

men versus 32% for women.

Substantial Mentoring Takes Place Through

Religious Organizations

nAlmost 43% of all volunteers engaged in mentoring

volunteer in or through religious organizations (the

next most prevalent site for mentoring is educational

organizations, at 31%).

Mentors Are Often Drawn From the Ranks of

Current Volunteers

n87% of volunteers involved in mentoring perform at

least one other volunteer activity for their main

organization in addition to mentoring, while only

40% of volunteers not involved in mentoring perform

two or more volunteer activities. 

nVolunteers who are engaged in mentoring serve a

median of 80 hours annually, while volunteers who

do not mentor serve a median of 40 hours annually.

Mentors Regularly Work Full-Time 

n59% of all volunteers who engage in mentoring work

full-time—a higher percentage than volunteers who

do not engage in mentoring (53%). 

nDespite having less discretionary time, these adult

volunteers are as inclined to mentor youth as

volunteers working part-time, and more likely than

non-working volunteers.

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CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The analysis shows that one of the most important

determinants of which volunteers are also involved in

mentoring activities is age. The probability of being a

mentor declines dramatically after age 24; indeed,

volunteers 65 years and older are the least likely to be

engaged in mentoring activities compared to younger

cohorts. This suggests that college age adults and even

high schoolers are prime candidates to be recruited as

mentors. While the data also suggest that enlisting more

baby boomers and other older adults as youth mentors is

more challenging, it is important to note that a large

number of baby boomers and other older adult volunteers

currently are involved in mentoring. 

Another promising mentor recruitment strategy is

focusing on encouraging more current volunteers to

become mentors, particularly those volunteers who have

already made a substantial commitment to their main

volunteer organization. Moreover, the finding that

mentoring takes place predominantly through religious

organizations suggests that religious institutions are an

excellent area to focus recruitment efforts.

This type of strategy may pose real opportunities for

existing community-based mentoring programs. One

approach is for traditional mentoring programs to do

more partnering with other types of volunteer

organizations, such as religious institutions. This

approach is already being tried in several places. Another

approach may be for mentoring programs to recruit

volunteers to do other needed tasks. Once they’ve

formed some attachment to the organization and its

mission, these volunteers may be more amenable to

becoming mentors.

The importance of providing mentoring opportunities at

workplaces is another important strategy to reach more

youth with mentors. Our research found that volunteers

employed full-time—despite having less discretionary

time—are actually as likely to mentor as people working

part-time, and a new poll by the nonprofit group

MENTOR4 revealed that mentoring at or near the

workplace, as well as release time during work hours,

substantially increased people’s willingness to seriously

consider becoming a mentor. Together, these reports

suggest that providing convenient mentor opportunities

at work are important for recruiting more mentors.

Race and sex also have an effect on who becomes a

mentor. Although males and blacks volunteer in general

at lower rates than do females and whites, it turns out

that blacks are more likely than—and males are as likely

as— their counterparts to engage in mentoring as one of

their volunteer activities. This is an interesting finding

since the general consensus in the field is that there is a

shortage of male and minority mentors. It appears that

one constraint may be the lower overall volunteer rates

of men and minorities. Assuming that the relationship

between volunteering, and volunteering as a mentor,

remains constant, the number of male and minority

mentors would increase if their overall volunteer rate

rose. Thus, a promising approach to developing more

black and male mentors is to invite and engage them in

volunteering in general. If, for example, the African

American volunteer rate increased by 2 percentage points

(22.1% to 24.1%), there would be another 533,000 black

volunteers, and an additional 125,000 black mentors. 

Without more knowledge about the demographics of

mentor waitlists, we do not know for certain the gender

and racial characteristics of youths waiting for a mentor,

though anecdotal evidence suggests that a

disproportionate number are minorities and males. If this

is the case, it is possible that doubling or even tripling

the numbers of male and minority mentors may not be

enough to meet the effective demand for such mentors.

Instead it may require that mentoring programs not only

increase the overall supply of mentors but employ more

mentoring models that reach more kids with one adult

mentor and other innovative mentoring approaches in

order to close the mentoring gap. 
Authors

John Foster-Bey, Senior Advisor to the Director, Office of Research and Policy Development, Corporation for

National and Community Service

Nathan Dietz, Research Associate and Statistician, Office of Research and Policy Development, Corporation for

National and Community Service

Robert Grimm, Jr., Director, Office of Research and Policy Development, Corporation for National and

Community Service

Acknowledgements

There were several individuals who generously provided their time and input on this project. Their comments and

thoughts contributed mightily to improving the quality of the final report. Dr. Jean Rhodes, professor of

psychology at University of Massachusetts-Boston, and one of the nation's leading experts on youth mentoring

reviewed and provided comments on our research design and approach and early findings. Dr. Rhodes also read

and commented on the final draft. Her comments were crucial in helping us shape the final direction of the

research. Dr. Jay A. Winsten, Associate Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Tonya Wiley and Cindy

Sturdivant of MENTOR also read the final draft and provided very helpful comments and insights.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of

all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs:

Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with USA Freedom Corps, the

Corporation is working to foster a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America.

To read or download the full report, visit www.nationalservice.gov.

Upon request this material will be made available in alternative formats for people with disabilities. Copyright 2006. The Corporation for National and Community Service.

All rights reserved.

1 The CPS is a comprehensive and scientifically rigorous survey of 60,000 American households that is conducted each month by the U.S.

Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the Corporation’s support, the Census Bureau has administered a volunteer

supplement each September since 2002. The September 2005 survey is the first time respondents to the CPS were asked whether one of

their volunteer activities is mentoring youth. Unfortunately, the 2005 CPS volunteer supplement does not identify whether mentoring is

the primary volunteer activity for those volunteers who say they mentor—a limitation that should be corrected in the next CPS survey.

2 Other studies, including the National Mentoring Poll conducted by MENTOR, show that 14.6 million youth currently are in need of a mentor. 

3 Baby boomers are defined as those born between the years 1946 and 1964.

4 For more information on the report Mentoring in America 2005, go to www.mentoring.org.