Spotlighting the CEV Series: 

Formal Volunteering and Informal Helping in America 

Giving time to help others creates stronger, more vibrant 

communities. 

Formal volunteering and informal helping are key indicators of 

civic health and ways individuals can give their time to others. 

Data and evidence about these behaviors allow researchers to 

examine trends in how people make a difference in their 

communities and provide policymakers and funders with 

essential information they need to support those efforts. 

As part of the “Spotlighting the CEV” series, this key findings brief 

explores national trends in formal volunteering and informal 

helping from 2019 to 2021. 

The national formal volunteering rate experienced its largest 

decline on record during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

People can formally volunteer by giving their time through an 

organization. Between 2019 and 2021, almost one quarter of 

Americans volunteered through an organization. Formal 

volunteering rates were steady between 2002 and 2019 

before declining in 2021, the largest change in at least two 

decades. This decline occurred across states and individual 

demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and race/

ethnicity. 

National Formal Volunteering 

Rate 2002─2021

35%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

25%

30%

Source for figures: Analysis conducted by the Office of Research and Evaluation, 

AmeriCorps, on the Volunteering (2002-15) and Civic Engagement and Volunteering 

(2017-21) Supplement data, U.S. Census Bureau. 

* In 2017, AmeriCorps and the U.S. Census Bureau changed the way they collected data on

formal volunteering by moving the survey question from the beginning to the end of the

questionnaire. The change in the formal volunteering rate from 25% in 2015 to 30% in 2017 is

at least partially due to “order effects,” the fact that earlier questions in a questionnaire get

more responses. The true rate of formal volunteering likely stayed relatively constant from

2015 to 2017.

About the Series

Spotlighting the CEV Series 

explores important findings 

from the Civic Engagement 

and Volunteering (CEV) 

Supplement of the Current 

Population Survey. 

Conducted by the U.S. 

Census Bureau in 

partnership with 

AmeriCorps, the CEV is a 

nationally representative, 

valuable resource for 

understanding various types 

of civic engagement over 

time. It has been 

administered biennially 

since 2017 with related 

datasets going as far back 

as 2002. CEV data can 

support actionable insights 

and data-driven decision 

making. 

This series will explore six key 

constructs from the 2021 

CEV: Organizational 

Engagement, Informal 

Helping and Conversation, 

Local Collective Action, 

Engaging with Issues, 

Economic Engagement, 

and Political Engagement.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Informal helping rates during the pandemic remained steady overall but varied by geography. 

People can also informally help others outside of an organizational context, such as by exchanging 

favors with neighbors. Between 2019 and 2021, the national rate of informal helping remained stable: 

about half of Americans exchanged favors with their neighbors. This trend held regardless of individual 

demographic characteristics. State-level informal helping rates, however, dropped by more than three 

percentage points in fourteen states and grew by more than three percentage points in eight states 

during this period. 

Changes in 

State-Level Informal 

Helping Rates between 

2019 and 2021 

Explore the Data 

The CEV data is available for public use. Visit the AmeriCorps Open Data portal at 

https://data.americorps.gov. For more information about the CEV data and findings, please reach out to 

the AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation at AmeriCorpsCEV@cns.gov. 

What’s Next?

The AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation and its partners are exploring the CEV data’s

implications for AmeriCorps programming and civic engagement in America more broadly. Ongoing 

research is examining the various ways people make a difference in their communities, the impact of 

COVID-19 on the civic engagement of individuals and organizations, and how national service impacts 

volunteering in the long term. By situating the data within broader scholarship and policy conversations 

the CEV can help strengthen our nation’s civic infrastructure.

About the Office of Research and Evaluation 

The AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) assists AmeriCorps and its partners in 

collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data and insights about AmeriCorps programs and civic life in 

America. 

About AmeriCorps 

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for 

Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve

lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 

250,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and 

empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at 

https://americorps.gov/.