Quality of Life Indicators

philanthropy and volunteerism data

volunteer hours
charitable giving

volunteer hours

According to a recent report by the Corporation for National & Community Service, Nevada ranked 50th among states in 2006 with the lowest volunteer rate, whether older adults, baby boomers, young adults, or college students.  Volunteering in America

Tracking community volunteerism is a challenging task as thousands of local residents regularly volunteer their time and effort to all sorts of organizations — nonprofits, faith-based, educational institutions, and human services organizations. 

In TMT’s December 2007 community survey of Washoe County residents, 50.8% responded that they volunteered for a nonprofit organization in the past year vs. 47.6% who had not volunteered.  Of those volunteering, 18.6% reported volunteering 11 or more hours in the past year; 11.8% volunteered 5-10 hours; and 17.2% volunteered 1-4 hours.

charitable giving

The Catalogue for Philanthropy calculates the annual Generosity Index using IRS data. In 2004, the most recent year for which data were available, Nevada surpassed the national average itemized charitable contribution of $4,012, and increased charitable giving as a percentage of income. The Center for Wealth & Philanthropy also calculated comparative 2004 rankings and found Nevada ranked 16th in giving relative to income, with 0.9% share of US charitable contributions.  [Source]

According to The Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics, in 2005, Nevada ranked 15th nationally in terms of average charitable contributions per return with itemized contributions. The Giving USA 2007 report published by the Giving USA Foundation cited a 4.2% increase in 2006 US charitable giving.  According to the 2007 Guidestar Nonprofit Economic Survey, 2007 contributions nationwide are similar to 2006, and are stable.

Washoe County average itemized contributions were $3,324 in comparison to $2,785 for Nevada in 1997, the most recent county-level data available by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.  National Center for Charitable Statistics

In TMT’s December 2007 community survey of Washoe County residents, 12.8% responded that they did not donate to nonprofit organizations, however, 50.2% donated to 1-4 nonprofits, 20.4% donated to 5-10, and 8.8% donated to 11 or more nonprofits, and 28.6% donated to local nonprofits.