Many parent group leaders have told PTO Today that it has become harder to find volunteers as the country’s economic recession has worsened. Nationwide, though, more people volunteered in 2009 than in any of the previous three years, according to a June 2010 report by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Even better news for parent groups is that parents of children younger than 18 volunteer at significantly higher rates than the general population. In 2009, 34 percent of these parents volunteered in their communities, compared with 27 percent of all adults. Volunteerism among parents of minors rose slightly from the year before.



Overall, Americans are most likely to volunteer for a religious organization (36 percent) or an educational cause (27 percent). While parents of minors also supported religious groups (32 percent), they are far more likely to volunteer for an educational organization; 44 percent of parents who volunteered during 2007-09 helped educational groups.

Parents’ other volunteer interests included social service organizations (9 percent), hospitals (5 percent), civic groups (4 percent), and sports and arts organizations (3 percent).

The CNCS report also contains a bit of simple wisdom: How did most of the people surveyed start volunteering? Someone asked them.

—Emily Graham