Over the last years Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has been conducting research on the contribution of the voluntary sector and volunteering in 41 countries to measure the economic value of volunteering; results obtained are rather impressive:
- Volunteers represent the equivalent of 3-5% of the economically active population in many countries;
- Volunteers make a $400 billion contribution to the global economy;
- The number of full-time equivalent volunteers is approximately 140 million people;
- And if volunteers were a nation, they would be the 9th most populous country in the world.
- 83.9 million American adults volunteer, representing the equivalent of over 9 million full-time employees at a value of $239 billion.
Volunteer Centers serve as local leadership and resource organizations for volunteering. They work with businesses in four key ways: connect, provide, partner and support. To locate a volunteer center near you
click here 
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- Provide companies with information on community needs
- Coordinate group projects for and with corporations
- Match employees with individual volunteer opportunities
Provide training and technical assistance:
- Advise companies on how to establish employee volunteer programs
- Provide companies with training and technical assistance on managing their employee volunteer programs
- Manage the companies' employee volunteer programs on a contractual basis
- Provide board training and placement for employees to serve on local nonprofit boards
- Provide volunteer trainings/workshops for employees
Partner with companies in promotional efforts:
- Promote companies' volunteer efforts in the community
- Establish partnerships to fund/sponsor Volunteer Center promotional efforts
- Partner to support award/recognition programs
Support local Corporate Volunteer Councils:
- Manage the local Business/Corporate Volunteer Council
- Serve as a member of the Corporate Volunteer Council.
Service Learning, for Better Employees
Service learning has the advantage of providing employees a rewarding experience, independent of the learning objective. It is a mechanism for allowing employees to engage in something they find profoundly meaningful and develop professional skills. Because of this, participants are typically more accepting of service learning training, as compared to traditional training.
For more information and corporate examples on the benefits of service learning click here .
Employee Volunteer Programs (EVPs) An Employee Volunteer Program is a company-supported effort to leverage organizational resources and engage employees in projects that target real community needs. Successful workplace volunteer programs meet core business goals and address issues that affect a company's or organization’s ability to operate. The Principles of Excellence serve as guidelines for developing and sustaining an effective EVP. The
Principles Are: - ACKNOWLEDGE that your company's community service involvement and its employee volunteer efforts contribute to the achievement of its business goals.
- COMMIT to establish, support, and promote an employee volunteer program that encourages the involvement of every employee and treat it like any other core business function.
- TARGET community service efforts at serious social problems in the community.
- See the Ten Steps to implement an employee volunteer program.
The Points of Light Institute has created a tool to help companies and organizations calculate the dollar value of volunteer time, based on job titles and number of hours. In 2008, the dollar value of volunteer time was estimated to be $20.25 per hour. Businesses and organizations can use this estimate to quantify the enormous value volunteers provide.
Click here to make your own calculations .