How many hours/year do you volunteer?

[Anonymous]

And for what kind of organizations? Is your volunteering actually going somewhere and doing specific work, or do you donate your time via things you can do at home (like using your professional skills pro bono, etc.)? I guess I consider volunteering for your kid's classroom different than volunteering at a soup kitchen, so that's why I ask for the details.

I just starting volunteering with a new organization and want to set some goals for how many hours I donate per month or per year. My baseline has been like... zero... up until now, so anything will be an improvement, but I want to get in the habit of being a person who volunteers for charitable causes.

[Anonymous]

No responses?

[Anonymous]

OP, why do you want to set specific hour goals? I volunteer with several organizations in different ways, some times more, some times less, depending on what the organizations' needs are and what else is going on. If I can do it, I do it, and if I can't, I say no.

[Anonymous]

Zero.

[Anonymous]

* I’m a board member for my school district’s foundation: ~5 hrs/month
* Packaging meals/snacks at the food bank: ~3 hrs/month
* Volunteering at/with my congregation: ~8 hrs/month

It varies from month to month, but those are pretty good estimates. I work 32 hours a week at my “regular job” & do some freelance work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, why do you want to set specific hour goals? I volunteer with several organizations in different ways, some times more, some times less, depending on what the organizations' needs are and what else is going on. If I can do it, I do it, and if I can't, I say no.

Because I know myself, and it is very easy for me to have reasons why I can't in the moment. Then I feel bad looking back when I didn't get as involved as I intended to. The volunteering I'm doing has shifts you sign up for online, and if I can break the over all goal down into monthly goals, I'm much more likely to stay on top of it and feel satisfied at the end of the quarter/month/year.

I did some research and saw about 25% of Americans volunteer in a year time span and the average is 32 hours per year. I'm sure it's people at both ends of the spectrum.

I also came across something interesting that said 100 hours per year is kind of the peak of happiness - not overly committed, but get the exact same personal satisfaction benefits as if you volunteered up to 800 hours. Kind of interesting.

I think I'm going to shoot for 72 hours in the next year, which is one 6 hour shift a month. I can then ramp it up the next year if that was manageable. I do work full time and travel for work, but I think I can do one day a month.

[Anonymous]

Probably 50 through pro bono consulting

[Anonymous]

I am retired and am determined to volunteer in order to give back to the community. I feel my life has been blessed and want to help others who are not as fortunate.

United Way campaign - (seasonal) About 20 hours/annually
Meals on Wheels - about 12 hours a month
Church related efforts - about 30 hours a month
Literacy/elementary aged students - (summer) About 12 hours a month
Various other opportunities as they arise - about 3 hours a month

[Anonymous]

I am volunteering 30 this week alone. I probably volunteer another 20 throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

3 for org meetings every 2 months. 3-5hrs several times a year staging events. I also maintain our orgs IT services like email and documents and membership information. So another hour a week dealing with all that and more at the end of the year.
When we do a major fundraising event or multiple events then it’s more.

[Anonymous]

Church community service once a month for about 3 hours
Helping out the band teacher with coordinating volunteers and helping myself with various events = maybe 3 hours per month, although some months are more and others less
Role on the PTA for MS and HS -- requires attending 3 meetings per months, total time 5 hours

So, 11 hours per month. Then there are occasional random things like next weekend is the MS's day of service so I'll be cleaning up invasive plants with DS and some of his classmates.

[Anonymous]

Maybe about 30 hours a year?
About an hour or two a month at church, plus teaching VBS for a week once a year. Also volunteering in my kid’s class and teaching other kids at school about my area of expertise.

[Anonymous]

- Girl Scout troop leader with meetings twice a month
- Donate blood every 8 weeks
- Spend 3 hours a month creating blessing bags with friends to hand out
- Random classroom stuff for DC
- Other random events that come up

[Anonymous]

10 hours a month for a community organization
1 hour a month for DCs troop

So 132 hours per year, more if I go on a field trip or two

[Anonymous]

Local Woman's Club Volunteer activities (soup kitchen, elementary school program, town activities): 22 hours per year
School volunteering: 60 hours per year - I was book fair chairperson this past year, so this maybe higher. Initial planning and prep done at home.
Town Activities: 80 hours - town picnic chair, parade planning, and grant drafting, which uses my professional skills and I did at home.

I work part-time from home, and live very close to all three activities.
Prior to 2016 I had very little hours, as I worked in an office, had a commute, and my kids were younger.