Distinguishing Characteristics of Active Volunteers in Canada

A detailed statistical portrait of the estimated 7.5 million Canadians who give more than the national median of 66 hours of their time each year as volunteers was produced using data on 18,301 Canadians from the 1997 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering, and Participating. This report profiles the most salient characteristics of active volunteers. At the national level, the key characteristic that universally sets active volunteers apart from others is their high level of involvement in a variety of other forms of contributing and participating, such as charitable giving, informal volunteering, social activity, and civic participation. They are also likely to have above-average educations and occupations and to have children younger than age 17 in a larger-than-average household. The study also reveals how active volunteers have different patterns of distinctive characteristics in different regions and communities of different size across the country.