The Service Gap

snapshot The “Service Gap” JANUARY 2009 THE DATA: Issuing a call to service was a central theme surrounding President HOW WILL AMERICANS ANSWER THE CALL? Obama’s historic inauguration, and the record number of Americans who ACCORDING to the results from Porter Novelli Styles 2008, fielded in June participated in the Martin Luther 2008, a significant “Service Gap” exists between the causes that are most King, Jr. Day of Service the day personally important to Americans and those to which they are most likely to before illustrates the number of give their time. For example, while over seven-in-ten Americans indicate that Americans standing ready to answer issues such as supporting health research for leading diseases, protecting the that call. But, Porter Novelli Styles data reveal a “Service Gap” that environment, and improving schools and education are personally important must be closed in order to sustain to them, less than one-in-five say they have given their time to these (or other) and grow the number of Americans important causes in the past 12 months. In fact, for most of the causes who will continue to answer the call. presented, only one-in-ten or fewer report to have donated their time in the past 12 months. As we witnessed with the active level of participation in the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, Americans are eager to do their part in service to their local and national communities in ways we have rarely seen in our nation’s history. This energy will hopefully translate into greater proportions of Americans regularly donating their time to important causes, as we will continue to measure in Styles, to help close the “Service Gap.” The challenge and opportunity will be in providing specific volunteer opportunities that best leverage the passions and desires of Americans. Importance of and Reported Time Donated to Specific Causes Table 1. Percent who report specific causes are personally important to them, compared to the percent who indicate they have donated time to each cause in the past 12 months HAVE DONATED PERSONALLY TIME TO IN PAST 12 “SERVICE IMPORTANT TO ME MONTHS GAP” Health research (e.g., cancer, AIDS) 70% 6% -64 The environment 73% 10% -63 Literacy 64% 6% -58 Improving schools and education 73% 17% -56 Helping people with disabilities 65% 12% -53 Feeding the hungry 59% 9% -50 Helping the poor 58% 8% -50 Mentoring youth 63% 17% -46 Helping the homeless 52% 7% -45 Volunteer care giving 46% 12% -34 Porter Novelli Styles is a suite of annual surveys conducted among a variety of audiences. The base survey, ConsumerStyles, was conducted May through June 2008 among a total of 10,108 consumers. The data are weighted to ensure a nationally representative sample. The margin of error is +/- 1% for the total sample, and larger for subgroups. For additional Styles information, contact Styles@porternovelli.com.

The Service Gap

by Porter Novelli on Apr 24, 2009

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The Service Gap — Document Transcript