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.