This document summarizes survey findings about volunteering trends in Scotland that show overall levels of volunteering have declined since 2010. It finds that while regular volunteering has increased, occasional volunteering has decreased, driving the overall decline. A small proportion, 6%, contribute the majority, over 66%, of total volunteer hours and make up Scotland's "volunteer core". The document calls for further analysis and discussion to understand these trends and determine how to increase and improve volunteering in Scotland.

1. Volunteering trends in Scotland:
a changing landscape?
High level summary of survey evidence
November 2014
Kathleen Doyle and Gemma Jackson
Volunteer Scotland, Policy and Research
kathleen.doyle@volunteerscotland.org.uk
gemma.jackson@volunteerscotland.org.uk
www.volunteerscotland.org.uk @VolScot

2. WHY IS THIS REPORT IMPORTANT?
• Volunteering is a critical part of realising Scotland’s economic and
social prosperity; transforming people and places, and contributing to
healthy and vibrant communities that are good to live in.
• Volunteering needs to be adequately resourced and supported to
increase participation; enabling more people and communities to reap
the many benefits of volunteering
• The context in which volunteering operates is changing rapidly:
 Economic – low or negative growth and public sector cuts – means
organisations (public and third sector) and citizens are being asked to do
more with less
 Policy – reform of public services and increasing demand for volunteers to
be involved in the delivery of public services
 Legislative – proposed Community Empowerment Bill to encourage local
people to do things for themselves, in part by transferring ownership of
public-sector assets to volunteer –led groups.
• The economic, policy and legislative changes assume that citizens can
do more by volunteering their time; but is this a sound assumption?

3. KEY FINDINGS...
Since 2010,
overall levels of
volunteering
have been
declining, but
the numbers of
regular
volunteers are
promising...
How can we
reverse this trend
so that many more
enjoy the benefits
of volunteering?
Where can
growth come
from?

4. KEY FINDINGS...
The majority
of people
(72%) are not
volunteering,
but some do
have past
experience to
build on...
Is the
current
volunteering
approach
working?
What would a
new way for
volunteer
involvement
look like?
Are there
opportunities of
interest to
potential
volunteers?

5. KEY FINDINGS...
The number of
past volunteers
is decreasing,
while a core
group of
people
contribute the
majority of all
volunteer hours
Is this
sustainable?
Core group are
incredibly important
but are they also a
barrier to others
involvement?

6. PARTICIPATION IN FORMAL
VOLUNTEERING IS DECLINING

7. Current volunteering (at least once a
year) has been declining in Scotland
from 31% in 2010 to 28% in 2013
30
31
28
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Source: Scottish Household Survey (SHS), 2007-2013
31
30
29
28
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
% of Adults (16+)

8. Past volunteers are also declining,
from 27% in 2008 to 23% in 2012
27
30
25
20
15
10
5
Source: SHS (2008-2012)
23
25
24
23
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of Adults (16+)
Past volunteers have volunteered at some point in their past, but not in the last 12 months

9. So...the number of people who have
never volunteered is increasing from
42% to 48%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Source: SHS (2008-2012)
42
27
49 44 46 48
23
25 24 23
31 28 31 30 29
0%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of Adults (16+)
Current Volunteers Past Volunteers Non Volunteers

10. Volunteer participation is in
decline...despite 19% of the
population in 2011 expressing an
interest in starting or re-starting
volunteering in the future...why
didn’t this intention turn into
action?
Source: SHS (2008-2012); Volunteering in Scotland Survey (2013)

11. BUT THAT’S NOT WHERE THE
STORY ENDS...LET’S DIG A BIT
DEEPER

12. Regular volunteers have been
increasing, while occasional
volunteers have been
decreasing
12
15
12
10
Reduction in occasional
volunteering is driving
the decline in overall
volunteer participation
18 17 18 17 17
30
25
20
15
10
5
Source: SHS (2007-2012) – Volunteer Scotland (VS) Secondary Analysis
11 13
9
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of Adults (16+)
Regular (at least once a month) Occasional (few times a year)

13. HOW REGULAR IS
REGULAR.....?

14. A closer look at the breakdown of
regular volunteering shows weekly
volunteering has been increasing
10
13
11
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Source: SHS (2007-2012) – VS Secondary Analysis
13 12 12
5
6
6
5
5 5
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of Adults (16+)
Weekly Monthly

15. TIME (HOURS) SPENT
VOLUNTEERING HAS REMAINED
RELATIVELY STABLE

16. The intensity of hours volunteered has
remained relatively stable; with 6%
providing high intensity support
15 15
14
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Source: SHS (2007-2012) – VS Secondary Analysis
15
16
14
6 6
7 7 7 7
5 5 5
6
5
6
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
% of Adults (16+)
Low Intensity (0-5hrs) Medium Intensity (6-15hrs) High Intensity (16+hrs)

17. LET’S LOOK A BIT CLOSER AT
THIS 6%...

18. They make up Scotland’s
‘volunteer core’
6%of the population provide over
66%of all volunteer hours
Source: SHS (2012) – VS Secondary Analysis
So, what does this mean
and look like...?

19. 72%
28%
of population
volunteer
22%
6%
contribute
33%
of all
hours
contribute
over
66%
of all
hours
Volunteer core of 6% do
majority of hours
72%
of the population do
not volunteer any
hours
Source: SHS (2012) – VS Secondary Analysis

20. What Next?
• Engage users in a conversation about what these
findings mean and what’s needed to increase and
improve volunteering in Scotland.
• Further analysis to explore these findings in more
detail (e.g. volunteer core).
• Bring together and summarise other key research
to understand the volunteering landscape.
• A report will be published before spring 2015.

21. TECHNICAL NOTES
These slides present top-line results.
Technical notes for the this report can be found here. Explanations
of the secondary analysis undertaken (including the volunteer core)
and definitions used in this report are outlined in this note.
Data tables for all charts can be found on our web-page.
Technical notes for they survey’s used in this report can be
accessed via:
 Scottish Household Survey website
 Volunteering in Scotland Survey web-page
Where results do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer
rounding, multiple response, or the exclusion of ‘don’t know’ or
other categories

22. REFERENCES
Scottish Household Survey, 2007-2013
Volunteering in Scottish Charities, 2013
Volunteering in Scotland Survey, 2013
Rutherford, A., Doyle, K. & McConnell, D. (2014)
Volunteering Participation in Scotland: An Analysis of
Linked Social Survey and Administrative Data.
Available here