Community service takes many forms: organized volunteering, helping neighbors, belonging to civic groups, giving money, and contributing through online or international programs. In the United States, 75.7 million people formally volunteered through an organization between September 2022 and September 2023. Globally, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) network mobilized 12,840 volunteers across 169 countries and territories in 2023.
Contents
- U.S. formal volunteering
- Informal help and civic participation
- Virtual and hybrid service
- UN volunteer reach and leadership
- Who volunteers and where
- Measured outcomes and international exchange
U.S. formal volunteering
The latest national measurements show a substantial rebound in organized community service. An estimated 28.3% of Americans aged 16 and older—equivalent to 75.7 million people—formally volunteered through an organization from September 2022 through September 2023. The share was 23.2% in 2021, so the increase was 5.1 percentage points over two years. The U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps described that 2021–2023 increase as a 22.1% growth rate, the largest expansion recorded since tracking began in 2002. U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, New U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps Research Tracks Virtual Volunteering for First Time
The rebound had not completely returned participation to its earlier level: formal volunteering in 2023 remained 1.7 percentage points below the pre-pandemic level measured in 2019. This makes the period useful for understanding recovery as well as scale.
Formal service also represented a large time commitment. Volunteers collectively served an estimated 4.99 billion hours between September 2022 and September 2023. The estimated economic value of that service exceeded $167.2 billion. Yet the typical intensity of participation was lower than in 2017: average annual hours per formal volunteer fell from 96.5 hours in 2017 to 70 hours in 2023. Half of formal volunteers served at least 24 hours during the 2022–2023 measurement period. AmeriCorps, Volunteering and Civic Life in America: Research Summary 2024
| U.S. formal community service measure | Latest figure | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| People volunteering through an organization | 75.7 million | September 2022–September 2023 |
| Share of people aged 16 and older | 28.3% | September 2022–September 2023 |
| Total volunteer hours | 4.99 billion | September 2022–September 2023 |
| Estimated economic value | More than $167.2 billion | September 2022–September 2023 |
| Median participation threshold | At least 24 hours | September 2022–September 2023 |
Together, these figures show two dimensions of community service: broad participation and uneven intensity. A large national total can coexist with a lower average number of hours per volunteer when more people participate but many contribute on a relatively limited schedule.
Informal help and civic participation
Community service is not limited to activity recorded through an organization. Between September 2022 and September 2023, an estimated 137.5 million Americans—54.2% of the population aged 16 and older—informally helped neighbors. About one in ten Americans reported helping neighbors a few times a week or more. The national informal-helping rate increased by 3.4 percentage points between 2021 and 2023, and it was 54.2% in 2023 compared with 51.7% in 2019. U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, New U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps Research Tracks Virtual Volunteering for First Time
Organizational participation provides another view of civic life. More than 62.9 million Americans belonged to an organization in 2023. Among those members, 54% belonged to two or more groups. The national organizational-membership rate rebounded 5% between 2021 and 2023.
Financial support was also widespread. At least 121.8 million Americans gave more than $25 to a non-political group between September 2022 and September 2023, representing almost 49% of Americans. These measures capture different kinds of contribution, so they should not be added together: one person may formally volunteer, help a neighbor, belong to an organization, and donate during the same period. AmeriCorps, Volunteering and Civic Life in America: Research Summary 2024
Virtual and hybrid service
Online participation has become a measurable part of community service. In 2023, 18% of formal volunteers served completely or partially online. More than 13.4 million formal volunteers engaged in service that included at least some online activities. Virtual and hybrid volunteers collectively served more than 1.2 billion hours and represented more than $41.5 billion in economic value during the year. U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, New U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps Research Tracks Virtual Volunteering for First Time; AmeriCorps, Spotlighting the 2023 Civic Engagement and Virtual Volunteering
The format was associated with higher reported average hours. Virtual and hybrid volunteers reported an average of 95 service hours in 2023, compared with 64 hours for formal volunteers serving solely in person.
| Volunteer format | Average hours in 2023 | Other reported characteristic |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual or hybrid | 95 | 18% of formal volunteers used this format |
| Solely in person | 64 | Formal organizational service |
Virtual and hybrid participation also differed demographically. The average virtual or hybrid volunteer was 49 years old, compared with 46 for a solely in-person volunteer. People aged 55 and older had a 20% virtual-or-hybrid volunteering rate, compared with 17% among people under 55. Six in ten virtual and hybrid volunteers were under age 55, and 10% reported having a disability.
Education was another reported difference: about 69% of people performing volunteer activities online had a college degree, compared with 48% of formal volunteers serving face to face. These figures describe observed participant groups; they do not establish that online service itself caused differences in age, education, disability status, or hours.
UN volunteer reach and leadership
UNV offers a global view of community service connected to development, public institutions, humanitarian work, and international exchange. In 2023, UN Volunteers supported 56 UN entities in 169 countries and territories. The network represented 180 nationalities, and UNV mobilized a record 12,840 UN Volunteers, a 4% increase from 2022. UNV, Annual Report 2023
The network’s composition emphasized participation from developing regions. In 2023, 11,339 UN Volunteers, or 88%, came from the Global South. Of those volunteers, 8,027 served nationally in their countries of origin and 3,350 served internationally in other Global South countries. National and cross-border placements therefore operated together: community service could strengthen local institutions while also supporting exchange among countries facing related development challenges.
UN Volunteers most often identified their primary contribution with four Sustainable Development Goals. Thirty-six percent reported contributing mainly to SDG 16, peace, justice and strong institutions. The corresponding shares were 20% for SDG 5, gender equality; 19% for SDG 3, good health and well-being; and 19% for SDG 17, partnerships for the goals. These percentages describe reported primary contributions, so they should not be interpreted as a complete count of every goal affected by a placement.
Who volunteers and where
The UNV figures show a broad age range and substantial representation of women. Women made up 57% of UN Volunteers in 2023, up 2 percentage points from 2022. Women represented 49.8% of UN Volunteers serving on the African continent, up from 48% in 2022. The average UN Volunteer was 35 years old, with an overall age range from 18 to 78. There were 2,012 UN Youth Volunteers aged 18–26.
Regional placement totals varied considerably:
- Sub-Saharan Africa hosted 5,299 UN Volunteers.
- Latin America and the Caribbean hosted 2,762.
- Asia and the Pacific hosted 1,931.
- The Arab States region hosted 1,649.
- Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States hosted 1,224.
The UN system also recorded demand for digital contribution. UN entities, Member States, and civil-society partners posted requests for 14,050 Online Volunteers in 2023. UNDP hosted 3,309 UN Volunteers, the largest number among UN agencies, funds, and programmes. UNV, Annual Report 2023
Measured outcomes and international exchange
Community service statistics become more concrete when they describe the people, places, and institutions reached. UNDP-assigned UN Volunteers served in 124 countries in 2023. There were also 3,792 UN Volunteers integrated as civilian personnel into UN Secretariat entities and missions.
Several country examples illustrate the range of reported outcomes. In Bangladesh, 44 UN Volunteers helped 7,500 people access climate-financing grants through local banking systems in 2023. In Ecuador, 45 UN Volunteers contributed to conserving 789,099 hectares of forests and water basins, while the Ecuador Amazon work supported by UN Volunteers restored 15,023 hectares.
In Colombia, UN Volunteers working on human rights facilitated 16 regional dialogues between police and civil society and 133 agreements in 2023. In Mexico, UN Volunteers supported attorney offices handling 31,875 cases of children’s-rights violations. In Romania, they supported safe spaces providing psychosocial assistance for up to 5,000 Ukrainian children and women daily. In Bulgaria, UN Volunteers conducted vulnerability assessments for 13,000 Ukrainian refugees.
The scale of agency-specific work also changed over time. UNICEF hosted 1,971 UN Volunteers in 127 countries in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022. UNV, Annual Report 2023
These examples measure outputs and reach reported for 2023, such as people served, cases supported, hectares conserved or restored, and dialogues facilitated. They do not provide a single standardized measure of long-term social impact. For leadership and global exchange, however, they show how community service can connect individual participation with institutional capacity, cross-border learning, environmental stewardship, rights protection, and support for people affected by displacement.