Volunteerism at an all-time high in Singapore

Vimita Mohandas Channel NewsAsia 11 Nov 10;

SINGAPORE : The economic downturn last year did not affect Singaporeans' generosity.

A recent survey by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) showed that they opened their wallets even wider.

Total donations crossed the billion dollar mark at S$1.07 billion, rising more than 11 per cent from 2008, when the last survey was done.

NVPC said that while the number of donors had fallen, the amount donated had increased.

And it seems that a larger proportion of donors live in HDB flats compared to private housing.

The survey also found that the time spent on volunteering has doubled to 89 million hours in two years.

The percentage of people volunteering their time rose by a quarter to more than 23 per cent.

And more youth are stepping up, with a participation rate of 36 per cent among those between 15 and 24 years of age.

NVPC's Chief Executive Laurence Lien said this generation of youth is more socially conscious and aware of volunteer work.

On the rise in donations, Lien said during the deep economic uncertainty, people are more aware of the needs around them. - CNA /ls

Singaporeans still give despite tough times
Poll finds people were more generous with their time and money over the past two years
Radha Basu, Straits Times 12 Nov 10;

EVEN as the nation navigated through tough economic times, Singaporeans were more generous with their time and money than ever before, a biennial survey tracking individual giving revealed yesterday.

The time spent on volunteering has doubled in two years, and close to one in four here volunteers now.

Total donations have also crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time. Public confidence in charities, however, has declined marginally.

The survey, commissioned by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), made the estimates based on a poll of 1,815 people aged 15 and above. It has been carried out once every two years since 2000.

Announcing the results at a press conference, NVPC chief executive Laurence Lien said he was 'delighted' that more people than ever before 'stepped up to the challenge to give more of their time and money'.

The jump in volunteerism is especially significant when compared with earlier surveys. In 2008, volunteer hours declined marginally.

'During the deep economic uncertainty, people saw needs more obviously,' said Mr Lien, elaborating on possible reasons for the robust results. 'They relooked their priorities and served these needs, giving their money or time.'

With the economy slowing down, people could also have had more free time on their hands to take part in volunteer activities, said Mr Lien.

Companies, too, may have increased volunteering opportunities for staff when there was a slowdown in work activities last year. The launch of the SG Cares website, an NVPC portal, also made it easier for people to look for volunteering opportunities.

But as in the past, most people here still prefer volunteering 'occasionally' - or at least once a year - rather than weekly or monthly. The average number of hours served by such occasional volunteers jumped to 45 from around 20 hours in 2008.

While volunteering is on the rise in all age groups, younger people - aged between 15 and 24 - are leading the charge. Rates among this group surged from 23 to 36 per cent.

Singapore Institute of Management student Tan Woon Lu, 20, is among young folk who began volunteering recently.

She says she read about the SG Cares website in the news and logged on to begin signing up for volunteer events. In less than six months, she has spent around 40 hours volunteering. Among other things, she has given free lessons to children from poor families and helped organise karaoke sessions for the mentally disabled.

'Helping others makes life richer, gives it more meaning,' said the youngest of three children of an artist and a housewife. 'I don't want to live a life where I'm concerned only about me, me and me.'

While the results of the survey are promising, the fact remains that Singapore still has a long way to go before it can catch up with Western nations with a rich tradition of giving.

For example, in Britain, four in 10 people volunteer. Britain also defines volunteering more narrowly - limiting it to only those above 16 who volunteer formally, like with a charity group.

NVPC's director for sector development Kevin Lee clarified that Singapore's volunteerism rates include those who volunteer informally.

'Helping a disabled neighbour regularly would constitute informal volunteering,' said Mr Lee. 'But holding a door open for someone would not.'

Donations, too, continued to rise despite the recession. And while fewer people donated money, those who did gave more. Average donations per person have gone up to $331 from $300 in 2008. Roughly six in 10 gave to religious groups.

Conducted by research company Nielsen, the survey asked respondents how much they gave to causes that are tax-deductible and those that are not.

Interviews were conducted between April and August this year and respondents were asked about how much time and money they had donated over the past 12 months.

While the Government routinely makes public actual donations made to Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs), for which donors get tax deductions, the NVPC survey is the only survey that estimates the amounts that individuals give to hundreds of religious and other groups that are not IPCs. Only about one in four of the 2,000 charities here has IPC status.

Yet while people may be giving more money and time to good causes, public confidence in charities declined marginally.

That is not surprising, given news reports on investigations into two high-profile groups - City Harvest Church and Ren Ci - that receive donor dollars, said Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a charity that helps migrant workers.

'As long as charities remain transparent about accounting issues, they have nothing to worry about,' said Mr Gee.

In keeping with the results of the survey, TWC2 has seen a rise in giving from volunteers. When a project to feed out-of-work migrant workers was in danger of running out of money, a volunteer single-handedly raised $22,000 in two weeks. 'That was simply astounding,' said Mr Gee.