Teens' passion to volunteer wanes with adult burdens

Judith Tan Straits Times 3 Sep 11;

HALF the teenagers here are eager to do volunteer work, but as job, marriage and parenthood come up, their ability and willingness for it tail off.

A survey has found that only one in five working adults devotes time and energy to charitable causes.

Enthusiasm for volunteer work does not - as one would expect - pick up again later among senior citizens, whose careers and parenting responsibilities are behind them: only one in 10 volunteers.

The survey by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) was done last year with 1,815 people aged 15 and up. Called the Individual Giving Survey 2010, it sought to gain insight on volunteerism and philanthropy here through face-to-face interviews on the kind of giving people had done in the preceding 12 months.

The survey found that for more than four in five participants, the compulsory community work done under the Community Involvement Programme (CIP) while in school had been a positive experience, and that it was often students' first brush with community work.

NVPC chief executive officer Laurence Lien said that the CIP was a gateway to volunteerism and connected students to social concerns.

But the survey deliberately excluded questions on compulsory community work like the kind done under the CIP, in order to get a clearer picture on volunteerism here.

Mr Lien disclosed that, to improve the CIP, the NVPC's volunteer arm SG Cares is working on a pilot project with schools to introduce what is known as an asset-based community development model. This approach to community work taps the skills and strengths which people in the community have, instead of focusing on the needs of charitable organisations.

The pilot was launched early this year by then Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the 21st International Association for Volunteer Effort World Volunteer Conference.

Students 'keen to volunteer'
Channel NewsAsia Today Online 3 Sep 11;

SINGAPORE - A survey by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) has found that while students were enthusiastic about volunteering, adults were not so keen as their priorities have changed.

Nearly half of those in the school-going age of between 15 and 19 volunteered in the past year but the figure dropped to 23 per cent among those in the 20-to-24 age group and 16 per cent in the 25-to-29 age group.

The NVPC's Individual Giving Survey 2010 polled 1,815 respondents aged 15 and above. It did not include those who did compulsory community work under the community involvement programme (CIP), except where they had voluntarily served more hours than they had to. The survey found that four in five participants of community work in school said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the experience.

Mr Laurence Lien, NVPC's chief executive officer, saw CIP as "a gateway to volunteerism" as it connected students to social concerns and the exposure was likely to spark continued volunteerism.

But he believed more can be done to make CIP "more impactful" and NVPC's volunteer arm, SG Cares, is working on a pilot project with schools to introduce an "Asset-Based Community Development model" - an approach to informal volunteering that focuses on assets in the community, rather than needs.

Confirming a trend noted in an earlier survey in 2008, the NVPC said those earning below S$1,000 monthly continued to donate a higher percentage of their income compared to other income groups. But those with personal incomes of S$4,000 and above registered the highest percentage of an intention to donate online.