·	56% of adults aged 18 or over volunteered a total of 19.9 billion hours. This is the highest ever recorded level of participation in volunteering during the INDEPENDENT SECTOR survey series a 13.7% increase in the rate of volunteering.
·	An estimated 109 million people participated in volunteering in 1998.
·	The volunteer workforce represented the equivalent of over 9 million full-time employees at a value of $225 billion.
·	A higher percentage of women (62%) than men (49%) volunteered . Men who volunteered gave slightly more time than women: 3.6 hours per week as opposed to 3.4 hours for women.
·	90% of individuals volunteered when asked. Forty-two percent (42%) of the volunteers found out about activities through personal contact while 35% through participation in an organization.
·	43% of seniors aged 75 and over reported volunteering an increase of eight percentage points since 1995 (35%).
·	46% of Hispanics volunteered - an increase of 6 percentage points since 1995 (40%).
·	47% of African-Americans volunteered - a 12 percentage point increase since 1995 (35%).
·	41% of volunteers contributed time sporadically and considered it a one-time activity. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of volunteers preferred to volunteer at a scheduled time, either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Nine percent (9%) reported volunteering only at special times of the year such as during a religious holiday.
·	Volunteers continued to make larger financial contributions, on average , than people who did not volunteer. Contributing households with a volunteer gave over two and a half times more on av e r age than contributing households where the respondent did not volunteer.
·	1% of respondents learned about volunteering via the Internet.

·	The average contributing household gave $1,075 or 2.1 % of household income. In 1995 contributing households reported an average contribution of $1,017 or 2.2% of household income. From 1995 to 1998, after inflation , the average household contribution decreased by 1.2%.*
·	Over 70% of households reported contributions for 1998 - up slightly from less than 69% in 1995.
·	81% of households gave a donation when asked.
·	84% of all charitable contributions were given by households that also volunteered.
·	77% of respondents were motivated by personal requests for contributions.
·	The level of giving and volunteering is affected by a person’s concern about the future. In 1998 anxiety about having enough money in the future declined. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of respondents were worried about not having enough money in the future - a 7 percentage point drop from 1996. In 1998 respondents who did not worry about having money in the future contributed a higher than average percentage of household income (2.8%).
·	The level of household income had an effect on whether a household made a contribution. As the level of income increased, more households reported making a contribution.
·	When measured as a percentage of total household income, households at either end of the income scale were the most generous . Households earning under $10,000 a year gave 2.5% of total household income and households with incomes over $100,000 gave 1.9%. However, many of those with incomes under $10,000 were retired with little regular income and gave from their accumulated wealth.
·	The average annual contribution for all households (both contributors and noncontributors) in 1998 was $754, an increase of 1.3% in real dollar terms since 1995 ($744). The real dollar increase continues an upward trend that started in 1993.
·	The average household contribution of $754 constituted approximately 1.7% of total household income - the same proportion as in 1995.
·	The number of households that contributed 3% or more of their household income has risen since 1993 - from 19% to 22% of contributions - and a greater percentage of people reported that their household gave more in 1998 than in 1995.
·	African-American contributing households reported donating an average of $658 - less than in 1995 ($668). Fifty-two percent (52%) gave in 1998, approximately 2% less than in 1995.
·	Almost 63% of Hispanic households reported an average contribution of $504, or 1.1% of total household income. While the number of Hispanic respondents reporting household contributions increased by 6 percentage points, the average household contribution and percentage of total household income given decreased since 1995 from $547 and 1.4%, respectively.
·	Contributing households used an average of 3 or 4 different methods to make contributions. Almost 84% made in-kind contributions of food or clothing . Approximately 80% of households purchased goods and services from charitable organizations and reported giving cash or a check direct. Only 1.2% of contributors reported giving over the Internet.
*	At present both INDEPENDENT SECTOR and AAFRC’s Giving USA 1999 estimate $135 billion in total individual giving for 1998.

Public Attitudes

·	68% of the respondents expressed a high level of confidence in human service organizations homeless shelters, soup kitchens and employment programs, etc.
·	62% believed that most charitable organizations were honest and ethical in their use of funds.
·	76% agreed that nonprofit organizations generally played a major role in their communities.