Volunteers inspired by the Olympics

Only 2 percent of adults have been motivated by the Olympic Games to start volunteering, according to research published by the consultancy nfpSynergy. The researchers also found that the proportion of people volunteering since last year’s games has remained flat.

In its Charity Awareness Monitor – Volunteering survey, carried out in March, nfpSynergy asked more than 2,000 nationally representative adults whether last year’s London Olympic and Paralympic Games had inspired them to volunteer with charities or community groups.

From a choice of four statements, only 2 percent chose "yes, I started volunteering for the first time soon after the games". 70 percent said they did not want to start or do any more volunteering; 17 percent said they had not done any yet but would like to find out more; and 10 percent said they were already volunteering and now gave more time.

In a separate nfpSynergy survey of 496 nationally representative 11 to 16-year-olds, 6 percent said they had started volunteering for the first time soon after the games, 36 percent said they did not want to start or do any more volunteering and 44 percent said they had not done any yet, but would like to find out more.

From three other nfpSynergy surveys of 1,000 nationally representative adults carried out since the Olympics, researchers found that the proportion of people volunteering had remained static. When asked in May 2012, 22 percent of respondents said they had volunteered in the past three months; the proportion was the same in September 2012. In January this year, it was 21 percent.  

There was, however, a slight increase in the frequency of volunteering between September and January. In September 2012, 23 percent said they volunteered once every three months and 43 percent said they volunteered once or twice a week. In January, 17 percent said they volunteered once every three months and 51 percent said they did so once or twice a week.