Apr
02

National Volunteer Appreciation month: Why volunteers inspire me.

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month. Kris Hamilton shares some inspiring statistics on how volunteers contribute to the Smithsonian community.

 

Y=Three volunteers in pink shirts

“Castle Ambassadors” welcome visitors the the Smithsonian “Castle” and help them plan their Smithsonian experience. (Photo by Kris Hamilton)

Volunteers inspire me through their commitment and hard work. Our volunteers stand with us each day and help us educate the public, assist in preserving our collections and act as our greatest advocate.

And while you can’t easily quantify commitment I thought these numbers might illustrate the contributions of our volunteers:

  • In 2017, 6,905 on-site volunteers contributed 551,492 hours in one year.
    Between 2013 and 2017, 9,365 digital volunteers transcribed 118,741 pages online.
  • In 2013 there were 4,301 on-site volunteers, we now have almost 7,000 and growing!

Thousands of volunteers contribute invaluable time and talent to hundreds of programs and projects throughout the institution. Moreover, many of our volunteers spend time in volunteering at multiple museums and with multiple organizations! Why? Because volunteering is important activity for millions of Americans.

  • In 2015, one in every four adults in the U.S. volunteered – that’s almost 25 percent of the population! Civic engagement is vital to the ongoing success of non-profits and companies throughout the country:
  • In 2015 62.6 million Americans volunteered 7.8 billion hours.
  • Based on the Independent Sector’s estimate of the average value of a volunteer hour ($23.56 in 2015), the estimated value of this volunteer service is nearly $184 billion.

Volunteers inspire me. They inspire because they give selflessly of their time, not for personal gain but because they believe in what we do. They believe in making this world a little better. They believe in giving back…and boy, do they give back – in a million different ways!

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!

Related posts:

Mark Wallace headshotOffice of Protection Services has a new director Wapner in GalleryVolunteer Spotlight: Diane Wapner Composite photo of volunteersThe Strength of the Smithsonian: Results of the Volunteer Survey Baseball stampICYMI: Highlights from the week of April 4 – April 8, 2022

Posted: 2 April 2018
About the Author:

Kristina Hamilton has been with the Office of Visitor Services since 2016, serving as the Volunteer Recruitment and Retention assistant. Cars, football, and Great Danes take up much of Kris’ free time. Avid car enthusiasts, Kris and her husband spend their summers working on their cars or taking them to the track with their ‘road dogs’ Shadow and Brodie.