Volunteerism in Austin:

How we can regain our position and help our community

INTR

ODUCTION

• Bloomberg Philanthropies• Impact Volunteering Fund• Grant provisions

• Chief Service Officer• Four issue-based programs• Recruitment tools

Cities of Service

• Make Austin model city of service• Increase volunteerism and civic engagement• Chief Service Officer Sly Majid• Tailor to Austin landscape

• NPOs, businesses, demographics, culture and lifestyle

• Existing resources, functions, needs• Optimize position of Mayor’s Office

Concluding the Grant Process

• Identified best practices, patterns in service/engagement

• Four themes in national service

• Austin’s high points

• Ideas for future pathways

Moving Forward

Bench

mar

king

Them

es

Corporation for National and Community Service Volunteering In America 2011

• Twin Cities• Seattle• Portland• Salt Lake

City• Columbus• Hartford• Kansas City• Oklahoma

City• Washington

D.C.• Milwaukee• St. Louis• Rochester*

Top Volunteering Cities

The Themes

Demographics Corporate

Involvement

Institutional Support

Civic Engagement and

City Culture

Demog

raphic

s

Population Explosion

GROWTH RATES FOR BENCHMARKING CITIES 2000-2010

Metro City• Twin Cities 10.5% -0.35%• Seattle 13% 8%• Portland 15.5% 10.3%• Salt Lake City 16% 2.6%• Columbus 13.9% 10.6%• Hartford 5.6% 2.6%• Kansas City 10.9% 4.1%• Oklahoma City 14.4% 14.6%• Washington D.C. 16.4% 5.2%• Milwaukee 3.7% -0.4%• St. Louis 4.2% -8.3%• Rochester 1.6% -4.2%

• Austin 37.3% 20.4%

CHANGE IN POPULATION AND CHANGE IN VOLUNTEER RATE 2004-2010

-10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

Change in Population from 2000 to 2010

Ch

an

ge in

Volu

nte

er

Rate

fro

m

20

04

to 2

01

0

Magnet for Young Adults

Austin's Age Distribution

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

00-0405-0910-1415-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-6465-6970-7475-7980-84

85+

Ag

e

Population

2010 Census Data via DSHS Center for Health Statistics

16 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

22.50%23.30%

31.80%30.60%

28.10%

24.00%

Volunteer Rate in 2011

VOLUNTEER RATE BY AGE GROUP

Bureau of Labor Statistics Volunteering in United States, 2011 Economic News Release

Fast Growing Older

Population

Austin Growth by Age Group from 2005-2010

0-913.10%

20-297.71%

30-399.30%

40-495.34%

50-5916.21%

60-6932.90%

70-7913.39%

80+18.83%

10-1915.76%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

Age Groups

Pe

rce

nt

Gro

wth

0-9

010-19

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60-69

70-79

80+

2005-2010 Census Data via DSHS Center for Health Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics Volunteering in United States, 2011 Economic News Release

“Majority-Minority”

White Black/African American

Asian Hispanic/Latino0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30% 28.2%

20.8%20.0%

14.9%

Volunteer Rate by Ethnicity

Bureau of Labor Statistics Volunteering in United States, 2011 Economic News Release

Tale of Two Cities

City Examples

Rochester

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Seattle

Columbus

Portland

Inst

itutio

nal

Support

Local Support

Austin Pro Bono• Connect organizations and skilled individuals who

offer pro bono services to nonprofits

United Way for Greater Austin• Seeks the root of problems in the community to

ensure lasting solutions and to offer alternatives for

a better life

Hands on Central Texas• Program of United Way

• Strengthens communities through volunteer service focused on education, income, health, and the environment

Government Initiatives

Conference on Service• Learn, Connect, Be Inspired, and Make a Difference

• Inclusion of nonprofit, government, business, and faith-based sectors

Volunteer Recognition • Annual Volunteer Recognition awards

• Lieutenant Governor’s Volunteer Recognition Certificate

Volunteer Management• Thorough certificate program

• After certified, trainers are able to teach volunteer management courses to nonprofits

Government Initiatives

Non-profit Liaison to the Governor• Established in 2011

• Cabinet-level position which serves as a state advocate for nonprofit community providers

“This position provides an important linkage between community providers and the Executive Branch…of its ongoing commitment to the nonprofit health and human services organizations that serve as the safety net for 500,000 of the state’s residents.”

-Terry Edelstein

Volunteer Center Efforts

Wisconsin• Partnership between Nonprofit Center of

Greater Milwaukee and Volunteer Center of Greater Milwaukee

• Over 600 member organizations following consolidation

• VolunteerWisconsin.org operated by Volunteer Center Association of Wisconsin

Corpor

ate

Invo

lvem

ent

• Job growth: 21.3%; 140,200 jobs

• Funding Jobs Growth

• Startups

• Lack of proportional service growth

• Unorganized business engagement structures

• Volunteering

• Giving

Austin Business and Service

Unemployment and Volunteering in Top Five Service Cities and Austin

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

2 4 6 8 10 12Unemployment Rate (% Work Force)

Volu

ntee

r Rat

e (%

Pop

ulat

ion)

Austin

Twin Cities

Portland

Salt Lake City

Seattle

Unemployment and Volunteer Trends

• Austin• Lowest

unemployment• Greatest affect

• Unemployment relatively less affecting in top cities• Downward and

upward trends• Portland outlier

Volunteering and Job Creation

Volunteering in Top Five Job Creation Cities

20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

2007 2008 2009 2010

Year

Volu

nte

er Rate

(%

Popula

tion)

Austin: 21.3%

Salt Lake City: 13.5%

San Antonio: 13.1%

Houston: 15.7%

Fort Worth: 10.8%

• Salt Lake City service not affected by jobs

• Service in Texas not reacting to economic recovery

• Texas civic engagement

CompaniesSt. Louis, Anheuser-BuschJ.P. Morgan Chase, Tech for Social Good

Good Business Practices

Corporate/Business Volunteer CouncilsTwin Cities, Corporate Volunteerism Council

Philanthropic FoundationsColumbus, The Columbus Foundation

Philanth

ropy

Philanthropy in Austin

• 1997-2008: individual giving fell 5.8% to 4.2%• Young city• Major corporations• Multiple organizations handling philanthropic donations

• I Live Here, I Give Here• Austin Community Foundation• United Way

Top Giving Cities and AustinCity City Population MDI Med % Med Contribution Total Contributions

Houston, TX 2,099,451 $66,264 5.00% $3,332 $3,100,000,000

San Jose, CA 945,942 $65,831 3.50% $2,277 $1,200,000,000

Austin, TX 790,390 $64,597 4.10% $2,630 $790,800,000

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 1,939,022 $63,504 5.30% $3,394 $3,700,000,000

San Antonio, TX 1,327,407 $61,386 4.60% $2,846 $650,000,000

Boston, MA 617,594 $60,312 2.80% $1,719 $2,500,000,000

San Diego, CA 1,307,402 $58,845 4.00% $2,328 $1,400,000,000

Jacksonville, FL 821,784 $58,811 5.20% $3,078 $617,300,000

Philadelphia, PA 1,526,006 $57,523 4.00% $2,295 $3,000,000,000

Indianapolis, IN 820,445 $56,830 4.60% $2,632 $762,800,000

San Francisco, CA 805,235 $56,594 3.90% $2,180 $3,100,000,000

Memphis, TN 646,889 $56,240 7.20% $4,035 $703,800,000

Baltimore, MD 620,961 $56,161 4.80% $2,683 $1,600,000,000

Charlotte, NC 731,424 $54,862 5.80% $3,162 $1,100,000,000

Chicago, IL 2,695,598 $54,858 4.20% $2,296 $5,100,000,000

Detroit, MI 713,777 $53,508 4.40% $2,329 $1,800,000,000

Phoenix, AZ 1,445,632 $53,064 4.60% $2,445 $1,700,000,000

Los Angeles, CA 3,792,621 $51,300 5.10% $2,630 $6,700,000,000

New York, NY 8,175,133 $51,038 4.60% $2,361 $12,900,000,000

Columbus, OH 787,033 $47,696 4.30% $2,062 $735,800,000

Civic

Engag

emen

t

and C

ity C

ulture

• Small scale/individual volunteering not included in CNCS study• Hours per person volunteering above average• Matching personalized interest – likely more

effective than broad “volunteering” campaigns• ATX niche culture: favoritism for “the new” works

as an idea incubator & a barrier to collaboration • New Austinites have limited resources for

orientation• Correlation between election turnout &

homeownership

Austin’s Culture

• Twin Cities: history of volunteerism

• Civic engagement in Milwaukee, Twin Cities, Salt Lake City, and Rochester

• Milwaukee: “City of Festivals” • St. Louis: home-ownership &

neighborhood involvement• Portland: Office of Neighborhood

involvement

City Examples

Austin

’s H

igh P

oints

Culture

• Vibrant and diverse• Local and independent • Active• Artistic • Pride

Higher Education

• One of the most educated metropolitan areas in the nation 43.3% of Austin has a college degree

23.3% of Texas and 24.4% of the US has a college degree

• High level of support from community Approved proposition for new medical school

Tech Sector• Headquarters for well-known companies,

particularly for semiconductors and software• City support through the Emerging Technologies

Program• Diversifies job market • Booming tech start up industry

http://austinstartup.com

• More nonprofits per capita than any other city in Texas

• Broad range of services offered • Multitude of volunteer opportunities

Nonprofit Community

Organizational Outreach

Austin Youth Council

Mayor’s Taskforce on Aging

Futu

re P

lans

Framework for Planning

• Thinking systematically

• Designing a centralized web resource hub which supports and advertises nonprofit opportunities

• Structures for engaging business sector: incentives process, Corporate Volunteerism Council, Chamber of Commerce representation for non-profit sector

• Neighborhood involvement & investment

Contact:Ellen Ray- ellen.ray@austintexas.gov

Carrie Powell- carrie.powell@austintexas.gov

Anisha Vichare- anisha.vichare@austintexas.gov

Taylor Timinsky- taylor.timinsky@austintexas.gov