Survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for Independent Sector; analyzed by Virginia Ann Hodgkinson and Murray S. Weitzman with Stephen M. Noga and Heather A. Gorski.

In 1992, Independent Sector commissioned The Gallup Organization to conduct a national survey on the volunteering and giving behavior of American teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age as a companion to the larger national survey of American adults, 18 years of age or older. This survey of 1,000 teenagers is follow up of a smaller experimental survey conducted in 1990 of 300 teenagers from 14 to 17 years of age. The survey questionnaire was developed by a national advisory group including scholars and practioners. This survey of American teenagers addresses the following questions:

1. Who volunteers? Who gives? To whom? How much?
2. When did they begin to volunteer and give?
3. What skills have they learned from their community service?
4. Do their schools encourage and/or require community service for graduation?
5. Do their schools offer courses in which community service is required?
6. What determines volunteering and giving behavior?
7. What are the motivations for giving and volunteering to various types of charitable causes?
8. How much confidence do they have in the various institutions of our society?

The information included in this report was obtained from in-home personal interviews conducted from April 30 to May 26, 1992, with a representative sample of 1,000 teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age. This survey is unique because it includes details about both the volunteering and giving behavior of American teenagers as well as information about those who neither volunteer nor give. The findings of this survey should be useful to policymakers, the media, researchers, school principals and teachers, and the leadership of voluntary organizations. The major findings of this survey are compared with those from the survey of American adults, Giving and Volunteering in the , 1992 edition, in Appendix A.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments.
List of tables.
Introduction.
Highlights.

Chapter 1. Who volunteers? - Who gives? - To whom? - How much?:

How many volunteered?
Volunteers and their activities.
The value of volunteer time.
How many hours per week did teens volunteer?
Giving patterns among teenagers.
The relationship between hours volunteered and giving.
Demographic characteristics of volunteers and givers.
Detailed tables.

Chapter 2. Motivations for giving and volunteering:

How did teens learn about their volunteer activities?
When teens began to volunteer.
Volunteer time compared to three years ago.
Teens' activities in the past year and volunteer behavior.
Teens' confidence in their helping skills and actual volunteer behavior.
Volunteer tasks of teens.
Teens' feelings about certain activities and their volunteer behavior.
The influence of childhood experiences upon volunteer behavior.
Relationship between teens' attitudes and views about life in general and volunteer behavior.
Reasons for volunteering.
How teens rate their volunteer experience.
Benefits teens derived from volunteering.
Previous volunteering among current non-volunteers.
Reasons teens would volunteer again.
The volunteer behavior of respondents who were asked to volunteer.
Personal giving to needy persons and volunteer behavior.
Teens' satisfaction with certain activities and volunteer behavior.
Teens' reasons for caring and volunteer behavior.
The influence of personal goals on volunteer behavior.
Detailed tables.

3. The impact of institutions on the volunteer behavior of teenagers:

Where teens first became involved in their volunteer activities.
The relationship of schools to volunteer behavior.
Teens' career interests and their volunteer behavior.
Membership in religious institutions and volunteer and giving behavior.
Employment status and volunteer behavior.
The relationship of volunteering among parents to volunteering among teens.
Detailed Tables.

4. Teens' attitudes about life, societal issues, and institutions:

Level of confidence in various institutions.
Teens' attitudes about certain societal issues and volunteering behavior.
Teens' beliefs about what would help to make America better.
Detailed tables.

Appendixes:
     A. A summary of the volunteering and giving behavior of teens compared with
         adults.
     B. Areas of volunteering.
     C. Areas of giving.
     D. Methodological statement - The Gallup Organization.
     E. 1992 survey questionnaire and attachments.

Survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for Independent Sector; analyzed by Virginia Ann Hodgkinson and Murray S. Weitzman with Stephen M. Noga and Heather A. Gorski. In 1992, Independent Sector commissioned The Gallup Organization to conduct a national survey on the volunteering and giving behavior of American teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age as a companion to the larger national survey of American adults, 18 years of age or older. This survey of 1,000 teenagers is follow up of a smaller experimental survey conducted in 1990 of 300 teenagers from 14 to 17 years of age.