VOLUNTEERING INFRASTRUCTURE

Volunteer numbers, importance and contributionThe number of reported volunteers within organisations ranged from 1 to 380,000. The totalnumber of volunteers was 1,071,108. The average (mean) number of volunteers amongst thesample of 1,975 organisations reporting volunteers was 542. However, a very small portionof organisations distort this statistic. In fact only 11% of organisations reported 100 or morevolunteers. The table below indicates the breakdown of volunteer numbers amongst the study’ssample, just over 50% of organisations reported 15 or less volunteers.Number of volunteers% of organisations(N=1,975)1-7 volunteers 268-15 volunteers 2416-39 volunteers 2540 + volunteers 25Total 100What fields of activity are volunteers involved in?In the table below it is apparent that volunteer-involving organisations are dominant in a fewfields, sports and recreation, development and housing, social services and arts culture andheritage.Field of activity% of organisations(N=1,975)Sports and Recreation 21.9Development and Housing 19.5Social Services 16.1Arts, Culture and Heritage 10.2Education and Research 8.5Environment 6.9Health 5.4Advocacy, Law and Politics 5.3International Development 2.0Religious Groups 2.0Trade Unions, Bus/Prof Groups 1.4Philanthropy 1.0Total 100195 Volunteering infrastructure in Europe 14 Ireland