More Over 70s Headline Glastonbury Than Under 30s
The over 65s do lots of the volunteering. 39% of people aged 65-74 volunteer monthly compared to 25% of the wider public - this has been largely static for 15 years. Those people are getting older in years and so far the next generation aren't going to volunteer in the same way. Many of the Baby Boomers state they have less time and more commitments with childcare responsibility for grandkids, may still work, or may be doing consultancy in one form or another. In focus groups newly retired people have say "I'm not volunteering now, I'm too busy, I'll do that when I'm old". They likely book their holidays, shopping online. Offline volunteering, every Wednesday until the end of eternity doesn't cut it. Stats from National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) on the demographics of volunteers provides us with useful context and breakdown.
‘A Choice Blend: What volunteers want from organisation and management' by the Institute for Volunteering Research showed:
Older volunteers complained of being given routine, low-level tasks that do not take account of their abilities and potential.
Focus group participants agreed that they would put up with 'boring' tasks for a while, but that sooner or later they would say something or leave.
Availability and quality of volunteer management was sometimes an issue.
The volunteer managers were not always sensitive to volunteers' needs for flexibility in working times and responsibilities.
So many of the FPA places are using demographics and other tools to help with this. Market segmentation tools will help target opportunities at people who are looking to meet a need in their lives. Very few people have free time, fewer people search "free time" + their city into Google. But fun, purpose & socialising will never go out of fashion.
So the challenge is to help those friends of groups evolve to represent everyone, help them zone the parks for different audiences (beyond the usual skatepark) to ensure everyone gets more of what they want.
Maybe we can all go to Glastonbury after all.
