We are in the midst of an exciting rejuvenation of civic engagement. After years of decline, people across the country - driven in large part by millennials and Gen Z - are diving into their communities more than ever. Gen Z participation in the 2020 elections were at nearly 50%, up from 39% in 2016. And after decades of holding steady, the national adult volunteering rate jumped from 25% in 2017 to 30%.
Yet despite these trends, participation is still artificially limited. Nearly 75% of Americans express interest in volunteering in their communities.
So why is there a such a huge gap between interest and engagement?
“Access” is the primary barrier to engagement. Citizens must be able to find projects to engage with, otherwise they won’t participate.
The best way for governments to increase civic engagement is with a single website where citizens can discover and sign up for projects in their communities. On the surface, this seems overwhelming. But in fact, Golden has made it very easy to collect civic and volunteer projects from NGOs throughout your community - without the hassle of managing everything yourself.
Golden - the world’s most award-winning volunteering platform - can help governments double the rate of civic engagement in one year…and give you the hard data points you need to prove it.
Golden’s partners have reported incredible outcomes: partnered with the City of Salt Lake City, the United Way of Salt Lake recruited twice as many volunteers in their first year on Golden. 20-year-old, Multinational hunger organizer, Midwest Food Bank, increased their email distribution lists by 55% in 12 months. The average new organization on Golden sees an immediate 30% increase in return volunteers.
Golden drives fantastic outcomes for civic engagement and volunteering programs by combining incredible tools for program organizers with an award-winning volunteer-facing web experience that’s designed mobile-first and works on any device (critical at a time when over 60% of web traffic happens on mobile devices).
Golden’s incredible organizing features not only allow city, state and other government agencies to list their own projects, recruit volunteers and process critical documents like liability waivers and background checks, and collect all the ensuing engagement data…but also to empower their partners to do the same.
After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, the City’s Department of Neighborhood Initiatives was able to onboard local NGOs in a matter of days to list their projects on their Golden-powered website. This massive volunteer effort was critical in getting Houstonians back on their feet across the city. Even more importantly, the City used the thousands of reported volunteer hours and automated reporting data to receive additional reimbursement from FEMA.
