INDEPENDENT SECTOR and Youth Service America Host Briefing on Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service

11/13/2002

From: Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, 202-467-6100, or Dave DeCicco of Youth Service America, 202-296-2992, Ext. 11

News Advisory:

WHO: INDEPENDENT SECTOR and Youth Service America

WHAT: Conference Call Briefing on Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service

WHEN: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 2 to 2:45 p.m.

INDEPENDENT SECTOR and Youth Service America (YSA) will hold a preview press briefing via conference call on new research detailing the influence of youth service in philanthropy. Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service presents data from a survey of over 4,000 adults and illustrates how charitable behavior in youth influences the lifelong habits of adults who give monetarily and volunteer their time.

The research shows that high school volunteering at 67 percent reached the highest rate of youth volunteerism in the past 50 years. According to Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service, these youth are twice as likely to volunteer as adults. And adults who volunteered as youth also give more money to charitable causes. In every income category, those who volunteered as youth give and volunteer more than those who did not and their giving increases with income. This pattern is displayed across all ages and income groups.

The media is invited to participate in a preview briefing of Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service with Steven Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America, Chris Toppe, director of philanthropic studies of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, and Silvia Golombek, vice president of programs of Youth Service America, to discuss the implications of youth volunteering and how nonprofits can use these findings to increase giving and volunteering in the future.

Members of the media, who would like to join the call, can dial the toll-free conference number, 1-800-814-9791 by 2 p.m. (EST). Media who would like an embargoed copy of the report should call Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash at 202-467-6100 or email Carla@IndependentSector.org or Patricia@IndependentSector.org

On November 20, INDEPENDENT SECTOR and Youth Service America will formally release Engaging Youth in Lifelong Service at INDEPENDENT SECTOR's office at 9AM with a panel of experts who will discuss the report's implications. Members of the media are invited to attend.