Despite a need for more resources, the vast majority of non-profit organizations are not capitalizing on the valuable professional skills of their volunteers, a new study has found. More than three quarters of non-profit leaders (77 percent) believe that skilled volunteers could significantly improve their organization’s business practices. Yet just 12 percent of non-profits actually put volunteers to work on such assignments.  That’s among the findings of the 2006 Deloitte / Points of Light Volunteer IMPACT Study, released by Deloitte LLP and the Points of Light Foundation to coincide with National Volunteer Week.

The 2006 Deloitte / Points of Light Volunteer IMPACT Study, which surveyed non-profit executives and volunteers from corporate America, showed that nearly nine out of 10 non-profit leaders (89 percent) generally agree that volunteers’ workplace skills are valuable to non-profits.  Working professionals shared a similar view. Seventy-three percent of them believe their workplace skills are valuable to a non-profit organization. 

Yet, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of non-profit executives report they do not work with any companies that provide volunteers.  Just 12 percent of non-profits report they typically align tasks with the specific workplace skills of volunteers.

Other key research findings include:

• Two out of five volunteers (40 percent) say they actively look for opportunities to use their workplace skills when they volunteer
• Nearly one-third (29 percent) of volunteers believe their workplace skills are what non-profit organizations need from them most
• Only about one in five volunteers (19 percent) say they primarily apply their workplace skills in their volunteer assignments

The study indicates that skills-based volunteering is highly beneficial to the volunteer, as nearly two-thirds of volunteers (63 percent) think volunteering has had a positive effect on their career. 

Deloitte LLP and the Points of Light Foundation surveyed 200 non-profit leaders and 750 white-collar American workers to explore the value of workplace skills to non-profits. The key finding: despite non-profits and volunteers both placing a very high value on workplace skills, neither are capitalizing on them to make an even greater impact on society.

Read the Executive Summary below for a full summary and analysis of our key research findings.