Volunteering is the practice of people working on behalf of others or for a particular cause without receiving payment for their time and services; it is one way for citizens to come together to address challenges facing their communities and is a vital component of community engagement. Philanthropy is the practice of contributing personal wealth to charitable or religious causes. For this report, donations to charitable causes focus on areas such as poverty and disaster relief, health care and medical research, education, the arts, and the environment. Respondents to the survey were asked about their behavior during the previous twelve months. Illinois, with a population of more than 12 million, is the fth most populous state in the country. According to VolunteeringinAmerica.gov, an estimated average of 2.6 million residents per year volunteered in Illinois between 2007 and 2009. Illinois ranked 27th in the nation for the rate of volunteering among residents ages 16 and older in 2009, with 28.3% of respondents volunteering at least once in the twelve months prior to the survey, compared with the national rate of 26.8%. Illinois' volunteer rate has increased by three percentage points since 2008.

Illinoisans volunteer most often with religious groups. Educational, social, or community service agencies are the second–tier group followed by civic, political, professional, health, animal, environmental, public safety, or sports organizations. Illinois has slightly longer–term volunteers compared to the nation as a whole: A greater percentage of individuals volunteer for longer periods of time and repeated their volunteerism in a subsequent year. In addition to volunteering at a slightly higher rate then the national average (28.3% vs. 26.8%), Illinoisans also contribute nancially to causes more frequently than the national average (52.4% vs. 50.0%).

A notable finding in the table to the right is that, both in Illinois and nationwide, it is far more common for people to donate money to causes than to volunteer their time. While there are many possible hypotheses for the vast difference in people preferring to give money over time, one issue to immediately consider is the cultural changes in how individuals interact with each other. As comprehensively examined in his book Bowling Alone , Robert Putnam examines how changes in work patterns, family, technology, and television have impacted social interactions and how historically, less people are participating in group activity. 13 Additionally, studies have documented the steady decrease in leisure activity. 14 People are making specic and directed decisions regarding how to spend leisure time, and the lack of cultural emphasis on valuing civic engagement is directly impacted. In deciding how to spend time, more people are deciding that donating to a cause is preferable to participating in a cause.

Volunteering and Philanthropy: Enacted Reforms
Illinois is working to improve resources for volunteerism and service efforts. The Serve Illinois Commission is comprised of 25 commissioners appointed by the Governor. The Commission's vision is an Illinois where all citizens recognize their ability and responsibility to help strengthen their communities through voluntary service. It works to expand volunteerism throughout Illinois, involving people of all backgrounds, cultures, and ages. The enabling legislation of the Serve Illinois Commission charges the Commission to promote and support community service in public and private programs to meet the needs of Illinois citizens, to stimulate new volunteerism and community service initiatives and partnerships, and to serve as a resource and advocate within the Department of Human Services for community service agencies, volunteers, and programs which utilize State and private volunteers. 15

Volunteering and Philanthropy: Needed Reforms
While high school students in the Chicago Public School system currently have a 40–hour mandatory service–learning requirement, there is no similar statewide provision, and recent attempts at passing reform legislation within the school code failed. House Bill 6747 would have required high school students to complete 15 hours of community service in order to be promoted to the next grade level and House Bill 2386 would have required all students to complete 40 community service hours in order to receive a high school diploma. Passage of these bills, if implemented effectively with the broader goal of increasing civic literacy, have the potential to increase student understanding of the importance of giving back to the community. Additionally, it would have provided an avenue to educate students about important policy issues that drive the need for volunteering. For example, students who have to complete mandated community service might choose to do so at a soup kitchen. If schools structure community service programs strategically with core civic education in mind, students could also be challenged to examine the need for soup kitchens in the first place and to think about possible reforms that would lessen poverty in their community.