Giving & Volunteering Trends at Home and On Holiday
17 November 2008 at 3:15 pm
One of the world’s largest online travel communities, TripAdvisor, has released the results of a recent travel and giving survey of more than 1,200 U.S. respondents to better understand how the public donates its time and money while travelling and at home.
The survey is part of the company’s "More than Footprints" philanthropic initiative, which lets individuals help determine how TripAdvisor will donate $1 million to five travel-related Not for Profits.
Following are some of the highlights from the survey:
World Financial Turmoil Impacts Donations
Forty-one percent of individuals said the turmoil on Wall Street will impact how much money they donate this year. However, 43 percent of respondents said they go out of their way to do business with companies that give to charities.
Volunteering on Vacation
Twenty-nine percent of people surveyed said that they have participated in a volunteer or charitable activity while on vacation. Twenty-three percent said they will engage in a volunteer or charitable activity while on vacation in 2009.
Ten percent said they often incorporate volunteer or charitable activities into their vacation plans. The number one reason respondents give back while on vacation is because they think it is part of their responsibility to make the world a better place.
Volunteer Interests
Out of those polled, 37 percent said their preferred way of giving back to a community they visit is getting involved in a volunteer or charitable activity.
The volunteer activities they may do on a future vacation include environmental clean-up/maintenance (35 percent), educational assistance (31 percent), cultural preservation (28 percent), and humanitarian assistance (26 percent).
Charity Strong at Home
Eighty-nine percent of respondents said they volunteer in their community. A large number of respondents have been involved in a variety of programs in their communities, including: fighting hunger and poverty (39 percent), animal assistance (34 percent), education programs (32 percent), children’s programs (31 percent), environmental clean-up/maintenance (25 percent), homeless care (24 percent), and disaster relief (21 percent), among others.
Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO, TripAdvisor says the survey shows that people want to get involved with volunteering on vacation, and that charity is a very important topic and the companies with which they will spend their money.
