Denver-area nonprofits struggle with decline in volunteerism
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EVERGREEN, Colo. — When Evergreen Fire/Rescue welcomed its first six paid firefighters last month, it was hailed as progress for the district’s residents, with the anticipation of faster response times from staffed fire stations. But it was also a sharp turn away from a long-standing tradition: The all-volunteer model it had used for 76 years.
While the area’s aging population, climate change and life in a place ranked in the top 10 nationally for catastrophic wildfire were factors in the hiring decision, the decline in volunteerism also played into it.
It’s a trend impacting organizations of all kinds. Volunteering in the United States is at an all-time low, according to IVolunteer International, even as the need for most of the services such agencies supply is increasing. The fallout is far from minor, ranging from such potentially critical issues as delays in fire agency response times to a shortage in the national blood supply.
On a societal level, experts say it may be a symptom of, or a factor in, increasing social isolation and political division.
“Volunteers meet critical community needs, and volunteering has the power to heal our societies by creating empathy and equity,” said Jennifer Siranelo, CEO of Points of Light, an international nonprofit dedicated to volunteerism. “It’s imperative that we work together to reverse the downward trend in volunteering.”
While the pandemic exacerbated the issue, it was not the cause. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the volunteer rate in the United States has been steadily declining for more than a decade. Charitable giving is also down in the U.S., a fact attributed to economic uncertainty, stock market volatility and an increase in smaller and single-parent families.
Volunteering has historically been led by college graduates, married people and parents. But today’s younger generations are strained not just for time but money, and are more likely to not only work several jobs but share housing to make ends meet, according to the Center for the Study of the Individual and Society. That leaves them with little discretionary time.
The issue has hit the fire service hard. The number of volunteer firefighters has declined for the last three decades, hitting a record low in 2020, according to the National Fire Protection Association. During that same time period, the U.S. population — and demands for emergency services —grew. Among smaller fire districts, the average age of a volunteer firefighter is going up, with fewer younger people throwing their hats into the volunteer ring.
Not long ago, Evergreen Fire/Rescue Chief Mike Weege said EFR turned prospective volunteers away.
“We’d get roughly 30 applying and have (volunteer firefighter) academies of 25,” he said. “Eight to 10 years ago, we started getting far fewer people who could commit the time to do it. Our academies would only be six people, and we had to combine them with Genesee, Foothills and Indian Hills (fire districts).
“Today, both parents working is the norm, and people are working longer hours,” he continued. “I think people’s lives are far too busy for the amount of time and motivation it takes to volunteer for a dangerous activity.”
Nearby Elk Creek Fire is facing the same challenges, which Chief Jacob Ware attributes in part to the foothills’ shifting population.
“The demographics have changed a lot here,” he said. “Historically, volunteer fire departments were made up a lot of blue-collar, often self-employed people — people who had the ability to break away from their jobs in the middle of the day to answer a fire call.”
With the escalating cost of housing in the mountains, fewer of those people can afford to live in Conifer. And those that do are pressed for time.
“You have to hustle to live in the mountains,” Ware said. “Between work, family and everything else, the time you have to volunteer is dwindling.”
Vitalant, which has 10 Colorado blood donation centers and is the primary blood provider for over 95% of Colorado’s hospitals, is seeing far fewer donors than in the past. Vitalant declared an emergency blood shortage in 2024, and it’s not the first time the nonprofit blood services provider has done so.
“Overall, the number of people donating with Vitalant has dropped about 20% since before the pandemic, while patients’ needs remain strong,” said Brooke Way, Vitalant’s communications manager. “If there’s a shortage and we don’t have the available blood, that’s when hospitals and doctors have to make those impossible choices of whether to postpone a surgery that’s been scheduled, so a trauma (victim) can get that unit. That’s what we try to avoid.”
It’s left local and national organizations scrambling for solutions, and pondering creative new ideas to revitalize volunteering.
“We’ve tried everything under the sun to recruit new volunteers; we just had another meeting about it,” said Kevin Andrezejewski, executive director of BGOLDN, which runs a food pantry and other community food programs. “There’s been a huge shift in the demographic here. The younger population doesn’t either have the time or interest in volunteering.”
That’s particularly challenging because the need for BGOLDN’s programs is growing. Demand for its home delivery program, available to people who need supplies from the food pantry but don’t have transportation, has doubled in the last 18 months. But BGOLDN doesn’t have enough drivers to bring food to those homes or pick up food donations from area grocery stores.
“We have more volunteer shifts to fill,” Andrezejewski said. “We don’t want to decrease the number of families we support, and we could grow the program. But with the shortage of volunteers, we have to hold back on expanding it too much.”
A Little Help provides services to seniors throughout the metro area, northern Colorado and Grand Junction that can make the difference between individuals moving to assisted living or staying in their homes. During the pandemic, the Denver-based nonprofit saw a surge in volunteers. But as life returned to normal, that help faded away.
“A lot of our open requests from seniors are going unfulfilled,” said Jake Dresden, A Little Help’s metro Denver director. “Rides to the doctor, the bank, the grocery store, tech support requests, companionship requests … we’re not at a healthy level of volunteers to meet those.
“We always feel the sweet spot for us is at least 2-to-1 volunteers to older adult members. And we are not at that number,” Dresden continued. “The last six months, we’ve been running 2-to-1 members to volunteers. That’s not a recipe for success.”
Not only do seniors often physically need help with such chores and tasks, volunteer assistance can make a critical financial difference for them.
“The big broad piece is helping them stay in their homes,” Dresden said. “A lot of our members are living on very fixed incomes. The thought of paying a landscaping crew to rake leaves, or getting an Uber to go to the doctor, that’s money they don’t have budgeted.”
Because Colorado is a popular state for retirees, Dresden doesn’t see the demand for services easing.
A Little Help sends a weekly email to its volunteers and has made volunteering as flexible as possible. Volunteers choose the task they want to do and when they’d like to do it. Still, the list of unfilled requests hasn’t grown shorter.
“We’re trying all sorts of different methodologies to bring new volunteers on, but we’re having to start waiting lists for certain areas and services,” Dresden said.
Solutions
The problem is clear, but solutions are less so. Yet, people across the country are working to find them, and with good reason.
Volunteering is good for us, on an individual and larger societal level. Research shows links between volunteering and improved physical health, cognitive function, elevated mood, increased social interactions, decreased loneliness and even increased mortality, according to the Stanford Center on Longevity. On a more global scale, volunteerism contributes to social cohesion, community well-being and the economy.
The Generosity Commission, made up of experts across the philanthropic sector, is dedicated to increasing civic participation. It’s spent the last three years studying the country’s decline in charitable giving and volunteering and mapping a plan to reverse it.
Those include getting public figures to talk about how they benefit from giving and volunteering, reaching out to younger generations and reinforcing the role of businesses in encouraging employee giving. IVolunteer International suggests offering virtual volunteering options like tutoring, nonprofit tech support or online advocacy as a way to match volunteering opportunities with the shift to remote work and lifestyles.
Evergreen Fire/Rescue is redesigning its volunteer program, using a system of points and small-dollar rewards that allows volunteers flexibility in how and when they respond.
“We need to meet people where they are, to allow people to do what they can do versus forcing them to fit into our box,” Weege said. “If you want to just do wildland (fires), if you want to just do EMS, there’s a place for you here. So you don’t have to do all the training. We’ve brought in quite a few people by doing that.”
Denver-based Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, which builds trails and improves habitat statewide, said it’s changed its offerings to try to meet its volunteers’ abilities.
“We’re getting more one-off (volunteer stints) than people who’ll come out multiple times a year now,” said VOC’s marketing manager Kim Gagnon. “So we’re trying to broaden the type of work we offer folks. Some people can volunteer on a fourteener with no problem. And some people feel that reward from a three-hour harvest in a garden in downtown Denver. These are interesting trends, and we’re just trying to problem-solve as we go.”
Vitalant has offered donor giveaways like the chance to win $5,000 prepaid gift cards, and more recently a $5,000 Halloween jackpot. As the shift to remote work has decreased donations from business blood drives, Vitalant’s now encouraging schools to host blood drives.
Those who volunteer regularly see the benefits clearly.
Conifer resident Peyton Thomas, who launched the nonprofit Speakers for Africa to help Ugandan schoolchildren, said the work not only broadens his perspective about other cultures, but gives him a fresh outlook on his own life.
“When I start complaining about Wi-Fi speed or my food taking too long to get to me, I think, ‘I need to go back to Uganda and regroup,’ because they know what is real,” he said. “Life is a help-others program. I’m convinced getting outside of ourselves sand helping others is what we’re supposed to do.”
Joseph Lothringer recently donated his 70th gallon of blood at Vitalant’s Parker donation center. He’s enjoyed a lifetime of good health and said donating is a way to share some of that with those who haven’t been as lucky.
“It’s an act of gratitude,” said the 68-year-old Centennial resident. “I won the physiological lottery. I think of people that are fighting for their lives against cancer. To give them a shot of platelets, to use my health to help people that didn’t win the lottery, that’s the least I can do. Emotionally, it’s a very satisfying feeling.”
It took Lothringer 40 years of regular donations to reach 70 gallons, and he’s not done yet.
“Absolutely, I’m going to keep doing it,” he said. “My goal now is 100 gallons.”