Voluntary Sector Surveys
	Introduction
	The National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating
	The Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering
	The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations
	Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Survey

Voluntary Sector Surveys

Introduction

How do Canadians volunteer? What are the characteristics of the Canadian voluntary sector, and how does it compare internationally? Recent research has shed light on these and many other questions, outlining the types and contributions of the individuals and organizations that make up the sector. It has also highlighted new areas for investigation.

The Office of the Voluntary Sector (OVS) has created two separate summaries of key data from the various surveys listed below.

• Update on Voluntary Sector Surveys, February 2005
• Overview of Voluntary Sector Surveys, by Theme Area, July 2005

The National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating

The National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) is a survey of household-level charitable giving, volunteering and participatory behaviour. It outlines the characteristics of donors and volunteers, the frequency and type of their participation, and provides details on motivations and barriers to giving and volunteering.

In 2001, this survey was redesigned and renamed. Data collection for the new Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP) will be carried out on a three-year cycle, beginning in 2004. In that same collection year, some of the respondents from the previous survey will be re-interviewed to estimate flows into and out of giving, volunteering, and participating, and the motivations behind these movements.

View the results of the most recent Survey: at www.GivingAndVolunteering.ca .

The Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering

Sponsored by Statistics Canada, the Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering contains new statistics on the economic contribution of the nonprofit sector in Canada. The satellite account is part of the Canadian System of National Accounts and consists of a set of economic accounts, including the value of productive activity (Gross Domestic Product), sources of income and expenditures of the Canadian nonprofit sector for the period 1997 to 1999. Also included is an extended measure of Gross Domestic Product that factors in the value of volunteer work.

This report contains descriptive analysis of the size, scope and nature of Canada's nonprofit sector in economic terms, statistical tables and information on the concepts, data sources and methods used to compile the estimates. It is the first in an ongoing annual series

Download a copy of the survey .

The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations

The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (NSNVO) is a two-year research project that is intended to build our understanding of the nonprofit and voluntary sector in Canada and its needs for capacity building. The project has two main objectives:

• To collect comprehensive information about the breadth of the sector in Canada, the various types of organizations that exist, the benefits that they work to provide, the financial resources they rely on, their role as employers, and the volunteers they engage; and,
• To provide a preliminary assessment of the needs of organizations for assistance in building their capacity to achieve their missions.

For more information on this survey, and to download a copy of the survey, please go to the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations .

Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Survey

The findings presented in this report emerge from work carried out by Imagine Canada (formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy) as part of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project (JHP). The Government of Canada funded the Canadian component of the JHP as part of the Voluntary Sector Initiative. This project addresses basic gaps in knowledge about the international nonprofit and/or civil society sector, and sheds light on reasons for the significant disparities that exist in the size, composition, financing and role of the sector in various countries and regions. This report outlines major historical developments that have shaped the sector, presents key findings, and discusses legal and political issues faced by the sector today. The final chapter draws conclusions from the data presented and outlines implications of the findings.

Canadian data sources for this study include The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations; the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating; and TheSatellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering. This report uses study results along with data generated by the John Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project on 36 other countries to provide the first empirical overview of the Canadian nonprofit and voluntary sector, and the first systematic comparison with similar sectors elsewhere in the world.