Leverage These 10 Research-based Facts and Stories of Inspiration to Drive Change
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Mental health, COVID-19, gun safety and domestic violence have all come to the forefront of
conversations
about overall health. These cause areas affect everyone, from students and employees in workplaces to professional athletes and entertainers to healthcare workers themselves.
When cause areas like these come into focus, equipping social impact professionals and everyday people with research is one impactful way Points of Light can honor our commitment to civic engagement. Research can help you understand the current needs and concerns of people in your community so you can develop an action plan to meet those needs.
Here are 10 research-based facts about mental health, safety and issues related to both, along with stories of everyday people driving change in their communities around these causes. With this compelling research and these inspiring stories, we hope you’ll feel equipped to drive real and sustained change in your own community.
10 Research-Based Facts about Mental Health, Domestic Violence, Gun Safety, and COVID-19
1. Thirty-nine percent of people are concerned about MENTAL HEALTH when compared to other issue areas.
Of the respondents, Gen Z showed the highest concern about mental health issues at 44%, with Millennials following closely at 42%, Gen X at 40% and Baby Boomers at 31%. This generational breakdown may reflect the increase in conversation and education around mental health over the past few decades, becoming a less taboo topic for younger generations.
2. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they have been personally impacted by mental health issues.
Typically, people are most moved to action when they experience the impacts of a specific issue. While this might mean a personal lived experience, often people can access empathy when a loved one has been impacted.
3. Eighty-three percent of people chose to respond to this issue through VOLUNTEERING.
Volunteering is one of nine elements of the
Points of Light Civic Circle
®
and represents one of the most powerful ways to lend hands-on support for a cause. Nonprofit organizations rely on their volunteers to help drive their missions forward and stretch donor funds as far as possible. When it comes to mental health, respondents said they volunteered their time and talent either by intentionally helping someone else or volunteering with an organization, whether in-person or online.
See how servicewoman Michaela White is advocating for mental health in the military.
4. Fifteen percent of people are concerned about GUN SAFETY when compared to other issue areas.
This statistic reflects a drastically lower level of interest when compared to the broader topic of mental health. This could reflect the fact that fewer people are personally impacted by gun violence when compared to mental health, but it could also reflect the charged political nature of conversations around gun safety. Interestingly, men and women showed equal concern about this issue at 15%.
5. Sixty percent of respondents took the time to learn about gun safety.
Listening and learning
is another element of the Civic Circle and, for gun safety, is perhaps the most critical. Learning about a social issue can help educate you about the many nuances rather than having a “blanket” perspective on it. It can also help you make more thoughtful and informed decisions about how to approach solutions. People believe that some of the most helpful actions related to gun safety involve individual effort, like personal education on the issue and
voting
.
Read about high school student Yating “Tina” Tang who is lifting up the marginalized and combating gun violence through activism and art.
6. Thirty-two percent of women said DOMESTIC VIOLENCE was one of their top areas of concern, compared to 22% of men.
Domestic violence is another cause area with interest being driven by those most commonly affected by the issue – in this case, women. While men are certainly not exempt from domestic violence, women are considerably more likely to experience it. Thirty-four percent of respondents reported that a close friend or family member had been impacted by domestic violence, a statistic that could lend itself to increasing empathy and concern among all people, regardless of gender.
7. Sixty-eight percent of individuals took time to post and share content on their social media channels around the issue of domestic violence, while 63% intentionally helped someone affected by domestic violence.
See how Air Force member Matthew Storer is helping families escaping domestic violence to start anew.
8. Fifty-five percent of people are concerned about COVID-19 when compared to other issue areas.
Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 was one of the top-ranked issue areas in terms of concern. Since the COVID-19 virus, and the ensuing pandemic, affected every single person across the globe, it’s no wonder that many people showed the most interest in this issue.
9. Sixty-three percent of Baby Boomers cited COVID-19 as a top concern.
Since people over the age of 65 are more at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, it is clear why Baby Boomers, among all the generations, would be the most concerned about this issue. In contrast, 49% of Gen Z cited COVID-19 as a top concern, while Millennials and Gen X showed interest at 51% and 58%, respectively.
10. Seventy-nine percent of respondents made a donation to a COVID-related cause or organization.
Donate
is another element of the Civic Circle, and encompasses contributions of money, services or goods to a cause. Since the landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic has largely moved from disaster response to recovery, it makes sense that individuals are choosing to donate to organizations responding to the crisis.
Read about public health employee Alyssa Antczak’s efforts to set up mass vaccination clinics and organize COVID-19 testing sites during the pandemic.
Want to keep diving? Take a look at these topics to find out how you can leverage our research to take civic action in your own community:
5 Ways to Champion Sustainable Practices With Points of Light Research
This is the first in a series on findings from Points of Light research. Check out the other blogs in this collection:
Earth Day is on April 22, and it’s a natural time to think about one of the biggest threats – and opportunities for action – facing the world today: climate change. It’s a global issue with big implications, including impacts on our health, our access to food, and the future of flora and fauna that support and sustain our planet. We’ve compiled some sustainable practices to help you make a positive impact.
Points of Light’s
research
shows that 40% of people are concerned about
climate change
when compared to other issue areas, and 43% of people are concerned about the
environment
when compared to other issue areas. This difference is likely due to the politization of climate change in recent years.
It’s clear that climate change is going to require large-scale, systemic change. Every individual has the opportunity to make a difference and affect positive change. Here are some tips for how you can leverage strategies for sustainability, tackle climate change and work toward a healthier environment.
5 everyday Sustainable Practices
Learn About the Issue of Climate Change
Did you know that 73% of people said they took time to learn about the issue of climate change?
Listening and learning
is a crucial first step to tackling any social issue or cause area and is one of the nine elements of the
Points of Light Civic Circle
®
.
When we learn about an issue before jumping into finding solutions, we can more effectively combat the challenges and remain sensitive to the communities impacted by it. If we don’t have the foundational knowledge surrounding what is going on, what work is currently being done and how best to help, we may even unintentionally cause further harm trying to solve the issue.
Start by reading books and blogs, listening to experts and examining research to get educated on the current state of things. You can check out
TED Talks
focused on climate change, add some
books
on the issue to your library and listen to
podcasts
from knowledgeable experts in the field.
Volunteer With an Environmentally-focused Organization
Volunteering
your time and talent is another element of the Civic Circle, and this is an excellent way to lend hands-on support to the causes you care about, including environmental issues and climate change. Volunteers provide critical support in the form of pro-bono labor, saving organizations valuable funds, increasing people power and maximizing resources.
You’ll want to make sure you find credible organizations that are working to solve the issues in sustainable ways. You’ll also want to be mindful of your schedule and capacity and choose an organization that can allow you to volunteer when you’re able – whether that’s once a week, once a month or during a special event with a team.
See how New Jersey teenager Jashmitha Sappa is working to keep batteries out of landfills.
Donate to a Nonprofit Taking on Climate Change
Don’t feel you have the time or capacity to volunteer? You can always
make a difference with your dollar
. As you research organizations working to tackle climate change, consider donating to these causes. Besides helping these organizations to thrive, you can also support ongoing research on climate change and the environment through your donations. Check our Points of Light’s free digital magazine,
Civic Life Today: Donate
, to learn more about how to vet each organization you consider to ensure that donor money is being spent wisely and the organization is actively working to advance the cause.
Whether you provide a one-time or recurring donation, your funds can help make a huge impact on the issues. Nonprofits in particular rely on donations to sustain their mission. Donors are what help these organizations pay their staff, resource their volunteer projects and keep moving forward with their crucial work. Through contributing money, services or goods, you can support the welfare of others and help advocate for a more sustainable, environmentally friendly future.
Contact Your Representatives to Voice Your Concerns
How else can you combat climate change and work towards a healthier, brighter future for the planet? Since many of the sources causing environmental harm today come from large corporations and well-established systems, changes in political leadership and agendas are necessary to see large-scale improvements.
As an individual, you can
use your voice
to make your concerns known to your local and national leaders. Contact your legislative representatives, be mindful of who you’re
voting
for and what their stances are on environmental issues, sign petitions for action on climate change and even consider reaching out to local officials or leaders in your schools or workplaces to introduce green solutions to these spaces.
Read about Bank of America employee Beth Hartnett’s sustainability journey, including cultivation of a community garden in her coastal New England town.
Take Steps Toward Sustainability in Your Own Life
With a little effort, you can take steps to reduce your carbon footprint and contribute toward solving climate change. Start by assessing your own carbon footprint with a
helpful calculator
. Then find ways to cut back on activities that are contributing to harmful emissions.
Perhaps you make a plan with your family or roommates to be more mindful of water usage and energy consumption. Maybe you opt for walking, biking or public transit instead of driving everywhere – or consider carpooling with coworkers and friends.
Purchase
sustainable goods and be mindful of waste. Set up recycling or composting protocols in your home or workplace. Reduce your use of single-use plastics. There are myriad ways you can take small, daily actions to begin reducing your own carbon footprint.
Want to keep diving? Take a look at these topics to find out how you can leverage our research to take civic action in your own community:
A Return to Fundamentals Answers Challenges to Civic Engagement
Last month, the United Nations released
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
and the news was sobering. UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated in his forward, “As the world faces cascading and interlinked global crises and conflicts, the aspirations set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are in jeopardy.” Some thought leaders suggested that based on current levels of action, attitudes and shifting priorities, we could not reasonably expect to achieve these goals for another 60 years beyond 2030. This expectation must be challenged.
When the SDGs were originally announced in 2015, the business community rallied as champions, including many of Points of Light’s partners. More than 50% of the companies Points of Light supports and partners with signed on to the
United Nations Global Compact
, a public commitment to advancing the SDG agenda that asked companies to “…first do business responsibly and then pursue opportunities to solve societal challenges through business innovation and collaboration.”
Since this time, the expectations for companies have only grown. According to Points of Light’s
global civic engagement research
released in April 2022, 82% of respondents believe companies play a critical role in addressing societal challenges.
So what needs to be done? Points of Light suggests a return to fundamentals. When the SDGs launched, Guterres stated, “It simply is not possible to attain the SDGs without a wide range of people engaged at all stages, at all levels, at all times” and called for increasing community-based engagement for success to be achieved.
For Points of Light, the fundamentals of corporate community engagement are represented by
The Civic 50
. Since it was launched in 2012, The Civic 50 has provided a framework for community-based engagement and good corporate citizenship. This framework is broken down into four dimensions: investment of resources, integration across business functions, institutionalization through policies and systems and impact measurement. Companies that are building their strategies across these dimensions have better fundamentals and are well positioned to achieve their social impact objectives, including those defined by the SDGs.
- Investment: How the company strategically invests its resources in community engagement and social impact activities through volunteerism, financial giving, in-kind contributions, civic engagement and advocacy.
- Integration: How the company integrates its community engagement and social impact programs throughout its business functions and interests.
- Institutionalization: How the company institutionalizes its community engagement and social impact programs through organizational policies, systems and incentives.
- Impact: How the company measures the social and business impact outcomes of its community engagement and social impact programs.
Every year Points of Light releases
The Civic 50 report
. This report not only recognizes the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States as determined by the above dimensions, but it also provides a great indicator for the overall state of corporate community engagement.
The data in this year’s report suggest that the challenges of the last two years have dampened some aspects of the community involvement of the country’s best corporate citizens, The Civic 50, and grown other aspects.
- Overall corporate giving is down, but contributions as a percentage of revenue are up. In aggregate, companies represented by The Civic 50 contributed a total of $2 billion in cash and $1.8 billion in-kind to societal causes. These figures are not only less from pre-pandemic levels but less than 2021. On the other hand, contributions as a percentage of revenue increased. As the global economy faces headwinds related to inflation and other disrupters, we will continue to pay attention to the impact this has on the critical investment needed in social causes areas.
- External volunteering has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, but internal volunteering is higher than ever. Across companies represented by The Civic 50, 22% of employees participated in external volunteering activities and engaged in 5.8 million hours of volunteering, compared to 40% and 10.5 million hours in 2019. What is encouraging is that we are continuing to see high levels of internal volunteering, with 48% of employees participating in activities like employee resource groups, green teams and more. This is up from 33% in 2019 before the pandemic.
- One hundred percent of The Civic 50 companies reported significant efforts in integrating their community engagement into business functions. Community engagement is best served when companies share accountability across business functions. This responsibility must extend beyond expected departments, like Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility, and into departments and functions, such as marketing and PR, purchasing and procurement, research and development, sales and more.
- Impact measurement is still a challenge. The Civic 50 report showed that even the country’s top corporate citizens are struggling to consistently measure the social and business impact outcomes of its community engagement and social impact programs. This challenge was mirrored in The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, where the report cited that despite some progress, serious data gaps persist in SDG monitoring.
The fundamentals may not be easy, but as The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 shares the outputs and outcomes of the world’s collective efforts, it is important to cross-reference it with reports like The Civic 50, which track the inputs of corporate efforts toward community engagement. The trajectory of business as a societal leader is without question, and we want a promising future for our planet and its people to be without question too.
What we can learn from ‘The State of Global Civic Engagement’
This piece was originally published in Philanthropy News Digest.
For nearly two and a half years, we’ve shared one collective experience around the world. And while most of us are ready to leave behind the years of fear, uncertainty, and loss, we should think twice before rushing to get back to our “old lives,” and for good reason.
History tells us that pandemics and other crises can be catalysts for rebuilding society in new and better ways. If we seek to get back to our old ways, we—especially in the nonprofit sector—are missing an opportunity to take this historic moment to address the fractured systems and stark inequities the global pandemic has exposed, exacerbated, and solidified. We cannot be “done” when there is still so much to do.
At
Points of Light
, we’ve been shining a light on the organizations and individuals serving as those catalysts for rebuilding society. We continue to uplift hundreds of stories of light so those changemakers who have taken action, supported their communities, and made each day just a little better for others can inspire a movement.
Beyond sharing stories, we also need to take this opportunity to meaningfully study the nonprofit sector and determine how organizations can make an impact amid this “new normal.” We’ve been asking ourselves:
Who is taking action? In what ways are they engaging and on behalf of which social issues? And for those who are not engaging, why not?
Points of Light just released
Civic Life Today: The State of Global Civic Engagement
, a series of five in-depth reports that provide insight into the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and the barriers they face—globally and across the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and India—to help us begin to answer these questions. Here are some of the key findings from our research:
Engagement is changing.
The studies examined the top civic actions taken in support of a social issue as defined by the engagement framework of
Points of Light’s Civic Circle
: donating, listening and learning, using your purchasing power, service, social entrepreneurship, using your voice, volunteering, voting, and doing good through work. In the global survey, using one’s
voice
through the posting or sharing of content on a social media platform and
listening and learning
were the top two civic actions taken. These actions are important because they have low barriers to entry and are more accessible to different segments of the population, yet they can prove just as influential as traditional actions such as volunteering or donating.
The takeaway isn’t to replace one with the other but to embrace these new forms of engagement and the people who use them. The challenge we must collectively take up is to open and expand access to pathways of more direct engagement.
Now, the next part of the conversation needs to address how people are using these actions in tandem. And our research reinforces that taking a number of civic actions together can increase impact and effectiveness.
This may be an area where companies can set an example. How are companies not only speaking up about social issues but also demonstrating their efforts to listen to the communities they aim to support and sharing what they learn with their employees, consumers, and peers?
Address the perception of privilege.
Globally, survey respondents listed finances as the largest barrier to engagement: Two of the top three reasons people gave for not engaging in social issues were “unable to financially support social issues causes in general” (more than one in five respondents) and “unable to financially support causes due to negative effects of pandemic” (nearly one in five). This finding indicates a need for organizations to educate potential constituents and create additional pathways to participation beyond making donations.
The misconception that supporting social causes requires money is a barrier that we have to overcome in order to ensure that we are valuing and tapping into what each individual has to contribute to their community and the causes they care about.
How can social sector leaders help signal that easily accessible civic actions like using one’s voice and listening and learning are particularly important? One idea is for nonprofits to highlight their greatest unpaid social media amplifiers alongside their donors in annual reports. Who has helped bring the most attention to your cause?
Challenge inertia.
Newton’s first law of motion says: An object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest
unless acted upon by an outside force
.
Our research indicates that this phenomenon exists within civic engagement as well. Individuals already engaging in certain civic actions are the ones most likely to continue taking those actions. For example, 91 percent of the individuals who said they would volunteer over the next 30 days were the same people who had volunteered in the previous 30 days. This is an indicator that we are simply maintaining the volunteer force instead of growing it.
While maintenance is important, how can we put more people in motion on behalf of social good? We know that the most common reason someone volunteers is that they are asked. When was the last time you invited someone to volunteer with you?
Bridge individual change to systems change.
Systems are reinforced or dismantled one decision at a time. The journey of systems change starts with the individual, but it requires organizations everywhere to help people participate in the transformation of policies, to be included in the power dynamics, to evolve social norms, and to strengthen the civic mindset of this country and the world at large.
Our research underscored that people are looking to companies for leadership, with 82 percent of global respondents and 95 percent of respondents in India expecting companies to address the social issues in their country.
What we conclude from our research is that nonprofits can do more to provide opportunities for engagement, particularly ensuring new and more accessible pathways of entry into civic action. How can nonprofits and companies seek meaningful partnerships to engage employees and consumers, extend reach, and expand impact?
So much change in our world today can be directly translated into a wealth of opportunity, specifically how the social and nonprofit sector operates in this new normal. To meet this moment and engage the people who are critical for us to make an impact on our respective missions, we can’t wait for society to return to what it was. Instead, we must address these new challenges head on so that we can shine a light on tomorrow.
Natalye Paquin was the president and chief executive officer of Points of Light from 2017–2022.
She is a visionary and results-oriented leader, with more than 20 years of experience providing strategic, operations and fiscal leadership in the nonprofit and public sectors.
