According to the Minnesota State Survey conducted in 2004, Minnesotans volunteer at a high level. About 67%, or 2.4 million Minnesotans over the age of 18, volunteered their time in 2004. This is a one percent increase since the last time the survey was conducted in 2000. The estimated dollar value of this activity is about 7.9 billion dollars (based on Independent Sector's 2004 per hour dollar value of volunteers (based on average non-agricultural wage, plus 12% benefits estimate) of $17.55. For a summary of survey findings, click here.

The 2004 Minnesota State Survey (MSS 2004) was the twenty-first annual omnibus survey of adults, age 18 and over, who reside in Minnesota. Data was collected between September and November 2004 by the Minnesota Center for Survey Research at the University of Minnesota. MSS is an "omnibus" survey, in which individual organizations define and pay for those questions which are of special interest to them. The Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA) paid for questions relating to volunteerism.

A total of 806 telephone interviews were completed for MSS 2004. The overall response rate was 35%. The survey sample consisted of households selected randomly from all Minnesota telephone exchanges. Selection procedures guaranteed that every telephone household in the state had an equal chance to be included in the survey, and that once the household was sampled, every adult had an equal chance to be included. Since the individuals who participated in MSS 2004 were randomly selected from the population of Minnesota, the survey results can be generalized to the entire state.

This survey helped establish Minnesota as a national leader of engaging its citizens as community volunteers. For at least 15 of the survey's 21 years, the former Minnesota Office of Citizenship and Volunteer Services (MOCVS) paid for the volunteerism portion of the survey. Since the office was eliminated due to the state's budgetary deficit in January 2002, volunteerism was not included in the survey. The survey findings were a loss to many community leaders who used the information to gauge community support for nonprofits and other organizations where volunteers are utilized. The statistics were useful to leaders of volunteers to develop recruitment and marketing plans. The University of Minnesota approached MAVA in the fall of 2004 for participation in the survey. The MAVA Board of Directors voted unanimously to fund the study for the price of $10,000.