FACTS: Philanthropy 101

In the U.S., 109 million volunteers do $255 billion worth of work every year.

It costs charities about $25 to recruit a volunteer offline, and almost nothing to recruit online, according to AOL.

Thirty percent of online users – especially young adults – are interested in making donations via the Internet, reports AOL.

There were 114,000 registered Internet addresses with the nonprofit designation “.org” in June ’98, up from 500 in ’92, reports online processor Donornet.

Two-thirds of teens will switch retailers to support a cause; 55 percent will switch brands, reports Cone Inc.

One in four women buy something that supports National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Seventy-seven percent have a better image of sponsor companies, and 76 percent tell their friends, reports Cone Inc.

Consumers made 21.4 million donations at The Hunger Site in the operation’s first six months, more than one per second. One person dies of hunger every 3.6 seconds.