Study title

The German Survey on Volunteering (FWS) is a representative survey on volunteering in Germany, aimed at people aged 14 and older. Voluntary activities and willingness to get involved are surveyed in telephone interviews (CATI). The Survey on Volunteering is the main basis of social reporting on volunteering in the Federal Republic of Germany and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). The data of the Survey on Volunteering were collected in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. In each wave, an independent sample was drawn, resulting in five cross-sectional data sets. Previously, the surveys were managed and conducted by TNS Infratest Social Research (1999 Infratest Burke). Since the end of 2011, the scientific management has been in the hands of the German Center of Gerontology (DZA). Data collection for the fourth wave in 2014 and the fifth wave in 2019 was conducted by infas Institute for Applied Social Science. The samples of all surveys were disproportionately stratified by state in order to achieve a sufficient sample size for separate state evaluations for each of the 16 federal states. In each case, the sampling frame was generated using the random-digit-dialing procedure (1999 random-last-digit procedure) according to the ADM standard. The fourth wave was conducted in the survey period 28.04.2014 to 12.11.2014. The 2014 Volunteer Survey focused on providing comprehensive information on the content, scope and context of volunteering and charitable giving and donation activities as well as on the willingness to get involved and their motives. The sampling is based on a dual-frame approach: about 70 percent of the interviews were conducted via landline and just under 30 percent via mobile phone.1. Personal data: sex; country of birth of respondent/ Germany; year of moving to Germany; household size; persons under 18 in household; household composition; if children in household: Own children; respondent...