Giving Compass' Take:

• Fast Company reports on a troubling trend: Fewer college students are volunteering, despite their desire to do good. One factor is the lack of opportunities.

• Are higher education institutions doing enough to encourage students to give time? Nonprofits can help by partnering with universities and colleges around the world, making volunteering part of the curriculum.

• Here are more volunteering trends you need to know for 2018.

More than three quarters of entering college students feel it’s their duty to help others in need, a sentiment that’s grown steadily in recent years. But how much are they willing to commit? On average, just 26% of all university students typically volunteer — lower than the number among high schoolers.

“We’re at an all-time high of entering college students’ desire to do good, but we are far from an all-time high in college students actually doing good,” says Robert Grimm, the director of University of Maryland’s Do Good Institute, which has compiled a report called “Good Intentions, a Gap in Action” about this trend. The number of college students volunteering is the lowest of all age groups, with higher interest at 29% among high schoolers, and then a surge that surpasses that on into young adulthood and middle age.

All that’s troubling for a number of reasons. Theoretically, volunteering should increase among the college set because they’re better educated, more affluent, and have more flexible schedules, all factors associated with people taking time to lend a hand at nonprofit organizations. When that doesn’t happen, students don’t just miss out on chances to grow professionally and emotionally: The Do Good report shows that many aren’t going on to volunteer as adults either, shutting down a key source of manpower for aid groups, and even shutting down a source of funding — many groups use volunteering as a step to court future donors.

Read the full article about college kids and volunteering by Ben Paynter at fastcompany.com.