Recognizing Your Volunteers

I read the other day that the value of volunteer time that was that was donated in 2015 to charity work was $173,000,000 (the Dilenschneider Group). The average time donated per person was 32 hours.

The figures seem high to me, but even if you divide the dollars and hours in half— it’s still an impressive and significant amount.

I’ve long been a proponent of crediting volunteer-hours and value in the Annual Report along with the list of gifts.

It’s a great way of honoring your volunteers.

Let’s say you have volunteers at the hospital, for instance, who contribute 15 hours a month. That’s 180 hours for the year.

Take the minimum wage of $7.25 (it’s more in some states). The value of the volunteer time was $1,341.25. Not inconsiderable.

But some of my clients credit them with more than the minimum. For instance, working in the Gift Shop at $12.00/hour.

Think about it. It means keeping track of the volunteer hours. But it’s well worth it.