The Monetary Value of Volunteer Time

Determining an economic value to assign to volunteer time is getting more and more attention. 

• Website for monetary value in the US - Independent Sector.   Most current figure (announced in 2009 for 2008): $20.25/hour
  http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/
  volunteer_time.html
• Website for monetary value in the UK -
  http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/SP110.asp
• Material on valuing volunteering in the Australasian region on the OzVPM site -

http://www.ozvpm.com/resourcebank/resource_monetaryvalue.htm

Articles and reports on this topic:

• "Assigning Economic Value to Volunteer Activity: Eight Tools for Efficient Program Management" - 2002 guide from Nonprofits Canada  (24-pg PDF)

• The Cost of a Volunteer:   2003 report by the Grantmaker Forum on Community and National Service reveals the level of infrastructure neccessary for an organization to effectively involve volunteers (24-pg PDF)
• The Dollar Value of Volunteer Time, by Susan J. Ellis
• A Note On Assessing Value, from BEST OF ALL: The Quick Reference Guide To Effective Volunteer Involvement by Linda Graff (2005) -[ Important points! ]
• "The Value of Volunteering" by Arden Brummell, Past Chair, Volunteer Calgary

 

Web sites related to this topic:

Economic Impact Of Volunteers Calculator created by the Points of Light Foundation estimates the appropriate wage rate for volunteer time based on what the person does and the value of specific tasks according to market conditions as reported by the US Department of Labor.  A starting point for organizations to determine the value of the time their volunteers give doing a wide variety of volunteer jobs.

The Economic Value of Volunteering

http://www.cev.be/113-economic_value_of_volunteering-EN.html

The European Volunteer Centre's compilation of efforts in Europe to measure the economic impact of volunteering.

 

3/11/09

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Permission is granted for organizations to download and reprint this article. Reprints must provide full acknowledgment of source, as provided:

Excerpted from Focus on Volunteering KopyKit, 2nd Edition By Susan J. Ellis, © 1999, Energize, Inc.

Found in the Energize website library at: http://www.energizeinc.com/art.html