In our last issue we posed the question, "Should we be placing a dollar value on the work volunteers and donors contribute to charitable and non-profit organizations?"  Not surprisingly, we received feedback on this issue.  Some of our readers share their thoughts:

 

“When I was Director of Retired and Senior Volunteer program we put the hourly minimum wage to the hours worked by the 3,000 volunteers and were surprised that it came to over a million dollars.  We presented that information to the city the next time we submitted our grant and they were amazed that our seniors were giving back that much to our city.  Hours are impressive,  but when you put a dollar amount to it, the point is driven home.

 

I think the information needs to be included some place if not on the budget as an addendum.” - Linda Lee Davis, Independent Consultant and former VP of Development for Warm Spring Rehabilitation System. 

 

 “I think they could be considered as in-kind gifts.” 

- Christine Chediak, Development Manager, Gilda’s Club South Florida

 

 “I worked in Catholic schools for over 20 years before my current position.  During all that time, we kept track of and estimated a minimum wage value for our volunteers, which we published in our school newsletter and made note of every chance we got.  Our reasoning was simple:

 

*it emphasized the importance of volunteering for our students, parents, alumni, and friends

*it validated our claims of community support in grant requests

*it reminded our supporters that we were careful stewards of their money, saving through volunteerism wherever possible”

 

- Pat Thornton, Planned Giving Coordinator, Southern Poverty Law Center

 

As a follow-up, we are pleased to share an article in this issue which provides our readers with more concrete information on how to place a dollar value on volunteer contributions (see How Much "Volunteer Value" Does Your Organisation Have?  Putting A Dollar Value on Your Volunteer Contributions ).