Volunteer hours in kind

"Volunteers are not paid, not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless"

It *is* a good idea to show non-cash contributions as a budget line as "match funding" - xx volunteers and average hours contributed and what it -would- have cost you if you were paying them; free space to the value of xx cash value. I would tend to leave a small blank space under the total you are asking for, then list 'your' contribution in this way, to make it clear that it is not part of the grant request, but additional information.

Volunteer expenses can be sought in a grant application - refunds of travel costs, reasonable refreshments costs, even training (Child Protection, First Aid, etc) - depending on the funders' own guidelines.

However, you cannot ask a funder to pay for something that you are getting for free. Let's face it, if (for example) rent is costing you 'zero', it would be dishonest to ask for £2000 as a contribution towards rent.

For rent/pro bono services (e.g. accountancy, IT), the charity should know how much these would cost so they know what the funding gap would be if they suddenly do have to find money for them in the future (e.g. need to move premises, loss of a key volunteer). If you are recieving a lot 'for free' then it would be reasonable to ask a funder for a small contribution to your reserves - perhaps a small percentage of the grant you are asking them for - as money in the bank to tide you over if you have to pay for these services in future and need to cover 'fundraising lag'.

Having said that, I'm afraid the vast majority of funders will not make contributions towards reserves. Strictly speaking they should if they work on a full cost recovery basis - see [url]www.fullcostrecovery.org.uk[/url] - but most won't. This is because even funders' cash is limited and we would rather it was spent immediately - otherwise it might as well sit in our bank as yours. If you have a good relationship with your funders and make sure that they are aware of the contribution that your organisation is making in terms of time/free services, then it might be a door towards asking for an emergency top up from that funder if you do find yourself incurring unexpected costs through suddenly having to pay for something you were getting for free. Even if they won't consider a contribution to reserves up front, funders would probably consider 'emergency additional (actual) costs' - rather than see a project go under. Certainly we would fall into this category and have made such 'emergency' grants to funded organisations in the past. However, please be aware that doing this may (in fact should, and almost certainly will) raise questions about your organisation's planning/contingency planning, so don't do it unless you really have to! Projects that make me drop everything and have to nag trustees for agreements between meetings do tend to go on our Grumpy Lists.

Having given that Awful Warning, may I just say that in my experience (and I've seen lots of applications), very few organisations are so far-thinking as to want to recognise the value of their volunteers/pro bono services - so gold stars to those that do :)

Thanks for all the replies - I think it just shows that not one way fo doing it fits all!

I think in this ase I will not include it in the budget - so it doesn't look too expensive - but I shall definitely highlight the commitment wehave from voluteers as something already 'pledged' as it were to the appeal. It is certainly one of the main strengths of the project.

Thanks again - this si the first time I've posted on this forum but it is very useful, especially as the only fundraiser in my org, to bounce ideas.

Well, charitable trusts have a wide range of views on just what they accept (at least from the training courses I've been on). :)

We assign our standard support worker hourly rate to volunteers - we get them doing the same work as the support workers. We tell the funders how we've worked out value of the work.

Seems to have worked so far.

Tend to use it more where I have space to type, 2 page limit some funders use (or in the case of forms, just a few lines) means some info has to be included and some excluded.

"People tend to use number of people and hours they work but often shy away attributing a value to their input - however this a very powerful means of delivering the value of the project."

I was going to add (before I pressed the wrong button!), that picking up on Gerry's point this should depend on the funder.

My background it the statutory sector and they are more inclined to want to see financial values obviously charitable trusts may be different.

Gerry is right about the issue of matchfunding. Arriving at a clear definable cost would be crucial. Need to clarify a) funder will accept this form of match; b) do they have their own rules of measuring these costs. We only found out a year into a project that the funder would only accept 15% of the matchfunding in terms of volunteer time; c) using a robust methodology to calculate these figures.

The other issue about volunteer time is it’s a beneficial outcome not a cost!. If a funder gives you £20k and can translate that into £100k of volunteer time equivalent that is just as positive and tangible as the work they carry out.

People tend to use number of people and hours they work but often shy away attributing a value to their input - however this a very powerful means of delivering the value of the project.

Hi, Josephine

Martin is right - always tell potential funders about the commitment of your volunteers.

Whether you go so far as to put a value on their time depends on the fund - if you have to provide matched funding, this can sometimes be a good way of doing so.

But, generally, I would give details of the hours and the type of work they do, without putting a value on it.

Cheers

Gerry

On larger applications I always say what was given in kind (both rent and volunteers hours for us).
It makes the organisation look efficient, having perhaps the work of 15 staff done for the cost of only 8 being paid out.
I am given to believe it also suggests commitment to the work of the organisation, that people give up their time freely in support of the work.