Valuing volunteer time in your grant application, an addendum

Resource #68 addresses valuing volunteer hours for your grant application. Blue Avacado has a nice article, Tracking Volunteer Time to Boost Your Bottom Line: A Complete Accounting Guide, by CPA Dennis Walsh that expands on that topic.

I recommend that all grant writers read and share it with your clients/organizations. Three of the five reasons Walsh gives for tracking volunteer time relate to grants and funders.

1. "Our funders see volunteer inputs as a measure of effectiveness." Funders and donors want to know what resources your nonprofit already receives and from whom.
2. Too often volunteer inputs are not factored in properly, giving a false sense of the true cost.
   
3. Volunteer time can help you meet requirements for matching funds. Certain grants stipulate that the nonprofit must match a percentage of grant funds and that the value of volunteer time may qualify toward satisfaction of the match requirement.

The article gives specific advice, examples, and reference sites for collecting, valuing, and reporting volunteer time. It's a good reference for us all. [Article link]

By the way, I recommend you sign up for the free subscription to Blue Avacado, published by the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance of California, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, and the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group. It's informative and well written.