There are a lot of issues, legal, ethical and logistical, that come up when volunteers and money collide. Yet it’s inevitable that they will. Most people have baggage around money issues, and when you combine volunteers and money, that baggage grows exponentially. We need to be willing to face the subject and have good, in-depth conversations about it.
There are three main areas about volunteers and money that I see as needing discussion: reimbursing volunteers, providing volunteers with honorariums, and charging people to volunteer.
Reimbursing volunteers.
Actually, I’m surprised that this still needs discussion. Just do it! With the skyrocketing cost of living, few people are willing to be out of pocket to give strangers a helping hand. Even those people who aren’t holding down three jobs and caring for infants and elders! Pay for any police or background checks that need doing. Cover the cost of any training required. Provide mileage reimbursement when they use their own vehicle. Or, at the very least, add up all these expenses over the course of the year and issue them a tax receipt for the total. And let them know you’re doing it! Make it perfectly clear at the outset that it won’t cost to volunteer with you. It’s the least we can do until governments provide tax receipts for donated hours.
If you don’t reimburse volunteers, remember that, all else being equal, those organisations that do will have more volunteers than you and will be able to achieve more. Isn’t your impact in the world why you exist? It’s worth the money. It really is.
Paying volunteers.
This is a more complicated subject. Depending on where you are in the world, there may be legal implications to providing volunteers with honorariums or stipends. In many jurisdictions, making someone a regular payment, even if it’s called an honorarium, can be construed as paying them a wage, and thus turn them from a volunteer into an employee. Yes, with all the rights and benefits a regular employee is entitled to. The specific rules around what is or isn’t acceptable changes every time you cross a border, so I won’t go into details, but here are a few general tips:
- You make it clear from the beginning that the organisation is under no obligation to make the payment,
- The amount provided must be significantly less than market value for the services received, and
- The payments should not be made on a regular or on-going basis.
There are exceptions to these guidelines, of course. If providing honorariums or stipends are, or are planned to be, part of your strategy I strongly suggest that you discuss it with a legal professional before you go any further.
Charging volunteers.
This one runs the gamut of having a volunteer pay a nominal deposit on a uniform to charging people hundreds of dollars for the benefit of helping out at a large event. Last October, it hit the news that the golf tournament, Ryders Cup 2025, is going to charge volunteers almost $400 usd each to volunteer at the event. The organisers gave no explanation for the record-high charge.
Now, I do understand somewhat the rational behind charging a small fee to cover the costs of providing non-returnable gear or perks to a volunteer, especially if the organisation has more volunteer applicants than they need. By charging a small fee for these items, not only can the organisation recoup some of its expenses, but it also ensures that the volunteer has some “skin in the game”, making them more likely to show up for shifts.
I had a discussion once with a board member of a local ski patrol here in BC. She said that they had provided training and ski passes for free to all volunteers at the beginning of the season. According to her, a huge portion of those volunteers never showed up for a single shift. Just took the perks and disappeared. That’s when they started charging a membership fee. I get that. I don’t get Ryders Cup. That’s just gouging.
If you are going to charge volunteers, though, I recommend that you have policies and procedures in place to allow those to whom that charge is an insurmountable barrier to volunteering. Reduce or eliminate the fee, for example, after you’ve had a discussion with them and confirmed that they would be a good fit and are reliable. Or set up some sort of payment plan. Without some option, you run the risk of limiting your volunteer diversity.
There are undoubtedly more issues around volunteers and money than I’ve mentioned here.
These, though, are the ones that I think are most vital. What I’ve written are my opinions, but I’m open to learning. If you’d like to discuss your ideas and concerns about the subject, get in touch. For us to make objective decisions about volunteers and money, we need to get together and sort through all the baggage. For the benefit of us all.
