For many not for profit and charitable organisations, volunteers are not only the backbone but the only reason they can function cost effectively.  If the hours of the volunteers were factored into budgets and costings the ‘business’, because really, that is what it is, would not be profitable.  Cash flow would be impossible, salaries and payroll taxes would cripple and the doors, either real or virtual, would have to close.

If that isn’t black and white enough, imagine a day when volunteers just didn’t turn up.  What basic needs would be unmet on just that one day?  School canteens wouldn’t open and kids would go hungry.  Sporting games would be cancelled, there would be no clean jerseys, or sporting equipment delivered, with grounds unkempt and coaches and not one orange segment to be seen.  Books would pile up in public libraries, and the homeless would be cold and without a warming meal and friendly ear, and the elderly lonely and at risk.

That is without factoring in all the essential service functions swarms of volunteers carry out in times of crisis.  The people who drop everything in time of a disaster or huge community need.  Volunteer fire fighters who answer the call and leave their families and paid jobs to risk their own lives to save strangers and their property, or highly trained search and rescue crews who scour bushland when a child wanders off or a bushwalker doesn’t return. Or wade through creeks and flood water when someone is washed away or people need rescuing or a food drop when they’ve been stranded.

Volunteers get stuff done. Often stuff that no-one else wants to do, the tiring, thankless tasks that may seem menial to some but in fact give huge value to the community and massive personal reward for the volunteer.

In recognition of the valuable hours of volunteer support, Volunteering Tasmania and WA have developed an incredible online tool (http://www.volunteeringtas.org.au/organisations/value-volunteering-calculator   for both individuals and organisations to cost the value of hours provided by volunteers, as well as a cost calculator.  This tool is invaluable in providing real and accurate data for the purposes of annual reporting, and grant application processes, particularly when ‘in kind’ contributions are an application criteria.

The tool can also be used on a more regular basis to capture a snapshot of an activity or event, or a week in the life of the organisation, providing immediate and up to date information and fantastic information for newsletters, volunteer communication, blog and social media content.

Volunteering isn’t free, not for the organisation or the volunteer, and the cost of volunteering keeps the wheels of commerce turning.  Fuel tanks need filling, public transport is taken, clothing and uniforms are bought and laundered and food is consumed.

“We know that for every dollar invested in volunteering, the community receives over $4 in benefits. We hope that managers of volunteers will adopt this calculator as a ‘go-to’ tool to measure the value of their volunteer program for grant writing or strategic planning documents” said Adrienne Picone, CEO of Volunteering Tasmania.

The Value of a man is not measured by what he does for himself to make his life easier, But, measured by what he does for others to make their lives easier – Eric E Thomas