1. We volunteers appreciate appreciation. We count what we value, so tracking is recognition that volunteer time is important. Recognition is a good investment; it pays off spectacularly.

2. Funders and donors want to know what resources your nonprofit already receives and from whom. “Our funders see volunteer inputs as a measure of effectiveness,” says Donna Newton, director of the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium, a network of 140 community-based nonprofits in Guilford County, North Carolina. “Reporting volunteer contributions is essential in securing funding.”

3. Funders, donors and the community want to know if you have the people in place to get the job done well. “This becomes a real problem when the nonprofit attempts to cost a program,” according to Kevin Gray, a program officer with the Weaver Foundation in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Too often volunteer inputs are not factored in properly, giving a false sense of the true cost.”

4. 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.

5. Documenting volunteer time can help protect volunteers and the nonprofit. Requiring volunteers to log activity creates a record that may become important evidence in defending the nonprofit or volunteers from allegations of misconduct.

(Originally posted on Blue Avocado)

You can track your volunteer hours at WGM here: http://www.weaversguildmn.org/volunteer (Thank you!)