In these trying times, both economically and now socially with the “swine flu,” it has become apparent that we need to both value our volunteers and know their value to us. To this end, I found a rather interesting statistic from the Independent Sector:
“Independent Sector has announced that the 2008 estimate for the value of a volunteer hour is $20.25 per hour. Organizations can use this number to quantify the enormous value volunteers provide. Last year’s estimate was $19.51. The hourly value of volunteer time is based on the average hourly wage for all non-management, non-agriculture workers as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 12 percent increase to estimate for fringe benefits. Independent Sector will release updated figures for each state later this spring.”
The figure of $20.25 per hour would of course be adjusted for regional variations, hence their state-by-state figures, but it does give us an independent source that we can reference when trying to justify our budgets and the cost of our departments. For example, if your department responds to 500 calls a year, averages 10 responders per call, and each call averages one hour in length, there is a direct value of over $100,000 per year. While $100,000 may sound like a lot, it in no way reflects the true cost of staffing 10 members 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, which would be millions, but is not justifiable for a department only answering 500 calls a year.
Where the hourly figure is useful is in justifying recruitment and retention programs. It is realistic to offer your members $5 per call to respond when the value is $20.25 per hour. You can directly show your community the value and how $5 per call is barely a quarter of the value and therefore is only a reimbursement for their effort. Even showing the public the average savings per call does not account for the training hours that went into the response, which could equal or exceed response hours.
Another benefit of knowing the value of a volunteer hour is in billing for services. While this may seem to be against some of the principles of being a volunteer organization, billing for services is a reality. For example, any large gathering usually has police, fire and EMS coverage. The event host always has to pay for police coverage, usually has to pay for EMS but rarely pays for the volunteer fire coverage. This is a shame as the event could not occur without proper coverage, yet fire departments are getting the short end. Charging for volunteer hours is only one part of the cost, but if you provided five firefighters for a 10 hour event, it is reasonable to charge the event host $1,000 which I am sure your department could use.
If you really want to know what your department and its members are worth, there are multiple tools online that can help. The challenge is in determining the cost to provide an equal level of coverage with paid staff, including personnel, equipment, management and overhead. Many volunteer departments own their own equipment and buildings — a huge cost that would have to be considered.
It is sad to say, but people value what they pay for and ignore what they get for free. Volunteer departments need to know what their value is, and communicate it to the communities they serve. Some communities do not have an idea of what your value is, but now you have a place to start. So the next time they try to cut what little they are giving you now, ask for your $20.25 per hour, per person, per call!