Budgeting for a Volunteer Program: Money Well Planned and Well Spent

By Suzanne Lawson

Self-Instruction Guide
for Individuals and Teams

Self-Instruction Guide for Individuals and Teams

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program: Money Well Planned and Well Spent
By Suzanne Lawson

Ideal Audience for this Guide ........................................................................ page 1 Learning Objectives....................................................................................... page 1 How to Use Self-Instruction Guides................................................................ page 1

More Questions? Ask the Trainer Online

See page 17 for details.

Pre-Reading
Pre-Reading Assessment .............................................................................. page 2

Preparation
Underlying Principles .................................................................................... page 3 Things to Think About as You Read .............................................................. page 3

Featured Reading
Budgeting and Allocating Resources ........................................................... page 4 Additional Perspectives .............................................................................. page 11

Reflection
Study Questions .......................................................................................... page 14 Try-This Exercises ....................................................................................... page 14 Resources on This Subject........................................................................... page 15

Post-Reading
Post-Reading Assessment ........................................................................... page 16 Ask the Trainer Questions ........................................................................... page 17 Tell Us How You Liked this Guide ............................................................... page 17 About the Trainer ........................................................................................ page 18 Copyright and Terms of Use ........................................................................ page 19

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

IDEAL AUDIENCE FOR THIS GUIDE

This Guide is particularly valuable for: executive directors, CEOs, treasurers (or vice-presidents of finance) directors of volunteer services (or similar titles), directors of programs/services engaging volunteers in their work board members, other key volunteer leaders

Some may already be familiar with budgeting for volunteer programs, but this Guide may alert you to changes needed in the way the organization considers the requirements related to having a successful volunteer program and, indeed, within the annual budgeting process.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By reading this Guide and discussing its content, participants will be able to: List and define the financial costs of volunteer involvement Make decisions as to how to budget properly for volunteer-related expenses Describe how covering the costs of volunteer involvement demonstrates significant support of community engagement in the organization

HOW TO USE THESE SELF-INSTRUCTION GUIDES

The Self-Instruction Guides may look like booklets, but they are really an alternative training opportunity. The trainers who create these Self-Instruction Guides provide you with a participatory way to combine written information, exercises you can do at your desk, and an online discussion board. The selected topics allow in-depth focus on an important subject necessary to working effectively with volunteers. Most of the Guides present details and suggestions not generally available in standard volunteer management literature. Read or complete each section of the Guide in the sequence presented the order of the elements matters to the success of the learning experience. First, you will find preparatory information that sets the topic into context and a pre-reading self-assessment. Next, youll find the Featured Reading: a several-page chapter, excerpt, or article from a respected source (often, fresh material just published or newly revised) on the chosen topic. After that, youll find Additional Perspectives, which updates and expands the original writing and has been developed specifically for Everyone Ready participants. Then you will find Discussion Questions and something we call Try-This Exercises. Consider forming a study group or learning team so that you benefit from the synergy of discussing the material with others in your program. Sharing your ideas aloud reinforces the learning and lays the groundwork for actually implementing many of the ideas developed. Finally, the Trainer provides further resources for ongoing study and you can take the postreading self-quiz. The first month that each Guide is introduced, you may ask the trainer questions via the discussion board linked from your Everyone Ready Main Page. You can signup to receive
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Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

notification when the trainer responds to your question (as well as others postings) or you can just check back after 48 hours to see the trainers response. Your exchange will be made public for all learners to see (you have the option to post anonymously). You have the whole month to benefit from and further participate in additional discussions.

PRE-READING ASSESSMENT
Answer the following questions to consider how budgeting for volunteer involvement takes place in your organization or agency and what your role is in that process. 1. Do you have a copy of the current years budget? 2. Did you have a voice in providing input to this budget? 3. Are you able to read the budget and understand most of what it says, not just about the volunteer program, but about all the priorities for the organization? 4. Are any of the items below on the budget for volunteer involvement? Physical space allocation Supplies for their specific work (paper, uniforms, nametags etc.) Space/equipment to support their presence (chairs, closet, lockers etc.) Recognition Recruitment costs Volunteer management software and Internet access Training and education Meetings for volunteers (event planning, consultation, volunteer leadership group, etc.) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No

5. Does the budget provide for skilled administration of volunteer involvement in the organization? Through the engagement of one or several professional volunteer administrators? Through area directors or managers with additional skill training and capacity in volunteer administration/management? Through the presence of competent administrative assistance? Yes Yes Yes No No No

Comments:

6. List 2 noticeable gaps in the budget important to volunteer engagement in your organization. 1. ________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________________________________

Everyone Ready Self-Instruction Guide

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Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES
Volunteers are not free.
Volunteer contribution to an organization, to a program, comes with a cost. The cost can be high or modest, depending on the situation, but it is a cost. One of the Guiding Principles for Volunteer Involvement highlighted in the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement reads: Volunteers have rights. Voluntary organizations recognize that volunteers are a vital human resource and will commit to the appropriate infrastructure to support volunteers. Appropriate infrastructure means different things to different people, but without it, a volunteer program is undermined and bound to be less effective than it should be. Organizations need to continue to wrestle with what this means for them and how the annual budget can support what is needed and desired. Volunteers are precious commodities for an organization. Consider what would happen if they all disappeared. There would be less work done, a noticeable absence of a caring human presence for clients, a less attractive program, and so onyou can fill in the blanks. If volunteers are not treated with respect and care (and that means skilled management and budgetary support!), they will leave either in droves or one by one. Replacing volunteers is expensive. So, a budget that pays attention to their presence and their value will support their continuation and loyalty because they feel valued.

Volunteer administration is a profession and should be compensated as such.

Recruiting, matching volunteers with the right jobs, supporting, coaching, recognizing volunteer contribution, etc. take a leaders time and require the leader to have highly-developed skills in human relations and program management (we call this volunteer administration, volunteer management., or managing volunteer resources). Volunteer administration is a profession and not usually done well when it is added as an extra task for a staff member or lead volunteer to take on grudgingly. Years of skill development and learning go into the skills belonging to someone competent enough to lead volunteers effectively. This level of skill requires the same salary consideration (and thus budgeting) as a director in another department within the organization. If coordinating volunteer involvement must be a part-time responsibility, I urge you to consider the specialized skills required and compensate accordingly.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT AS YOU READ

The Featured Reading, Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis, was originally written for senior leaders such as CEOs and executive directors. If you fit neither of those categories, think about how you, from your position, can influence a change to improve the way the organizations budget supports volunteers. Also, consider possible funding sources for an increased revenue line in the budget related to volunteers. Sometimes you may feel powerless to make any major changes, but my experience would say that a reasoned proposal stating clear benefits from such a change will get serious consideration by your supervisor. There are many priorities to balance when its budget time. Think about the full value volunteers bring to the organization, whether they are service, program, or governance volunteers. Where do volunteers and volunteer administration fit in the pecking order now? Is that the right place for this resource to be ranked? What are the gaps in your current budgeting process related to the volunteers?

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Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading

FEATURED READING
Budgeting and Allocating Resources
Excerpt from Chapter 3 in From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc. Let's examine each possible line item in a volunteer involvement budget and discuss the considerations in arriving at reasonable costs. Special needs in the start-up phase of a program will be indicated in each category. Personnel As you review the expenditures necessary in the personnel category, consider both direct and indirect costs. [T]he number of full- or part-time staff you designate or hire will depend upon many factors, including the number and types of volunteers, your hours of operation, etc. Salary Range for a Director of Volunteer Involvement I am often asked about the appropriate salary range for a director of volunteer involvement. This is an unproductive question because of the vast variety of settings in which volunteers work. It is nearly impossible to compare the operating budgets of an institution such as a museum or hospital with a grassroots agency such as a literacy program or food pantry. Clearly the salary range for any position, including that of the top executive, will differ wildly between such extremely diverse situations. Determining the salary of your director of volunteer involvement should be based on one criterion only: What are you presently paying other department heads or key management employees? The director of volunteer involvement is a management position and the only valid measure of appropriate salary is in comparison with other positions at the same level in your agency. In fact, this is one indicator of how much value you place on the position and, ultimately, on the importance of the contribution of volunteers. The job requires decision making, leadership, and a great deal of public contact on behalf of the organization. If you place the salary on a level with line or clerical staff, you cannot demand management-level credentials or performance from the person you hire to fill the job. You should therefore budget for the position on the basis of its professionalismand hire accordingly! Other Staff Positions The personnel budget category will, of course, include the clerical or administrative assistants and any additional volunteer management staff necessary because of the size or schedule of the volunteer corps. For example, volunteers can and often do work many evening and weekend hours, even if the agency is officially open only on weekdays. Who is available to work with volunteers in your off time, but their on time? Do you need a staff member with hours to match those of the volunteers? Employee benefits are the next line item. Finally, you might want to estimate the cost of the time devoted by other agency staff to the training and supervision of volunteers. While this will not be a direct budget line item, it may help you in identifying the true cost of the resources you are allocating to support volunteers. Operational Costs and Other Needed Resources Several of the following items will not be new expenses but will require a re-allocation of present organizational resources.
Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading Space and Other Facilities Volunteer involvement needs supportive office space that affords the following: Easy access from the entrance of the building, since prospective volunteers (members of the public) will be coming in for interviews and training. Also, proximity to the entrance will allow the director of volunteer involvement to maintain contact with volunteers arriving and departing on their scheduled work days and control of the sign in/out system. Privacy for interviewing prospective volunteers Secure storage space for volunteers' coats and other personal belongings (and uniforms, if applicable) Group workspace for meetings or other activities Work stations for volunteers

Volunteers need adequate space in which to work, in whatever location they are placed. Staff may indeed want assistance with a variety of projects, but has anyone thought through where each volunteer will sit, have a clear work surface, have access to office equipment? Also, is there anywhere that the volunteer can store his or her work materials in-between visits? Is there any provision for a mail bin or file folder so that messages may be left for the volunteer? These kinds of details make work go smoothly and indicate that volunteers are indeed integrated into the organizational environment. In addition to the space needed on a daily basis, the volunteer office also needs access to: Space for orientation sessions and in-service training meetings (varying group sizes) Adequate restroom facilities Space in various locations for sign-in books or other volunteer communication mechanisms, such as bulletin boards Possibly, lounge areas for volunteer rest periods. Will volunteers share the same kitchen or coffee/tea area as employees? Is there enough room for everyone?

Access to space and facilities for volunteer use should be uniform with all other units, on a first come/first served basis. If employees can bump volunteers from a properly-reserved space for no urgent reason, then volunteers learn they have access to the facilities only when otherwise unoccupied. Furniture and Equipment Assess available workspace and furniture in terms of the impact of more people (volunteers) coming into the facility at various hours. Too many organizations have discovered too late that they did not have enough chairs for volunteers who dutifully arrived for work at their scheduled time. Other needsmost of which are one-time, start-up costs rather than annual expensesare: Coat racks and locked cabinets for volunteers personal items Computers, not only for volunteer leadership staff, but also designated for volunteer use (especially if a number of volunteers have been recruited to do clerical workit is usually not feasible to expect employees to share their keyboards all the time) Slide or LCD projector and screen (for recruitment or volunteer orientation slide shows and videos) Bulletin boards
Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading File cabinets (keep in mind that the volunteer office is the non-salaried personnel office and will generate paper files in much the same way as the employee personnel office does despite computerized records) Possibly some comfortable furniture for a conversation/interview or lounge area

Telephones Again, the number of telephone instruments and lines will depend upon the size and nature of volunteer activities. But keep in mind that the volunteer office depends heavily on telephone contacts, both in recruitment/public relations and in ongoing communication with volunteers. If you are creating any project that involves telephoning by volunteerstelephone reassurance programs, market surveying, political canvassing, client follow-upthe cost of telephone calls may be a major consideration for you. But with traditional telephone services changing all the time, and new advances in cell phones and Internet calling options, this expense category may be one that actually decreases or disappears over time. Supplies This is a budget category that is too often treated as minor, while it is really the tip of an iceberg. Budgeting for supplies should be done on the basis of the needs of both the volunteer "office" (a small number of paid staff) and the volunteers themselves (many more people). Consumption of supplies will rise as the number of active volunteers increases: productivity comes at the cost of support materials. A possible list of supplies would include: Paper and stationery Pencils and pens Printer and copier toner and paper Paper clips, erasers, etc. Paper towels and other maintenance materials Coffee, tea, and paper cups

In a workshop I ran some years ago for school principals, one participant asked to address his colleagues. He proceeded to tell the true story of his experience in the first year of inviting volunteers into his school. At the March faculty meeting, he admonished his teachers for having wastefully depleted the school's supply of copier toner. Came the response: "But now, with all the volunteers, we've been able to give the pupils a chance for individual study exercises, so we've been copying special worksheets in larger numbers than ever before." So the principal wanted to advise his colleagues: "If you're going to start having volunteers, you'd better increase your toner and copy paper requisition." What excellent, practical advice! One way to estimate your costs for supplies might be to translate the cumulative number of hours served by volunteers (or anticipated being served) annually into "full-time equivalent" (FTE) staff positions. For example, if an employee works 2,080 hours a year (40 hours per week x 52), then a volunteer program with 150 people logging 10,000 hours of volunteer service per year can be said to give the organization the equivalent of 4.8 full-time employee hours of service, or 4.8 FTE. If you normally budget supplies using a formula of $xx per employee, to arrive at the supply budget for the volunteer program, simply take $xx and multiply it times the total of the number of paid staff and the * FTE number of volunteer staff.

G. Neil Karn, "The No-Apologies Budget," Voluntary Action Leadership, Spring 1984, pp. 29-31.
Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading Just be careful when you use FTE reasoning. There are some items that must be provided for every volunteer, no matter how frequently she or he serves. Sometimes 150 volunteers cannot be reduced to 4.8 FTE; it really will require 150 x $X to meet the need. Software for Tracking Volunteer Contributions Too often, directors of volunteer involvement are forced to make do with software designed primarily for other purposes. Time and again colleagues call me in despair at the attitude of management information system or Internet technology staff that volunteer management data is nothing more than a glorified address list that can be added on to some fundraising or accounting software with only a few modifications. The recordkeeping needs of the volunteer office are rather complex, including matching people to assignments and coordinating schedules that change each day, dealing with individuals and groups, and more. While it is reasonable to want to integrate all the files of your agency into one computer system, the recordkeeping needs of your development office or your casework supervisors are simply not the same as the needs of the volunteer office. On a daily basis, the director of volunteer involvement handles fluid data that changes with the current schedules and activities of volunteers. Available off-the-shelf programs for volunteer recordkeeping are comparatively low cost, especially compared to developing your own software, and generally better. The money spent on the right software will be an investment in improved ability to coordinate volunteers. Internet Access and Web Site Space Just as all the other departments in your organization, the volunteer office needs to be online. It is no longer just useful to be able to access the Web; its a necessity. Online recruitment, communication by e-mail with volunteers, virtual volunteering assignments, professional exchangeall this and more has become everyday business-as-usual. Depending on the size of the volunteer corps, particularly how many paid and volunteer staff are coordinating activities, it may be important to have several Internetconnected computers available at all times. This raises other related questions, some of which incur costs, including: Will we create a passwordprotected, volunteers-only area of our Web site so that information and resources volunteers need in their work are continuously available to them? Will we establish communication tools to allow volunteers to interact directly with each other, such as discussion boards or listservs?... Printing and Reproduction Despite todays electronic communication, documents on paper remain an important line item for a volunteer program. The following items all require printing or photocopying: Volunteer application forms and other recordkeeping forms Recruitment brochures, flyers, posters, mailings, and other tools Recognition certificates, invitations, etc. Possibly a volunteer newsletter (quarterly?) Perhaps a volunteer handbook or manual (in the second year?) Training materials

Printing costs have changed enormously because today everyone can generate just-in-time materials thanks to word processing and desktop publishing software. Today we can compose and format our forms, manuals, and other written work and then store each item until we need to print out a certain number of copieseven one at a time. But there is still is a good deal of paperwork needed to support volunteer engagement.
Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading Postage The amount necessary for postage will depend, of course, on such variables as whether the volunteer program postal mails a volunteer newsletter or intends to use mass mailings of any sort to recruit volunteers. On one hand, postage rates are forever increasing but, on the other hand, electronic publishing and distribution have decreased dramatically the number of such mailings most organizations need to do. Costs for todays communication may therefore mean purchasing or registering for mass e-mail distribution software and services. However, there are still times when mailing something to hold in your hand matters. Insurance The whole issue of insurance will be discussed later in this book. Suffice it to say here that the cost of accident and/or liability insurance for volunteers may have to be a budget item if your existing agency insurance package does not already cover volunteers. Supplemental automobile insurance may also be a need, if some volunteers are utilized as drivers for your organization. Special, one-time event insurance may also be necessary if the volunteers run major fundraising extravaganzas for you. First talk to your present insurance carrier, but be aware that special programs designed specifically for coverage of volunteer insurance needs are available at reasonable cost. Recognition Though it is optional to budget for a major volunteer recognition event such as a party or a dinner, some consideration should be given to how the organization will say thank you formally to volunteers (and perhaps also to the staff who supervise them). Certificates of appreciation are not expensive, while gift items can be budgeted at a wide range of cost. Even a minimal amount of money can permit an enjoyable recognition eventpunch and cookies can show appreciation as well as a steak dinner can. Enabling Funds Enabling funds are reimbursement given to volunteers for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the course of volunteer service. This is meant to "enable" people to give their services freely, especially if the cost of volunteering would otherwise prohibit some people from participating. The concept of enabling funds stems from the desire to diversify the corps of volunteers as much as possible. If consideration is not given to out-of-pocket costs, then too many programs will have as volunteers only those people who can afford the "luxury" of volunteering. Older people on fixed incomes, students with little outside income, and low-income people will otherwise be shut out of the opportunity to give their time and energy to causes that they care about. Some agencies are able to provide in-kind support of volunteers through existing resources, as opposed to having to budget funds to reimburse cash expenditures, including: Parking lot privileges or van transportation Meals on site Free uniforms (or other special items of clothing or uniform cleaning services) Refreshments, such as hot or cold drinks Access to an agency-run child care service

When an organization can indeed offer these types of items to volunteers, they might be budgeted under the heading of "benefits" and certainly should be described as such in recruitment materials. One criterion may be what you do or do not reimburse or pay for employees. There is no right or wrong answer, but be aware that if you provide free parking for one part of staff, the other part may
Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

Budgeting for a Volunteer Program

Featured Reading want it, too. Or if paid staff pay personally for coffee supplies, will they balk if volunteers are not asked to contribute as well? If you do not have the option of offering such benefits in-kind, consider the types of items that cost volunteers money and therefore might be reimbursed by the organization, such as: Transportation to and from the assignment Child care costs Telephone or copying costs for work done at home Special clothing needs (uniforms, aprons, work gloves, etc.) Money spent directly on clients, such as taking a child to a movie or buying supplies for an art class

Some organizations offer reimbursement to volunteers on the basis of economic need. Clearly this is a tricky area and requires thoughtful procedures to encourage volunteers to identify their expenses. Philosophically, I believe in making reimbursement available to every volunteer and then allowing those who prefer to consider the money they spend as a donation to say so. Volunteer expenses should be budgeted visibly to acknowledge their existence. If some (even most) volunteers select to donate these costs to the agency, this can be shown as "revenue" to offset the "expense" category in your financial reports. For most volunteers, these out-of-pocket costs are a real financial consideration and good management requires the recognition and reporting of such agency resources. Travel This line item covers the cost of public outreach and recruitment. The director of volunteer involvement and other program representatives will be making speeches and presentations throughout the community and such travel or public transportation should be reimbursed. Travel also should accommodate trips to state and national meetings or conferences for volunteer management staff and volunteers. Professional Development Professional development includes funds for the director of volunteer involvement to join various professional societies and registration fees for workshops and conferences, both for the volunteer office staff and for key volunteers. This is one way that an organization can build loyalty among volunteers: demonstrate interest in their professional development, too. It is perfectly all right to ask that a volunteer make a commitment of time for all funds expended on his/her trainingjust as you would negotiate with a salaried staff member for a work commitment in return for tuition reimbursement. If the time commitment is not honored, then the person (employee or volunteer) would be expected to pay back the money extended. Volunteerism journal subscriptions and book purchases for an in-house library also fall into the category of professional development. Volunteer Training Training expenses may include fees to speakers, video rentals, books and handout materials, etc. to support volunteer training programs.

Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

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Featured Reading Expenses to Support the Board The budget development process is also a good time to remember that board members and members of board committees are also volunteers. Where and how do you reflect the costs associated with board meetings, travel, and out-of-pocket reimbursements? You may show these amounts as governance or executive expenses, but be sure everyone recognizes the correlation between these costs and what is budgeted for other volunteer roles. Other Every program will have some sort of special need unique to its setting. The point to be made, however, is that volunteer offices often have "odd" requisitions. Who else may ask for 300 balloons?! The creative aspects of recruitment, motivation and recognition require supplies that set a tone or atmosphere different from the rest of the facility. So be prepared for the unexpected! Decentralize Some Expenses While we have been discussing the allocation of a budget directly to the volunteer program, under the administration of the director of volunteer involvement, it is also legitimate to provide for some of the expenses of volunteers within the budget of each unit that will involve volunteer workers. This allows for categorical accounting and may give you a more realistic understanding of the true costs of volunteer participation.

Budgeting and Allocating Resources by Susan J. Ellis Excerpt From the Top Down, 3rd edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

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ADDITIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Some of you may be managers, directors, or coordinators of volunteer involvement or supervisors of one department, while others of you may be executives in charge of your entire organizations budget. Because this Guide is intended for a wide audience, the thoughts and suggestions here are relevant to all perspectives, although I tend to write for people needing to make their case to a higher financial authority.

Budgets can raise consciousness.

Presenting the budget for volunteer involvement is a teachable moment in which you can shine a light on the needs of volunteers and on your understanding of those needs. Since your superiors and the board must approve your budget requests, they have to pay attention at least at that moment. Thats your opportunity to include a line, for example, for enabling funds, noting how many volunteers in your corps now might be supported by this reimbursement. Or, you can show that the costs of episodic volunteering are higher than ongoing service, since you have to gear up for new people each time and that means more forms, instruction sheets, thank-you notes, supplies, etc. So, it is essential to spend the time to research budget projections well and carefully word the proposed budget to illuminate how the volunteer program operates. The budget is also a good tool for reminding everyone in the organization that board members and members of board committees are also volunteers. They have different roles from program or service volunteers, but they are volunteers, nonetheless. Attention to their orientation, professional development, recognition, etc. is often forgotten or simply assumed by the board and staff leadership. The language used in describing the line items devoted to board activity is a good way to do that reminding. So, under the major heading of board expenses, take the categories Susan Ellis mentions in the above Featured Reading and use them (or as many of them that apply) as sub-sections: e.g., volunteer travel, volunteer training, volunteer committee meeting costs. This is a way that budgets can be consciousness-raising tools for staff and lead volunteers, and even the board members themselves, to improve understanding of the importance of strengthening volunteer involvement throughout the entire organization. Tell the whole story with a narrative budget. Consider developing a narrative budget. Pages of figures are a mystery for some and a delight for others. But, for the public, for governance volunteers on the board, for special friends of the organization, what needs to be told is the story behind these figures. This is where the volunteer program can really contribute. You have stories that demonstrate why a certain cost is required, or why its higher this year, or why no allocation is needed at this time compared to last year, and so on. You can put words around the need for a new computer in the volunteer lounge, or the need to bring volunteers and staff together to sharpen skills for a new campaign. And, you certainly can describe the impact of the volunteer contribution! Narrative budgets in a program area can even serve as recruitment tools. No kidding! They can be formatted with illustrations and used as a handout for potential high-impact volunteers, demonstrating that your department your organization takes volunteer involvement seriously and that you are knowledgeable about their needs. If there is not an organization-wide narrative budget, keep pushing for one and offer to help get it ready. But, in the meantime, model one by creating a narrative budget specifically to describe volunteer involvement.

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Budgets provide opportunity to assess the program and look for improvements.
Look for improvements that will keep volunteers around. Whether we like it or not, the current trend is for volunteers to do less long-term work in one organization. Competition for excellent, loyal volunteers exists. Budget time is an opportunity to assess the shortcomings of your volunteer program and the way the volunteer leaders are treated compared to other similar organizations. Im not referring to giving a better or more expensive volunteer reception or Volunteer Week dinner each year. Rather, what elements are in place to keep volunteers committed and contributing their skills and time? Are there opportunities provided for their growth as individuals? Do they have access to the equipment needed, or are they continually frustrated about the line-up for computer time or the waiting period for a response from the one over-worked volunteer administrator? Is there a good newsletter that keeps everyone linked together? Are their expenses reimbursed? Do take the time, then, before submitting budget figures to check out the competition, and develop proposals with costs to ensure that your organization is not falling miserably behind other volunteer programs. Be sensitive to the balance between paid staff and volunteers. When developing the budget, pay attention to the fine line between what is allocated for paid staff and what is allocated for volunteers. If theres a major imbalance either way, morale can be affected. Once morale starts to fall, its very hard to bring back up to a standard of excellence. For instance, if there is a top-notch leadership development program made available to volunteers but there is no access for staff to participate nor an equivalent leadership development program for staff, staff will soon become resentful. Or, if staff have a comfortable lounge, but volunteers have no place to make a cup of coffee, volunteers will quickly figure out how valued they are. Remember that equality is not what is expected or required, simply some equity, some attention to the needs of both groups who make up the organization. And, by the way, there can be similar volunteer dissatisfaction if one committee gets to meet at a fancy hotel, and all others meet in a run-down conference centre to save money. (Its almost always the finance committee that gets the hotel, have you noticed?!) Watch for inequity here, too.

Consider economic differences when developing budgets for national or large organizations.
For national/nation-wide or large regional (state- or province-wide) organizations, there is a need to develop a budget based on differing economic conditions, especially with regard to salaries and benefits for the volunteer administration and support staff. The expectations for a reasonable salary in Toronto or New York are probably quite different from those in Saskatoon or Des Moines. Good assessment of local conditions is necessary, and assumptions without such research should not be made. As a budgetary strategy, be careful not to articulate the salary line with detail that will pinpoint who is getting what salary. The detail is reserved for the CEO or executive director. What counts is that there has been careful assessment of both competitive wage scales wherever the people are located, and attention to merit and experience. The caution about revealing detail in a budget comes from bitter experience. If someone from North Dakota sees a salary for a staff person in Massachusetts, theyll go ballistic! They may well not know the going rates in the east, but they sure know thats more money by far than they will ever make and that makes them angryand their work demeaned. So, budget with the utmost transparency for a salary basket (all the salaries together) or at least a large department together, not one by one.

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Decide where allocating volunteer budgetary items works best.

There are two ways to budget for volunteer involvement across the organization. One is to gather all the volunteer-related costs into one budget area called volunteer program. The other is to ensure that costs are spread over the variety of departments where volunteers are utilized and active, reserving a small budget only for the coordinating role of a central office and volunteer administrator. There are values to each. In the first option, all costs that are associated with volunteers are gathered because there is then an indication of what the overall program really costs the organization. There is no sense that this is a peripheral, easy to ignore, program. It has significance because some people only value money assigned rather than the work done. It does, however, make the program an easy target at a time of budget cuts. When the costs are spread to where the work is done, the transparency is of a different sortvolunteers are engaged throughout the operation, and theres at least one line item in each activity area to prove it! This is officially called allocating, but I like the phrase I learned from a senior volunteer leader once: peanut-buttering spreading the costs over several areas where they logically belong. In a local Cancer Society, for instance, that would mean budgeting for recruitment, supplies, recognition, staffing, etc. in the departments of education, service, and fundraising as well as governance. The budget cut threat is less, but there is a possibility of the volunteer effort seeming to be invisible as an overall priority of the organization.

Budget cuts: manage the reality.

Be careful not to jump to easy answers. Many of us have had to go through budget reductions and downsizing. There are particular dangers for volunteer programs within a large organization when a major budget cut looms. One easy answer to is to lay off staff and replace them with volunteers. This answer is fraught with difficulties for the future. Besides the fact that it takes money to recruit, train, and supervise new volunteers (and it may be far too simplistic to think they can be found and deployed to fill staff vacancies), any hint of an attempt to replace staff with volunteers immediately feeds staff suspicion of volunteers, and that suspicion will not go away for years! Staff will not want to encourage skill development in volunteers, will not want competent people in their department as volunteers, because of the threat of their taking over. (This is much different from volunteers being put in place at the request of staff or with the help of staff to take on a particular aspect of work that the staff had previously been doing.) Accept reality and strategize. Budget cuts can translate into less investment in a volunteer program. There can be special pleading (not whining!) that volunteers are needed now more than ever. But, sometimes the cuts must happen anyway, and its only fair that the volunteer program share the impact with the rest of the organization. Strategize to see where cuts can diminish contribution least and where savings can be made without permanent damage. If there are large cuts, dont buy into the now-old saying that we can do more with less. In fact, say right out that we will do less with less, but well do the best we can. Put a brave but real face on what is a considerable blow to the contributions volunteers can make. Find ways for volunteers to contribute to the bottom line. There are two sides to every budget: revenue and expenses. Are there ways that volunteers can contribute to the revenue line as well? Certainly, there are ways to indicate a wage replacement value for the hours of work volunteers do. (Caution: expressing volunteer contributions monetarily does not begin to describe what volunteers contribute in compassion, caring, skill and so on.) However, might volunteers find a way to hold special events as a group to benefit the revenue for the organizational

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mission? Special events are almost always made possible by armies of volunteers working with or often without much staff support. Could those special events be highlighted in a budget as Volunteerorganized Special Events to bring the point home? Do you have a system for recording the out-ofpocket expenses (commonly not submitted for reimbursement) and in-kind donations of volunteers? The cumulative total of these often invisible cash contributions may open some eyes. Is there a special annual campaign for funds focused on requesting donations or planned gifts from the volunteers? (Many of them give money generously already, but is that money recorded as coming from volunteers or are the donations dumped into the public annual campaign without connecting the dots to how closely connecting volunteering and giving money really are?) These ideas, as well as how to raise funds specifically for supporting volunteer involvement, are explored further in the Everyone Ready Self-Instruction Guide, Learn to Do More with More: Fearless Fundraising for Volunteer Program Support by Betty Stallings.

Tell the true story of volunteer engagement.

Whether you try to delight treasurers by including volunteer revenue to the bottom line, include a narrative budget, or calculate the realistic expenses of the volunteer program, spending that time and effort to including all aspects of volunteer contribution on the annual budget will tell a truer story of volunteer engagement.

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL OR TEAM USE

How do the current budget format and the budget amounts reflect our commitment to volunteers? How could we take small steps towards improvement? Has there been resistance in the past to expending funds on volunteers? What might be some ways to make the case effectively for an appropriate budget? The Canadian Code of Volunteer Involvement (http://www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/CodeEngJune2006.pdf) provides an organization (in Canada or elsewhere) with an excellent set of standards related to their engagement of volunteers. Assess your organizations alignment with Standards 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11 as it is reflected in your budget.

TRY-THIS EXERCISES
Hold a brainstorming session with five to ten volunteers in your organization to develop a list of ways that volunteers could (or already do) contribute to the revenue line of the organizational budget. Take the exercise even further and create a plan to implement one of the ideas. Select one section of your budget (e.g., furniture and equipment) and create a narrative budget explaining the story behind how volunteers contributed to these specific expenses/revenues. Can you see how a narrative can be used to communicate the impact of volunteer involvement? Can you envision which other areas of the budget would work well in narrative form? Have a discussion with the treasurer or director of finance about how the budget as currently presented reflects volunteer involvement, and how it could better reflect the importance of volunteers to the organization. (Share your learnings from this SelfInstruction Guide with her/him first.)

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RESOURCES ON THIS SUBJECT

The best resources for you in developing better budgets for volunteer programs exist in your own organization, and in your close colleagues in other organizations. Asking the chief financial officer to give you an hour of her/his time to explain the components of the current budget related to volunteers will not be a request unheeded. Financial wizards love to explain to others the passion they have for figures and for the way figures speak to the priorities of the organization. They will also be glad to help first-time budget-makers create the best budget proposals possible. A lunch with colleagues from other organizations about the features of their organizational budgets as related to volunteer involvement is well worth trying too. This might just develop into a regular support group for each other (but thats another topic!). You dont need to know specific dollar amounts, but discover how they have figured out future expenses/revenues, and how they have presented their proposals. Youll also want to know what reasoning they have used to increase budget attention to the requirements of volunteers in their organizations. Ellis, Susan J. From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement. 3rd Edition, To be released March 2010, Energize, Inc. Karn, G. Neil, "The No-Apologies Budget," Voluntary Action Leadership, Spring 1984. Cowling, Martin and Andy Fryar. Sabotage Part Three: Messing It Up: How Not-for-Profits Sabotage Their Volunteer Programs (With 10 Important Antidotes). e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community. Vol. VIII, Issue 2, Jan.15-Apr. 14, 2008. (Access this article through your Everyone Ready Main Page.) McCurley, Steve. Valuing Volunteer Time. e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community. Vol. I, Issue 2, Winter 2001. (Access this article through your Everyone Ready Main Page.) Wiggins, Susanne Brunhart. "Think Before You Leap: Buy Success with Your Budget." e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community. Vol. III, Issue 3, April-June 2003. (Access this article through your Everyone Ready Main Page.) The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement is designed to present a setting in which organizations can discuss how their volunteers are engaged and supported. http://www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/CodeEngJune2006.pdf

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POST READING SELF-ASSESSMENT

1. Explain one way you plan to have a voice in providing input about the volunteer program to next years budget? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Are there areas in the current budget that you still have trouble understanding? List two people whom you could ask to clarify those areas for you: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. List two practical plans to address the noticeable gaps in the budget as they relate to the volunteer involvement in your organization? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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ASK THE TRAINER

Now that youve read this Guide, you can interact with the trainer! Ask questions to get advice for applying the information to your own setting.

Discussion Board with Suzanne Lawson when this Guide is the Featured Topic Access the board via your Everyone Ready Main Page.

Ask whatever is on your mind by posting a question on the discussion board, and the trainer will respond via the board within 48 hours. (You will be given the option to keep the exchange anonymous). You can also exchange comments, ask questions of other participants, and sign up to receive e-mail notifications of new postings to the board.

TELL US HOW YOU LIKED THIS GUIDE

We would love to hear your thoughts about the quality of this Self-Instruction Guide. Your feedback will help us to improve our training materials for you in the future. Please take a moment to complete the online evaluation; this link can also be found on your Main Page during the time this Guide is the featured topic. Privacy Statement: We promise never to use this information or your e-mail address for any other purpose besides learning how to improve our Guides. Energize, Inc. does not sell, rent, loan, trade, lease or otherwise disclose any personal information collected.

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ABOUT THE TRAINER

Suzanne Lawson
Suzanne Lawson is a seasoned professional consultant in the Canadian and international voluntary sector. She previously held a variety of positions in the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, was executive director of Ontarios Arthritis Society, executive director of Program for The Anglican Church of Canada, executive director for the ALS Society of Canada (ALS is also known as Lou Gehrigs disease), and director of volunteer resources for Torontos Sick Childrens Hospital. She took an active role in the leadership of the Canadian Governments Voluntary Sector Initiative. A long-time member of the Association for Volunteer Administration and among the first Canadians to receive their professional certification, Suzanne was presented with the Harriet Naylor Distinguished Member Service Award in 2002, and was also a recipient of the Queens Golden Jubilee Medal for her contribution to Canadas voluntary health sector. She was a founding board member of the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration. She is proud of having carried the profession of volunteer administration very explicitly forward in her positions as a senior executive, and has always seen the main challenge of executive directors being the management of all volunteersservice-oriented, program development, and board. While continuing as an active volunteer in both church and secular organizations, she is now leading a consulting practice (Suzanne Lawson and Associates) which focuses on helping leaders lead and organizations excel. Suzanne contributed to e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community in July of 2006 by authoring the feature article Working with Senior Leadership. (Participants of the Everyone Ready program can access e-Volunteerism from their organizations or individual memberships Everyone Ready Main Page.). Also, she previously served as a trainer for the Everyone Ready program, writing a Guide and facilitating discussions about First Days Count: Orienting and Welcoming Volunteers for Success. Suzanne has been involved in budgeting for both service volunteer programs in a single location and the organization-wide involvement of volunteers. While she brings wisdom and experience to this Guide, she is the first to admit that creating a budget is a challenging task. She is pleased to have this opportunity to learn as well as inform at the same time!

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Everyone Ready is a staff development training plan produced by Energize, Inc. to sharpen volunteer management skills. The plan includes online training materials provided throughout the year on basic and advanced volunteer management subjects. There are individual and organizational memberships, the latter designed to allow organizations to share the content with volunteer and paid staff at every level and geographic location across their networks. Self-Instruction Guide Energize, Inc., 2010 5450 Wissahickon Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19144 www.energizeinc.com Featured Reading Excerpt from Chapter 3 of From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Volunteer Program Success, Third Edition by Susan J. Ellis, to be released 2010, Energize, Inc.

TERMS OF USE
This material is protected under Copyright Law and is subject to the same use restrictions as a work printed on paper. The full work may not be reproduced, reposted or otherwise distributed without written permission of the Publisher, Energize, Inc. Furthermore, you agree that you will not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise alter the document file. However, for special permissions regarding distribution of this document: individual members should refer to your Everyone Ready Welcome Guide, and organizational members should contact your Everyone Ready Point Person for the terms of your organizations contract. In addition, Energize, Inc. permits the unlimited and unexpiring right to use this material under these general guidelines: General Permissions: 1. You may back-up copy the original file for security purposes only. 2. You may print pages for reading on paper, provided that no changes or deletions are made to the content, author attributions, or proprietary notices in the content. 3. You may non-commercially reproduce sample forms, figures, and short quotes from this work, provided a full bibliographic citation is given to the original source of the material. Restrictions: 1. You may not make any changes to the content, including the Featured Reading(s) (this is material under separate copyright and must be presented as originally published). 2. You may not give, sell, or loan either a printed or an electronic copy of this Guide or excerpts from it to anyone outside of your organization. 3. You may not reprint this Guide in any commercial publication or re-sell the contents at any cost. 4. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise alter the document file.

Everyone Ready Self-Instruction Guide

2010 Energize, Inc.