Defining and measuring the contribution of volunteers: Evidence from Australia

• In Event: Measuring Volunteer contributions

Abstract

While volunteering is vital to the functioning of society and charities, questions remain about which activities could be considered ‘volunteering’ (Cnaan, Handy & Wadsworth 1996). Accounting Standards (e.g. AASB 1058) have a different view on what constitutes volunteering to say, the International Labour Office (2011) or Workplace Health and Safety Act (2011) let alone academics (see Liu, et al. 2017 for a useful summary). Differing understandings as to what volunteering in turn has a direct impact on how volunteering is valued. Moreover, the most appropriate methodology to value volunteering is contested in both academic and practitioner literature (Bania & Leete 2018; Cordery et al. 2013; Handy & Srinivasan 2004; Mook & Quarter 2006; Salamon et al. 2011).

This paper will clarify these differences and advance the ability to measure and report on volunteering for charities, by developing a contingency valuation model for volunteering. Cases from Australian charities will be used to demonstrate the valuation models via a series of case studies.

The work is important as most charities need to include the contribution of volunteers to truly report their performance and position. Not properly valuing volunteering would hide the true cost of resources needed to deliver mission; underprice, the costs of service delivery in tender processes; as well as misrepresent costs related to service evaluation and future funding models.

References

AASB 1058 (2016) Income of Not-for-Profit Entities Australian Accounting Standards Board
Bania, N., & Leete, L. (2018). "Chapter 16: The valuation of volunteer labor". In Bruce A. Seaman and Dennis R. Young (eds). Handbook of Research on Nonprofit Economics and Management. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Pp. 323-336. Retrieved Jun 13, 2022, from https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781785363511/9781785363511.00024.xml
Carolyn J. Cordery , Sarah B. Proctor-Thomson & Karen A. Smith (2013) Towards communicating the value of volunteers: lessons from the field, Public Money & Management, 33:1, 47-54, DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2013.744894
Cnaan, R. A., Handy, F., & Wadsworth, M. (1996). Defining who is a volunteer: Conceptual and empirical considerations. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 25(3), 364-383.
Handy, F., & Srinivasan, N. (2004). Valuing volunteers: An economic evaluation of the net benefits of hospital volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(1), 28-54.
International Labour Office Manual on the measurement of volunteer work (2011) Geneva: International Labour Organisation. Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work (ilo.org)
Liu, E.S.C. Ching, C.W.L. & Wu, J. (2017) Who is a volunteer? A cultural and temporal exploration of volunteerism, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 27:6, 530-545, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2017.1295715
Mook, L., & Quarter, J. (2006). Accounting for the social economy: The socioeconomic impact statement. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 77(2), 247-269.
Salamon, L. M., Sokolowski, S. W., & Haddock, M. A. (2011). Measuring the economic value of volunteer work globally: Concepts, estimates, and a roadmap to the future. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 82(3), 217-252..
Work and Health Safety Act (2011) Queensland Government https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2011-018

Authors

• Craig Furneaux, Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology

• David J. Gilchrist, University of Western Australia