One of the questions that often causes more anxiety than it should is determining whether or not a volunteer’s expenses should be paid. Many volunteers are financially able to give both time and money to the organization of their choice. Many are not.

Whoever is in charge of budgeting an event or campaign should be careful to spell out the ground rules in advance. Those volunteers who aren’t in a position to cover their own expenses should not be made to feel inadequate or compared in anyone’s mind to those who don’t need to have their expenses covered. Time is worth money and the hours donated by a volunteer are just as important as a cheque – sometimes even more so.

What are those expenses which volunteers are often faced with? Parking lots eat up a fair bit of change, especially for downtown meetings. Meals too. Entertaining prospective donors or volunteers is another common expense. And so on.

Make private arrangements in each case

When volunteers are engaged to take part in a project, they should be told clearly whether they are free to hand in expense accounts. A wise volunteer administrator will suggest that the organization would prefer not to have to pay for such expenses as those listed above, but if a volunteer can not cover them, private arrangements should be made, and I emphasize the word “private”. No one except the chair of the event – and particularly no other volunteer – should be made aware of another volunteer’s ability or inability to pay out-of- pocket expenses. And no one should be made to feel that they are doing anything improper or ungenerous in not covering expenses which their personal budgets can’t accommodate.

Payment of fees for professional services, such as accounting or legal services, is another one of those problems which can cause bitterness among a group of volunteers. On the one hand, why should lawyers receive reimbursement for some or part of their time, when a volunteer publicist doesn’t? Again, the volunteer organizer or the organization involved should set out the rules carefully in advance.

Common sense should prevail

It may be unreasonable to ask a lawyer, even if a dedicated volunteer, to spend thirty hours in court for nothing, whereas it is probably not too much to ask a volunteer lawyer to draw up a simple contract or bill of sale without payment. As to reimbursement of expenses, the same rule should apply as for any other volunteer. If the volunteer lawyer cannot cover out-of-pocket expenses, a private understanding should be reached with the appropriate organization authority or chair.

Under no circumstances, should volunteers carry their organization’s funds in their own bank accounts. Even for a small event, such as selling hot dogs in front of a supermarket, banking arrangements should be organized so that moneys can be deposited into the organization’s bank account directly. For larger events or campaigns, of course, the organization’s regular banking arrangements will be in place.

A final note – there is no right or wrong when it comes to dealing with this matter. I know volunteers who spend thousands of dollars a year in addition to hundreds of hours a year in support of their organization. But no volunteer should ever be embarrassed or made to feel belittled because they don’t fall into that fortunate category.

Bruce Raymond has been active as a volunteer leader in the charitable sector, most recently serving as president and then chairman of the Variety Children’s Charity. This article is based on material from his forthcoming book, “Seven Golden How-To Rules for Volunteers, or How to get the most out of doing for nothing what you wouldn’t do for money”. For more information, call (416) 485-3406, or fax (416) 487-3820.