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- Title
A SURVEY OF THE EFFECTS OF DIRECT FINANCIAL COSTS IN VOLUNTEERING.
- Authors
Cordery, Carolyn J.; Tan, Letisha
- Abstract
Statistics New Zealand (2007) stated that more than a quarter of New Zealanders donated over 270 million hours of unpaid labour to third-sector organisations in 2004. It is also estimated that 41% of the Australian population volunteered in 2005 (Lyons 2006). Volunteering is, however, not without costs. Often volunteers purchase goods or services to be used in organisations for which they volunteer, and frequently they incur travelling expenses related to their volunteering role. Anecdotal evidence suggests that volunteers are not regularly reimbursed for these expenses and, even when they are, reimbursement does not cover the full costs incurred. This paper reports on one aspect of a survey of New Zealand volunteers undertaken in 2007 to develop a broad understanding of active volunteers' expenses and organisational reimbursement patterns. In this paper, the impact of out-of-pocket expenses on volunteering is analysed, the differences between rural and urban volunteers' expenses highlighted, and the correlation between volunteers' incomes and their expenses is assessed. While unreimbursed costs are unlikely to stop committed volunteers donating their time, restricted budgets mean volunteers may change their availability and the tasks they undertake, potentially negatively impacting services their organisations provide. These findings are a reminder that third-sector organisations should design reimbursement processes to support, rather than restrict, 'priceless' volunteers.
- Subjects
NEW Zealand; VOLUNTEER service; VOLUNTEER workers in social services; NONPROFIT organizations; COST estimates; TRAVEL costs; TAX credits
- Publication
Third Sector Review, 2010, Vol 16, Issue 1, p105
- ISSN
1323-9163
- Publication type
Article