Volunteer hours log

Use this log to record the time volunteers give your charity. It takes a minute per shift, and at the end of the year it answers questions you'll be asked anyway: how many volunteers you had, how many hours they gave, and what they did. For how to find, welcome and keep volunteers, see volunteer management. For turning the log into a short report, see showing your board skilled help in hours, not dollars.

Why the hours matter

• Your Form 990. Part I, line 6 asks how many volunteers served during the year, including volunteer board members. The IRS instructions say you can give a reasonable estimate if you don't track it, and you can, but don't have to, explain on Schedule O how you got the number and how many hours volunteers served. A log makes this quick and accurate.
• Grants and reports. Funders often ask how many people helped and how many hours they gave. Hours show how much of your work depends on volunteers.
• Thanking people. A log tells you who has given the most time, so no one is overlooked.
• Planning. If a volunteer who gives ten hours a week leaves, you'll know what you're losing.

What the hours are not

Volunteer time is valuable, but it usually isn't money on paper. Three rules to know:

• Your financial statements. Under US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the rule for contributed services is FASB ASC 958-605-25-16. It says contributed services are recognized only if they (a) "create or enhance nonfinancial assets," such as building or improving something the charity owns, or (b) "require specialized skills, are provided by individuals possessing those skills," and "would typically need to be purchased if not provided by donation." The Greater Washington Society of CPAs Educational Foundation's Nonprofit Accounting Basics site adds that contributed services that don't meet the criteria shouldn't be recorded. So most general volunteering, like serving meals or stuffing envelopes, doesn't show up as revenue. That site also notes that contributed services must still be described in the notes to the statements even when they aren't recognized. Ask your accountant how this applies to you.
• Your Form 990. The IRS instructions say not to include the value of donated services in contributions on Part VIII, line 1, or in the program figures in Part III, even where GAAP calls for recording them. You can mention donated services, and their amount, in the written description of the program they helped in Part III.
• Volunteers' taxes. IRS Publication 526 says volunteers can't deduct the value of their time or services. Some out-of-pocket costs of volunteering can be deductible; see our guide to volunteer expenses.

Federal grants that require a match

If you have a federal grant that requires cost sharing (a "match"), the federal rule, 2 CFR 200.306, allows volunteer services to count when the service is necessary for the program. The rates must be consistent with what you pay for similar work, or with the local labor market if you don't have staff with those skills. Read your grant agreement, and ask your program officer before you count volunteer time. For a match, keep the log carefully: date, hours, who, and what they did.

How to use it

• Keep one log for the whole organization, in a spreadsheet or a binder at the front desk.
• Ask volunteers, or the person leading a shift, to fill it in at the end of each shift. Memory fades fast.
• Use the same activity names every time, so you can add them up.
• Record board members' volunteer work separately from board meetings if you want to show both.
• Keep the log as long as your document retention policy says, and longer if a grant match depends on it.
• Don't record anything private about the volunteer in the log, such as health information.