Volunteer Hours Value Calculator
The value of volunteer time — hours times an hourly rate, with on-costs — for a programme or an organization, with the per-volunteer figure, the full-time equivalents it represents, and what it adds to the value of a grant.
Funders and annual reports count volunteer time as an in-kind contribution at a replacement rate: what it would cost to pay someone to do the work, plus the on-costs an employer would carry.
How the volunteer hours value calculator works
Funders and annual reports count volunteer time as an in-kind contribution at a replacement rate: what it would cost to pay someone to do the work, plus the on-costs an employer would carry. Hours times volunteers times weeks gives the year's hours; at the rate that is the value, and divided by a full-time year it is the staff the organization would otherwize need. Set against a grant, the match rate says how much community effort each funded dollar mobilized.
Formula: hours = volunteers × hours each × weeks; value = hours × rate × (1 + on-costs); FTE = hours / annual full-time hours
Worked examples
| Inputs | Value of volunteer time per year | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Forty volunteers, three hours a week | 220,320 | about 220,000 a year |
| A small committee | 26,112 | a third of a staff member |
| A higher rate | 291,600 | professional-level work |
FAQFrequently asked questions
How is volunteer time valued?
At a replacement rate — what it would cost to employ someone for the work — usually an average wage for community-sector or general work, plus employer on-costs. National volunteering bodies publish a rate each year; enter yours.
Why add on-costs?
Because an employer would pay leave, insurance and retirement contributions on top of the wage. Twenty to thirty per cent is the usual loading; funders often specify one.
Can I claim this in a grant?
Many funders accept volunteer time as in-kind co-contribution at a published rate. Check the funder's rules on rate and evidence — a signed timesheet is the standard.
What rate should skilled volunteers get?
The rate for the work, not the person: a lawyer doing pro bono legal work is valued at a legal rate, the same lawyer serving soup at the general rate.
What does the FTE figure show?
How many paid staff the organization would need without its volunteers. It is the number that makes volunteer management a serious line in the budget.
Where these figures come from
- UK DESNZ / DEFRA — Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors — the flight, fuel and waste emission factors used here
- Scarborough et al. (2014), Climatic Change — Dietary greenhouse gas emissions — the per-diet daily emission figures
- US EPA — Technical Assistance Document for the Reporting of Daily Air Quality (AQI) — the PM2.5 breakpoints the air quality calculator uses
- US EPA — Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator — the official US equivalency factors
Last checked: September 2026. Factors are taken from published government and peer-reviewed sources, each named on the page with its year.