Cost/Benefit Analysis
1. How much would you have to pay an employee per hour to do this job?
2. How much would it cost to recruit and train an employee or volunteer to perform the job?
3. How many hours a month would the volunteer work?
4. How many months will the volunteer commit to?
Multiply hours a month (3) by the number of months (4). This is the expected total hours worked. Multiply that number by the hourly cost (1). You now have the estimated total value for the volunteer's time. Subtract the cost of training (2) from that number. In brief,
#1 x #3 x #4 - #2 = monetary benefit of using a volunteer.
The higher monetary benefit, the better it is to use a volunteer instead of an employee. The less the amount of training needed, and the greater the time committed, the more your organization will benefit from using a volunteer. Even if the volunteer will be working for only a few hours (as is the case during most special events), the cost of training is virtually nil, so using a volunteer remains beneficial.
When the number of hours of training needed to complete a task is substantial, a nonprofit organization can lower its cost by training a group of volunteers at a time, instead of on an individual basis.
Other considerations
While the Cost/Benefit Analysis is a useful tool (in fact, your organization should always keep track of the amount of hours worked by its volunteers, and their monetary value), it is not all-encompassing. Other factors can help decide whether a job is appropriate for a volunteer:
- If the level of expertise required for the job is too high, you may encounter difficulty in filling the position.
- Unless your organization has volunteer insurance, it is best to give potentially hazardous jobs to paid employees. The same applies if the job has a high potential for liability, or requires an extreme need for secrecy. (Keep in mind, however, that volunteers constantly do jobs that require confidentiality.)
- If the job is particularly distasteful, you should not abuse the kindness of volunteers by passing the task unto them. Never ask someone to do for free what others are unwilling to do for pay. With that in mind, remember that there are all types of people, and what may not interest you may be rewarding to someone else.)
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