Question: Can we assign a dollar value to our hospital's volunteers' time and count as community benefit?
Recommendation: The Guide recommends not putting a financial value on volunteer time. This includes board members, volunteers for the organization's general operations (such as candy stripers and gift shop volunteers), non-employee volunteers, and staff members volunteering on their own time.
The number of volunteers, the number of hours they contribute, and a description of value of the volunteer activity can and, in fact, should be included in a narrative report, supplementing the quantifiable report in order to present a full picture of the organization's community benefit.
Do not count the time spent administering the volunteer program where volunteers are supporting the organization in such activities as gift shop, visitor welcoming, and library cart.