Volunteers Worth More than Ever

The Independent Sector says that the estimated value of a volunteer hour almost kept up with inflation during 2007, increasing nearly four percent. A volunteer hour jumped by 74 cents, from $18.77 in 1006 to $19.51 in 2007.

That increase makes volunteers' time worth 3.3 times the minimum wage which is at $5.85 per hour. The new figures were released in time for National Volunteer Week, April 27-May 3.

The value of volunteer time varies across the country with the highest in Washington, D.C. ($30.10) to the lowest in Montana ($13.51).

Diana Aviv, president and CEO of the Independent Sector said, "Our nation's volunteers play a vital role in helping America's 1.4 million charitable organizations improve lives across the country and around the world....Quantifying the value of their time gives us yet another indicator of how important volunteers are to communities."

More about volunteers:

• Before You Recruit Volunteers
• Recruiting Volunteers - Three Approaches
• How to Keep Boomer Volunteers Coming Back