A Credit to Volunteers
Volunteers are the people working with true passion to create the change that they desire in the world today. These are the true movers and shakers: the ones willing to do what they love for no monetary reward. They are people who put their values and beliefs into action.
Volunteers give over 1 billion hours of volunteer time annually, according to the Volunteer Canada website. This is the equivalent of 549,000 full time jobs which surely must inject millions of dollars worth of services into the Canadian economy each year. And in return for their labours: nada, zippo, zilch. That’s right; volunteers are not fiscally rewarded for their labours at all, and often are not even thanked.
I have an idea to change all of that, a modest proposal, if you will. Let’s give the volunteers a tax credit for their time in the same way we credit financial donations. Financial donations are very well and good of course, but donations of time can be equally as valuable. And donations of passion and enthusiasm can be worth their financial value many times over in the action that they represent within communities.
How can you place a monetary value on the many dynamic and spirited activities of volunteers? How can you price out the value of taking a Brownie pack out on a snowshoeing trip where friendships are cemented, lifelong memories created and physical challenges overcome? What amount for cooking and serving a Thanksgiving Dinner to homeless people on a cold Autumn night? And what is it worth when a needle exchange worker takes in a contaminated syringe in return for a clean one? All of these things are priceless, beyond value.
Volunteers reap benefits from their efforts. These benefits include personal well being, a sense of purpose and seeing their dreams being put into action. What they are lacking is recognition by society that their contributions are worthwhile and to be respected. In Ancient Greece a life of service to the community was seen as a life of the highest value to be respected above all others. In Canada we hear, “Oh well, she’s not really working now, just doing a bit of volunteer work here and there.” Because it is not fiscally recognized, volunteerism has lost a great deal of its respect. A great number of volunteers are women: women putting their passion into action. Fiscal recognition by the government would go a long way toward righting the lack of respect given to volunteers that is compounded by the patriarchal ways of our society.
I suggest a tax credit worth $20 for every hour that a person volunteers. Simply administered, in a way that each volunteer carries a card that the organization receiving the volunteer time can sign off on every time. $20 per hour may seem a high wage for some volunteer labour skills, however when one considers that the savings would only be at the tax rate of the individual, with the maximum tax rate at 50%, the wage shrinks indeed. The average number of hours volunteered by an individual in 2000 was 162, which would translate into tax savings of under $1000 at the maximum tax rate. Not a lot in terms of their hours worked, but a grand gesture in terms of the value society places on volunteers.
Recognizing the value and significance of volunteers will show our children that we value the concept of volunteerism. Our children will be the volunteers of the next generation: caring for us as seniors, keeping the homeless fed and putting their heart and soul into a fundamental commitment to the future. Ensuring the continuance of a giving society will ensure that positive change and community building will continue to occur.
Volunteers give over 1 billion hours of volunteer time annually, according to the Volunteer Canada website. This is the equivalent of 549,000 full time jobs which surely must inject millions of dollars worth of services into the Canadian economy each year. And in return for their labours: nada, zippo, zilch. That’s right; volunteers are not fiscally rewarded for their labours at all, and often are not even thanked.
I have an idea to change all of that, a modest proposal, if you will. Let’s give the volunteers a tax credit for their time in the same way we credit financial donations. Financial donations are very well and good of course, but donations of time can be equally as valuable. And donations of passion and enthusiasm can be worth their financial value many times over in the action that they represent within communities.
How can you place a monetary value on the many dynamic and spirited activities of volunteers? How can you price out the value of taking a Brownie pack out on a snowshoeing trip where friendships are cemented, lifelong memories created and physical challenges overcome? What amount for cooking and serving a Thanksgiving Dinner to homeless people on a cold Autumn night? And what is it worth when a needle exchange worker takes in a contaminated syringe in return for a clean one? All of these things are priceless, beyond value.
Volunteers reap benefits from their efforts. These benefits include personal well being, a sense of purpose and seeing their dreams being put into action. What they are lacking is recognition by society that their contributions are worthwhile and to be respected. In Ancient Greece a life of service to the community was seen as a life of the highest value to be respected above all others. In Canada we hear, “Oh well, she’s not really working now, just doing a bit of volunteer work here and there.” Because it is not fiscally recognized, volunteerism has lost a great deal of its respect. A great number of volunteers are women: women putting their passion into action. Fiscal recognition by the government would go a long way toward righting the lack of respect given to volunteers that is compounded by the patriarchal ways of our society.
I suggest a tax credit worth $20 for every hour that a person volunteers. Simply administered, in a way that each volunteer carries a card that the organization receiving the volunteer time can sign off on every time. $20 per hour may seem a high wage for some volunteer labour skills, however when one considers that the savings would only be at the tax rate of the individual, with the maximum tax rate at 50%, the wage shrinks indeed. The average number of hours volunteered by an individual in 2000 was 162, which would translate into tax savings of under $1000 at the maximum tax rate. Not a lot in terms of their hours worked, but a grand gesture in terms of the value society places on volunteers.
Recognizing the value and significance of volunteers will show our children that we value the concept of volunteerism. Our children will be the volunteers of the next generation: caring for us as seniors, keeping the homeless fed and putting their heart and soul into a fundamental commitment to the future. Ensuring the continuance of a giving society will ensure that positive change and community building will continue to occur.
