Value of Volunteer Time Calculator
Put a credible dollar figure on every volunteer hour your nonprofit receives. Enter your hours, pick your state, and this free interactive calculator multiplies them by Independent Sector's Value of Volunteer Time - $36.14 an hour nationally, or your state's rate - then hands you a printable impact statement for your annual report, grant proposals, and IRS Form 990.
Calculate the value of volunteer time in three steps
Volunteer hours are real economic support, and funders, boards, and the IRS all want to see them quantified. This online calculator turns raw hours into the official dollar value using Independent Sector's annual figure, the standard nonprofits, grantmakers, and auditors recognize.
Add your volunteer hours by program
List each volunteer group or program, the number of volunteers, and the hours each one gave. Add a row per program for a clean rollup, or paste a whole volunteer log at once with bulk import. Running the numbers for a single event? One row does it.
Pick your state (or the national rate)
Choose your state to apply its exact hourly Value of Volunteer Time, from $17.32 in Puerto Rico to $52.06 in Washington, DC, or keep the $36.14 national average. Value skilled or pro bono service at market? Drop in a custom hourly rate instead.
Get your total value and a printable statement
See the total dollar value, the full-time-equivalent staff those hours represent, and a per-program breakdown update instantly. Print or save the branded impact statement as a PDF, export the rollup to CSV, or copy a share link for your board and grant reports.
How to calculate the value of volunteer time
The value of volunteer time is the dollar worth of an hour of volunteer service, and there is a single recognized number for it. Each year Independent Sector, with the University of Maryland's Do Good Institute, publishes the Value of Volunteer Time based on the average hourly wage for private non-farm workers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, plus a fringe-benefit adjustment. The 2025 figure is $36.14 per hour, up 3.9% from $34.79 the year before. To calculate your own number, multiply total volunteer hours by that rate: 500 hours at $36.14 is $18,070 of donated service.
Use your state's rate for a sharper figure. Because wages vary by region, Independent Sector publishes a value for all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The spread is wide: a volunteer hour is worth $52.06 in DC, $42.00 in Massachusetts, and $40.14 in California, but $27.01 in Mississippi and $17.32 in Puerto Rico. This calculator has every state built in, so you apply the rate a grantmaker or auditor in your state would expect. Need a defensible number for pro bono professional work, like a lawyer or accountant donating expertise? Many nonprofits value that skilled service at its market rate instead, and you can enter a custom hourly rate to do exactly that.
Why bother putting a price on goodwill? Because the number opens doors. Reported as in-kind support, volunteer value can satisfy or strengthen a grant's matching-funds requirement, anchor the impact section of your annual report, and show funders a fuller picture of community investment. It belongs in board reports and shows up on IRS Form 990, where total volunteer hours and their value signal a healthy, community-backed organization. A volunteer corps that looks like ten full-time staff is a story worth telling, in real dollars.
Volunteers are also your warmest future donors. According to Fidelity Charitable, half of volunteers say volunteering leads them to give more financially, so the hours you are valuing here often become gifts later. That is why smart nonprofits pair this calculator with strong stewardship: thank volunteers with the dollar value of their impact, then invite them to give. Pull your hours from a volunteer sign-up sheet, quantify them here, and feed the total straight into your annual report and donor appeals.
Questions?
What is the value of volunteer time in 2026?
The current Value of Volunteer Time is $36.14 per hour, the 2025 figure released by Independent Sector and the Do Good Institute, a 3.9% increase over the prior $34.79. It is based on the average hourly earnings of private non-farm workers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics plus a fringe-benefit markup. Independent Sector also publishes a per-state rate each year, and this free calculator includes all of them.
How do I calculate the value of volunteer time?
Multiply total volunteer hours by the hourly Value of Volunteer Time. For example, 1,000 hours at the national $36.14 rate equals $36,140 of donated service. This calculator does the math across as many programs as you like: enter volunteers and hours per group, choose your state or the national rate, and it returns the total dollar value, a full-time-equivalent headcount, and a per-program breakdown you can print or export.
What is the value of volunteer hours by state?
It ranges widely because it tracks local wages. For the latest published state dataset, a volunteer hour is worth the most in Washington, DC ($52.06), Massachusetts ($42.00), Washington state ($41.70), and California ($40.14), and the least in Mississippi ($27.01) and Puerto Rico ($17.32). Pick your state in the calculator to apply its exact rate, which is the figure local funders and auditors expect to see.
Where does the Value of Volunteer Time figure come from?
Independent Sector, in partnership with the University of Maryland's Do Good Institute, calculates it annually from Bureau of Labor Statistics data: the average hourly earnings of private non-farm production and non-supervisory workers, increased by an estimate for fringe benefits. It is the standard nonprofits cite in annual reports, grant applications, and IRS Form 990, which is why this tool is built on it.
Can I count volunteer time as a match for grants?
Often, yes. Many grants and government awards let you count the value of volunteer time as in-kind match toward a matching-funds requirement, though each funder sets its own rules, so confirm whether they accept the general Independent Sector rate or want documented hours. Either way, a clean per-program rollup with the hourly rate stated, exactly what this calculator produces, is the documentation reviewers look for.
Should I report the dollar value of volunteers on Form 990?
The IRS does not let you record volunteer time as revenue on Form 990, but Form 990 does ask for the number of volunteers, and the narrative sections are a great place to describe their impact, including the dollar value of their hours. Reported well, it signals a community-backed organization. Use this tool to generate the figure for your annual report, board packet, and 990 narrative.
How should nonprofits use the value of volunteer time?
Five high-impact ways: anchor the impact section of your annual report, document in-kind match on grant applications, brief your board with a full-time-equivalent headcount, recognize volunteers with the real dollar value of what they gave, and strengthen your case for support. Because half of volunteers give more financially after volunteering, quantifying their time also makes the case for stewarding them toward donations.
Can I print the impact statement or export to CSV?
Yes to both. Print or save a branded volunteer impact statement as a PDF for your annual report, grant file, or board meeting, and export the per-program rollup to CSV for your records or spreadsheet. You can also add your logo, set your brand color, and copy a share link so a colleague opens the same calculation, all free and with no sign-up.
Turn volunteers into lifelong donors
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