How many hours did volunteers give last year?
The annual report is being written and the director asks a simple question: how many hours did volunteers give? A funder's end-of-grant form asks the same thing for the lunch club project specifically, and the match funding for another bid wants a value for volunteer time.
The coordinator finds sign-in sheets from two of the three sites, a rota spreadsheet that shows planned shifts, and the knowledge that the garden group meets every Wednesday but nobody signs in. The final figure is a careful estimate, and everyone knows it.
Why the hours are never really known
Recording hours feels like bureaucracy to volunteers and coordinators alike, so it happens patchily.
- Sign-in sheets are paper, and they get lost, filled in inconsistently or not filled in at all.
- Rotas show planned shifts, not what happened.
- Remote volunteering, such as phone befriending or admin from home, has no sign-in at all.
- Hours are not tagged to a project or funder, so they cannot be split later.
- Volunteers do not see the point, because nobody tells them what the numbers are used for.
The gap is that hours are treated as a separate task instead of a by-product of things volunteers already do.
What guessed hours cost
Funders increasingly ask about volunteer contribution, and estimated figures make for weaker reports and applications. Where a funder asks for match funding or in-kind contributions, you need a figure you can stand behind; how volunteer time may be counted is set by each funder's own rules.
Internally, not knowing where volunteer time goes makes planning harder. You cannot see which projects rely on a few people giving far more hours than expected, which is often an early sign of burnout.
How we build hours recording
- Rota shifts become recorded hours automatically once the shift passes, unless the volunteer or coordinator marks it as not attended.
- At sites without a rota, volunteers scan a QR code on the wall when they arrive and leave, using their phone, with a tablet by the door for those without one.
- Remote volunteers log time with a two-field form: activity and duration, sent as a weekly reminder by email or text.
- Every entry is tagged to a project and, where relevant, a funder, using the site and activity so volunteers never choose a code themselves.
- Coordinators review unusual entries, such as a sign-in with no sign-out, in a short weekly queue.
- Reports add up hours by project, role, site and period, ready for funder forms and the annual report.
- Volunteers can see their own hours, which many like to know and some need for their own purposes, such as references.
| Volunteering | How hours are captured | Effort for the volunteer |
|---|---|---|
| Rota shift in the shop | From the rota, confirmed by attendance | None |
| Weekly garden group | QR sign-in and out | Two scans |
| Phone befriending from home | Weekly two-field form | Under a minute |
| One-off event marshal | Event register | Sign in at the briefing |
The aim is recording that disappears into things volunteers already do. Nobody should need a timesheet to give up their time.
Reporting afterwards
When the funder's form asks for volunteer hours on the lunch club, the coordinator filters by project and period and has a real figure with the entries behind it. The annual report uses the same data. Trustees can see which projects rely most on volunteer time and plan accordingly.
Volunteers get a thank-you at the end of the year that tells them, personally, how much time they gave, which lands better than a generic message.
Is this your situation?
- Volunteer hours in reports are estimates.
- Paper sign-in sheets go missing or are half filled.
- Remote volunteers are not counted at all.
- You cannot split volunteer hours by project or funder.
- Some volunteers give far more time than you realise.