Statistics Canada reported, in 2010, that volunteers contributed the number of hours equivalent to filling 1.1 million full time jobs. The Corporation for National and Community Service in the United States of America reports that, in one state alone, over 6 million volunteers contributed over 563 million hours of service. If you, or your organization, didn’t have volunteers to count on, how many paid positions would you have to fill? Can you afford to fill those positions?

Fundraising and organized events are also reported as being the most common activities volunteers take part in. Costs associated with organizing and supervising events, in which volunteers contribute their time, can be steep on their own. Imagine if the activities handled by volunteers needed to be handled by paid workers.

The Corporation for National and Community Service in the United States of America also reports fundraising (and selling items to raise money) as the top volunteer activity as well. One state, alone, reported volunteers having helped raise $86.5 million.

There are many hot topics surrounding healthcare these days and there’s no lack of news coverage for the changing landscape from government perspective for cost cutting. Healthcare organizations may have to rely more heavily on captivating a more robust volunteer audience while keeping administrative costs low for management of volunteers and scheduling hurdles. Are your costs being impacted?

Anyone in the healthcare field knows the value volunteers bring to the table on so many levels including economically and socially.

What a lot of people don’t know are the statistics. As noted on publichealth.org, “A report by the Points of Light Institute states that if volunteers were paid for the services they freely offer, the wages would amount to between $113 billion and $161 billion a year. The report also asserts that, in 2009, 63.4 million American volunteers donated 8.1 billion hours of service, amounting to $169 billion worth of work.” Those are astounding numbers that contribute to our many nonprofits and corporations including the healthcare field. Managing volunteers and their time can be overwhelming and time consuming. A lot of nonprofits, in particular, are using methods which can increase costs on their bottom line. Filling scheduled timeslots for different activities or tasks, while ensuring volunteers are happy and fulfilled with how they spend their time, is the main goal. Doing this keeps volunteers coming back and saves money that is needed in other areas of care.

We have an aging population – let’s keep their quality of life on the level they deserve!