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How-to guide ยท for nonprofits
How to track volunteer hours
Updated September 2026
Tracking volunteer hours sounds tedious, but it powers your grant reports, board updates, and thank-yous. Here's how to do it simply, without living in a spreadsheet.
Why bother tracking volunteer hours?
The number does real work for a small nonprofit:
- Grant reports. Funders often ask for total volunteer hours, and sometimes count them toward a match.
- In-kind value. Hours convert to a dollar figure you can show funders and your board.
- Recognition. Milestones and thank-yous are easy when you know who gave what.
- Early warning. A drop in someone's hours is a chance to reach out before they drift away.
A simple way to track them
Decide what counts
Pick simple rules: count time spent on the work, a shift, prep, a remote task. Skip travel unless a funder requires it. Write the rule down so everyone logs the same way.
Pick one place to log
One method, not five. A sign-in sheet, a shared form, or a volunteer tool. The best one is the one people actually use.
Capture hours at the shift
The easiest hours to track are the ones you record on the spot. Check people in and the time logs itself.
Let volunteers log remote work
For work done off-site, let volunteers submit their own hours, then approve them. It saves you chasing people down.
Approve and keep it honest
A quick review catches typos and keeps the totals trustworthy for funders.
Total it for reports
Add hours by program and by person, so board and grant reports take minutes, not an afternoon.
The simplest methods (and their limits)
A paper sign-in sheet is cheap but means retyping everything later. A shared Google Form is free but you still total by hand. A spreadsheet is flexible but gets error-prone as it grows. A volunteer tool totals hours for you, but costs a little to set up. Match the method to your size, and don't over-build for a tiny program. If you're weighing volunteer tools, our InitLive alternatives guide compares them with prices.
What's a volunteer hour worth?
For grant and board reports, volunteer time is often valued at a standard rate. Independent Sector put the national value of a volunteer hour at $36.14 for 2025 (the figure updates each year). Multiply your total hours by that rate to show in-kind value, the dollar value of donated time. Some funders accept it toward a match. Keep your totals by program and date so you can answer "how many hours did this program get?" in seconds.
The Ember tool for thisEmber Volunteers
Ember Volunteers records hours when you check people in at a shift. Volunteers with an Ember login can log a shift they served in one tap, for you to approve, and staff can log hours given away from a shift. Hours total by person and program, and Impact Reports puts a dollar value on them at the hourly rate you set. Unlimited users on every tier.
Sources: Independent Sector, Value of Volunteer Time · IRS Publication 526 · FASB, contributed services. Verified September 2026. The Independent Sector rate updates each year, so check it for the current figure.