Thank you CAPTA, I could not have said it better. MightyJO-Our middle school last year (enrollment 420 members 190 [56 of those students]) logged in 1100 volunteer hours. Along with our year at a glance where we list EVERYTHING we did last year we show how many hours were volunteered. I think it actually helps us with parent involvement because they see what it takes to provide all that we do. Best Wishes!
Thanks for the detailed synopsis regarding reasons to log volunteer hours. It was very informative.
Our school currently does not keep track of volunteer hours & it's not really on my priority list for this year (maybe next year). We want to increase PTO membership, parental and teacher involvement & maybe apply for 501 (c) (3). Once we get more parents involved on a regular basis, we can tackle other things.
Our school records volunteers hours:
CREDIBILITY OF OUR ORGANIZATION -
When a volunteer organization can document hours that it's membership is actually putting forth, it shows that the members are active in carrying out the mission & objects it was organized to do.
MAINTAIN OUR TAX EXEMPT STATUS -
In order to maintain this status, we must be able to prove that we are indeed a volunteer organization worthy of that status. Documenting the number of volunteer hours is one of these ways.
GRANT APPLICATIONS -
When school districts or PTA organizations are applying for grant money, it is very effective to be able to show the degree of parent involvement.
LEGISLATURE -
In our lobbying efforts, it is most effective if State PTA is able to educate the legislators as to the degree of parent involvement in our organization.
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS -
Superintendents & principals appreciate knowing how much time is spent by parents in their schools.
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS -
As schools & businesses seek to become partners to enhance the education of children, it is most informative & helpful to be able to document hours volunteered.
plw, I don't think it's required that you keep volunteer hour records by the IRS. We're a 501c3 and we don't do that. If we were ever asked to prove that we're doing good work we could easily do it by showing the flyers from all of our events and the kids playing on the playground and stuff. We've never been asked to prove it, though.
For PTA it is required to "substantiate that PTA's are primariliy engaged in the kind of activities permitted by our IRS 501 (c) (3) status. It also provides important data to confirm the value of the PTA volunteer effort in our schools."
Sorry if this is a stupid questions, but why do you record volunteer hours? We do keep track of who volunteers for each event but I believe we only use it to thank who worked the event.
