Time to recognise the invisible asset

This month marks National Volunteer Week – a time to celebrate the people who show up, give back and make it happen. Whether they are packing food parcels, leading community projects or sitting around a board table, volunteers are essential to the fabric of Aotearoa New Zealand.

But while their contribution is often acknowledged in words, we are less consistent in reflecting it in our numbers – and in our governance conversations.

As directors, we are tasked with understanding the full cost of service delivery. That includes staff salaries, infrastructure, systems and – in many organisations – the time, skills and expertise of volunteers. More than a million New Zealanders volunteer each year, yet many financial reports and board papers tell only part of the story.

Volunteers allow many of our most impactful organisations to punch well above their financial weight. But this reliance isn’t always visible in traditional reporting. Without a clear picture of volunteer inputs, boards risk misunderstanding the scale and sustainability of operations or undervaluing the investment required to support them.

New Zealand’s Public Benefit Entity accounting standards provide options for recognising volunteer services, though uptake is inconsistent. Under PBE IPSAS 23 (for Tier 1 and 2 entities), recognising ‘services in kind’ is optional but encouraged. If recognised, the services must be measured at fair value and recorded as both revenue and expense, reflecting their immediate consumption.

Tier 3 not-for-profits are not allowed to record volunteer services as revenue but must disclose significant in-kind contributions in the notes to their performance report. Tier 4 entities, which operate under cash accounting, have no such obligation, meaning many small charities with deep volunteer reliance disclose very little.

While expenses incurred in supporting volunteers may be captured, this creates a gap. When the true resource base of an organisation is not fully represented, funders, stakeholders, and even boards themselves can get an incomplete picture of its operational capacity or its long-term sustainability.

A review of some of this year’s New Zealand recipients of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand For-Purpose Reporting Awards reveals strong recognition of volunteer contributions but limited financial analysis or disclosure of their value.

The Child Cancer Foundation, a Tier 2 organisation, makes extensive use of volunteers across multiple programmes, including the delivery of 1,254 peer-to-peer support engagements through Whānau Connect Groups, facilitated by 63 community volunteers.

The report features volunteer profiles and stories of community-led fundraising, reflecting how deeply embedded volunteers are in the organisation’s operating model. Yet despite the encouragement under PBE IPSAS 23 for Tier 1 and 2 entities to disclose or recognise services in-kind, there is no valuation or line item that captures the scale of this unpaid workforce in financial terms.

Kiwi Christmas Books, a Tier 4 charity, offers a similar example. Last year, the organisation gifted more than 18,000 books (estimated at $360,000), supported almost entirely by volunteers. Its report provides a narrative of the chain of volunteers involved in governance, logistics and nationwide book distribution. But under Tier 4 rules, which follow a cash-based standard, no financial recognition of that contribution appears in the accounts.

Girls Rock Aotearoa, a Tier 3 entity, goes further than most. Its annual report explicitly describes the roles filled by unpaid volunteers, from administrative support to logistics and equipment provision, and clearly states its programmes could not operate in their current form without this support. While the financial value is not quantified, the acknowledgement and transparency are clear.

While most organisations acknowledge their volunteers, few quantify the value of their time or services, but this doesn’t need to be guesswork. Some tools use inputs, such as the number of volunteer hours contributed, and apply an average hourly rate based on national wage data.

Others encourage organisations to break down the types of roles volunteers perform, such as administration support, governance, mentoring or event delivery, and estimate what it would cost to replace them with paid staff, often using salary surveys or market rates.

Some models draw on national labour statistics and factor in inflation, sector benchmarks and the skill level required for different types of work. Even if not used for formal reporting, undertaking these calculations can provide valuable insights into the scale, scope and economic value of volunteer contributions – helping boards make more informed decisions about planning, resourcing and communicating their impact.

From a governance perspective, recognising volunteer contributions is not just about accounting, it is about accountability. Volunteers are a vital part of the operating model for many organisations, and boards have a critical role in ensuring their contributions are not only appreciated but strategically supported.

That means moving beyond thank yous and morning teas to deliberate conversations about resourcing, risk and sustainability. Governance discussions should explore:

• • How dependent the organisation is on volunteer hours or donated services, and how that dependence is tracked or monitored
  • The resilience of the volunteer model, including what would happen if key roles could no longer be filled
  • How volunteers are recruited, trained, retained and recognised, and whether those practices are sufficient to meet current and future needs
  • What risks exist around burnout, succession planning or over-reliance on individuals – particularly in operational or governance roles
  • Whether the organisation includes the value of volunteer contributions in stakeholder reporting, strategic documents or funding applications
  • If there is appropriate investment in volunteer coordination and support (recognising that effective volunteer engagement requires time, structure and sometimes paid oversight)
  • How the board ensures a full and accurate picture of service delivery is being communicated, especially when unpaid contributions significantly extend capacity

Volunteers are not just a feel-good story. They are an operational and strategic asset. Yet if we fail to reflect their value in our reporting and governance conversations, we risk overlooking key elements of our delivery model and missing vital opportunities to strengthen it.

Boards that take volunteer engagement seriously are better equipped to plan ahead, communicate impact honestly, and honour the full range of people powering their mission. This isn’t just about goodwill, it’s about recognising the systems and support required to sustain a vital but sometimes invisible workforce.

National Volunteer Week (15-21 June) reminds us that behind every thriving service is often a quiet army of unpaid professionals. They give generously, lead thoughtfully and sustain services that might otherwise disappear. Recognising that work – not just in speeches but in strategy and statements – is the least we can do.