COMMUNITY NONPROFIT CHARITIES TIMEBANK
For more information, call 661-242-1583
Sponsored by California Family Counseling Network, Inc.
A free service to local community nonprofits
TimeBanks for individuals have been well-established for a number of years and is international in operations. We propose a model of time-sharing which will encourage nonprofit charities to adopt this approach as a means of encouraging volunteerism as well as providing pay-back to loyal volunteers.
California Family Counseling Network long ago recognized a need for low-income clients to pay for services with a currency other than money. Today, its most active program on the mountain is the Volunteer Exchange Program, wherein individuals can volunteer time at local nonprofits and exchange those hours for psychotherapy.
California Family Counseling Network now seeks to join forces with other groups to provide a way in which all local nonprofits can participate in growing our local “core” economy--the human wealth of our families, neighborhoods, and nonprofit neighborhood organizations. Joining volunteer forces represents a new economics of survival for our community.
California Family Counseling Network has joined TimeBanks USA, and has created an alliance profile called “CONNECT-Volunteers (Connecting Our Nonprofit Network—Encouraging, Coordinating, Trading Volunteers). Volunteers can “donate” their hours to their favorite local nonprofit charity, which can then “trade” those hours for services offered by another local nonprofit.
We expect the model to unfold and grow to accommodate our specific community needs for this type of TimeBank. The below link gives some ideas of how an organizational TimeBank can weave together the volunteers of a community, and create sustainability for nonprofit ventures.
CONNECT--Volunteers
Connecting Our Nonprofit Network--Encouraging, Coordinating, Trading Volunteers
More examples from:
http://www.ncoa.org/get-involved/funding-sustainability/12-sources-articles/source-6.html
National Council on Aging
How Nonprofits Can Earn and Spend Time Dollars
Here are some ways that nonprofit organizations can earn and spend time dollars by participating in a time bank:
Earn:
• Offer free or discounted services and products to other time bank members
• Provide publicity, marketing, referrals, recruitment, and training for the time bank
• Donate office space, equipment, and materials for volunteer orientations
• Offer consulting, technical assistance, and training in their area of expertise
• Host orientations or special events
• Provide staff, volunteers, or members to the time bank steering committee
Spend:
• Give earned time dollars to members, clients, and staff as an incentive
• Funnel time dollars to others inside or outside the time bank
• Tap volunteers for additional services, special projects or events, fundraising, and quality control
The Benefits to Nonprofits
Nonprofit can gain resources, volunteers, and goodwill by participating in a time bank.
Here are some examples:
• Increased public exposure
Being part of a time bank raises awareness of your mission, accomplishments, and credibility. It also distinguishes you in the marketplace. Time banking enables aging services organizations to market themselves to the general population.
• A volunteer boost
Enabling your volunteers to earn time dollars can save them time in other areas of their life, so they can volunteer even more for your organization. You also can attract new volunteers with new talents and abilities.
• New partnerships
Time banking enables aging services organizations to build relationships with other groups in the community. Organizational members can trade time, space, and volunteers.
• Increased impact
Want to expand your service delivery, shorten waiting lists, and fill service gaps? Time bank volunteers can provide services that are difficult to fund, have no existing funding streams, or have a demand that exceeds your capacity.
• Empowered clients
The founder of time banks, Edgar Cahn, wrote a book about time banking called, No More Throw Away People. People of all incomes and abilities have something to offer. Time banking enables your clients to contribute—not just receive.
Understanding how the TimeBank works
Individual TimeBanks
Let’s look at the model for how a TimeBank works for the individual. Then we will discuss how this model is slightly altered to work for a nonprofit organization.
Q&A’ for individual TimeBanks: http://getavision.org/faqs/time-banking/
View the explanation on YouTube
Nonprofit Organizations TimeBanks: Banking Social Capital for Community Renewal
What is Social Capital? 'Whereas physical capital refers to physical objects and human capital refers to the properties of individuals, social capital refers to connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. In that sense social capital is closely related to what some have called “civic virtue.” The difference is that “social capital” calls attention to the fact that civic virtue is most powerful when embedded in a network of reciprocal social relations. A society of many virtuous but isolated individuals is not necessarily rich in social capital' (Putnam 2000: 19).
BANK IT!
Five Core Values of Time Banking
1. We can all be valued contributors
2. Honor real work that is beyond price
3. Helping works better as a two-way street
4. Networks make individuals stronger
5. Respect demands accountability
Legend:
1) The National Organization of Women (NOW) puts out a request for volunteers to go door-to-door in the community and drop off of flyers for their new programs. Victor volunteers 5 hours for this request. NOW has 5 hours to trade with another nonprofit organization for an offering.
2) The Plant-A-Tree Club offers a free tree to community volunteers, at the rate of 5 hours of volunteer time. NOW trades the 5 hours of time which Victor “banked” with NOW, and will give the free tree to any volunteer who has requested this offer. NOW has used all its available trade and needs to obtain more hours from other volunteers to continue to obtain trades, so it puts out a new request for volunteers to help plan a dinner party for volunteers. The Plant-A-Tree Club now has 5 hours to trade.
3) Susan answers a request from the Plant-A-Tree Club to plant trees in the community park. She donates 8 hours of time. The Plant-A-Tree Club has 5 hours, plus Susan’s 8 hours, for a total of 13 hours.
4) The local Girl Scouts have an offer for a one-hour Free Cookie Sampling party with a limit of 10 people, total trade of 10 hours of time, which Plant-A-Tree wants for its volunteers. After this trade, Plant-A-Tree has 3 hours left for another trade. Susan is one of the ten volunteers who will attend the Cookie Sampling party. The Girl Scouts now have 10 hours to trade.
5) Victor answers a volunteer request from the Girl Scouts to provide chaperone supervision at a field trip that the youth want to take. He donates 6 hours. The Girl Scouts now have 16 hours to trade.
6) The Girl Scouts accept an offer from the local animal shelter to bring their pets for free health check-ups, a value of 1 hour per pet. Six families bring a total of 12 pets. The Girl Scouts have 4 hours left to trade. The animal shelter has gained 12 hours for trade.
7) Susan answers a volunteer request from the animal shelter to provide “fostering services” for one week at her home for a small dog. This arrangement is agreed upon between her and the animal shelter to be a value of 20 hours of volunteer time. The animal shelter now has 32 hours for trade.
8) The MADD Club is hosting a fund-raising dinner party, and offers two dinners in exchange for 30 hours. Susan has permission from the animal shelter to attend this dinner party, for which they provide her with 30 hours of trade. The animal shelter now has 2 hours left for trade. The MADD group now has 30 hours to trade.
9) The Health Fair Group is conducting a blood drive. The women from the MADD group agree to provide the “hospitality” crew, a value of 20 hours of volunteer time. They add this 20 to their 30 hours.
10) The MADD group exchanges the 50 hours to the Health Fair to cover their own health exams, a trade rate which has been established between the two nonprofit groups. The MADD group now has no trade time left and must offer another service in order to gain more trade hours. The Health Fair Group now has 50 hours to trade.
11) The Health Fair Group trades its 50 hours to the Walk-for-Cure for community donations to be accepted by the volunteer walkers for the Health Fair Group as well as for the Walk-for-Cure charity. The Health Fair Group has no hours left to trade, and needs to offer another service. The Walk-for-Cure has gained 50 hours to trade.
12) The Walk-for-Cure trades 40 hours to the Litter Patrol to have those volunteers clean up after the walkers who dropped trash on the route. The Litter Patrol has gained 40 hours to trade. Walk-for-Cure has 10 hours left.
13) The Litter Patrol trades 40 hours to attend the dinner party being hosted by NOW. The Litter Patrol has no more hours to trade and must offer another service to gain more trade hours.
As can be seen from the above example, the main difference between the “Individual” timebank and the “Nonprofit” timebank is that the individual volunteer may not be the actual recipient of the trade. This is a choice of each nonprofit organization, as to whether they want the volunteer to donate time to the nonprofit timebank account, or if they will do reciprocal exchanges with each volunteer. Many volunteers may wish to donate hours so that their favorite nonprofit can obtain services which will benefit other community members who may not be able to donate time, but who have a great need for the various services which might be available among the trading nonprofits. As an example of a recent trade in the CONNECT-Volunteers TimeBank, several volunteers of the “Center of the World Festival” donated their time so that a trade could be made with “California Family Counseling Network” for CPR training for other volunteers who needed this service.
Because TimeBank is a reciprocal service, no organization is allowed to carry a negative balance. They must always have earnings to trade, but they may carry a credit balance until they find a trade which meets their needs.
Click on below document to see a grid of the above TimeBank Transactions.
In Individual TimeBanks, the “Provider” is the individual who is performing the service and the “Recipient” is the one who is receiving the service. It is a simple trade. However, the trade is a bit more complicated for volunteer hours exchanges. Please read the following carefully.
The above method of exchange also is the manner in which trades “between” nonprofits will be recorded. For example, in the Hours Exchange Matrix example, in Exchange #8, MADD Club is offering a dinner party for 30 hours. They are the “Provider” and will “earn” 30 hours when this offer is taken. The Animal Shelter sends its volunteers to MADD’s dinner party, trading 30 hours for the service offer. They are the “Recipient” and “spent” 30 hours.
However, the method of entry in the TimeBank data base is different when a Volunteer “donates” their time to a specific nonprofit for the nonprofit to add it to their “Earned” hours. The Nonprofit will enter its requests for volunteer help as a “Request” in the TimeBank. When an individual fulfills that “Request,” then a specific TimeBank account is used for this donation. That account is called “Volunteer Services.” When the entry is made in the Volunteer Services TimeBank account, the volunteer is the “recipient” and the nonprofit organization is the “Provider.” In this way, the nonprofit can gain those hours for its “earned” bank.
There are specific requirements for this volunteer service. Along with a description of the volunteer’s duties, a contact person for the nonprofit and telephone number must be entered. The CONNECT-Volunteers TimeBank Coordinator will then call the contact and verify the service hours before the trade can be approved. This will prevent a misuse of the TimeBank by organizations which may not put out a legitimate “Request” to the community, but just want to take “offers” without generating the “circle of participation” which is necessary to revitalize our community “core” economy.
In the situation where another nonprofit organization answers the “Request,” then the usual method of recording exchanges between nonprofits is followed. The nonprofit fulfilling the “Request” becomes the “Provider” and earns those hours. The nonprofit getting its needs met is the “Recipient” and spends its hours.
PAGE MENU
Understanding how the TimeBank works:
Description of CONNECT-Volunteers
How Nonprofits Can Earn and Spend Time Dollars
