Volunteering New Zealand Focus:

Tax reform for volunteer expenses in the Parliament

The Taxation Bill which includes provisions to clarify taxation in relation to volunteer expenses was introduced to Parliament at the beginning of July. The Bill also includes provision enabling payroll giving or donations with the tax rebate benefit at the time of deductions made from a person's pay.

The explanatory notes to the Bill outline the processes gone through in determining what the draft legislation should contain. The following summarises the provisions decided on:

• Reimbursements based on actual costs incurred by a volunteer should be treated as exempt income with no limits.
• Alternatively if an organisation puts in place a process for making a reasonable estimate of the costs likely to be incurred by a volunteer in a given period, then the payments made to the volunteer based on that estimate would also be treated as exempt income. This would include monetary reimbursements based on a reasonable estimate of expenses likely to be incurred by the volunteer and also in non-cash form such as petrol vouchers. Reimbursements may include transport costs incurred during volunteering and/or in getting to/from the place of volunteering.
• Honoraria will continue to be taxable income and subject to withholding tax at source. However, if an organisation currently pays honoraria including reimbursements to volunteers, that organisation would be required to pay the reimbursements separately from honoraria if the volunteers are to gain the advantage of the exempt income treatment of the reimbursements.
• The Bill includes a definition of volunteer which includes to a link to a definition in another part of tax law. We are seeking clarification of the definition and how it might affect visitors to New Zealand volunteering.

It is expected that the Parliamentary Select Committee will review the Bill and call for submissions. VNZ will seek input from its members to assist its preparation of its submission. We will likely request responses through a short on-line survey. Full details of the wording in the Bill and the explanatory notes are contained in the Word document sent with this issue of VNZ Update.

Role of volunteers acknowledged in Pathways to Partnership funding consultation

The Ministry of Social Development has indicated that costs related to volunteers involved in services being funded through the Pathway to Partnership (PtoP)plan will be included in costing of those services as they move to 100 percent funding.

Pathway to Partnership is a multi-year plan initiated by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and community sector representatives with the aim of building strong, sustainable and supportive working relationship between government and the community sector. One of the issues tackled by this plan is development of new government funding schemes which will more closely address needs of the community sector. It will include the full funding of services deemed to essential services. These have been defined by the Government as services which Government would have to provide if they were not provided by community organisations,

A report to Cabinet on Government support for Volunteering stated that the P to P plan will enable organisations that use volunteers to better support their training and development needs.

At a recent consultation meeting on the Pathways to VNZ Executive Director Tim Burns asked if this meant that where volunteers were involved in the delivery of fully funded services, these costs plus reimbursements of volunteer expenses would be included in calculating the overall costs of the services. The response was they would.

Lester Salamon, Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, visiting New Zealand

Dr. Lester Salamon, Director of Centre for Civil Society Studies (CCSS), Johns Hopkins University will be guest speaker at the launch in August of the reports "New Zealand Non-Profit Sector in Comparative Perspective" and the "History of the Non-Profit Sector in New Zealand". These reports will provide New Zealand data for the Comparative Non-Profit Sector project of the Centre for Civil Society Studies

Dr Salamon will also be speaking at two seminars on Monday 11 August. First will be "Putting Volunteer Work on the Economic Map of the World" organised by Statistics NZ. Dr Salamon will talk about the work he has been doing on the measurement of volunteer work through labour force survey of the International Labour Organisation. The second seminar is being hosted by the Tangata Whenua Community and Voluntary Sector Research Centre and Dr Salamon will speak about the Listening Post project they have undertaken in United States www.jhu.edu/listeningpost. For further information about this second seminar and to register please email tobynf[at]gmail.com.

Thinking of 2011 IVY +10

The year 2011 (IYV+10) will be the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers 2001. It will also be the year when Volunteering NZ celebrates its 10th birthday. Worldwide volunteering community is already starting to prepare for the opportunity this year will offer to again celebrate and promote the contribution volunteers make in the day-to-day lives of many others and to the wider world's commitments such as Millennium Development Goals.

Earlier this year the Panama Declaration was made by the Board of IAVE during the XXth World Volunteer Conference recognizing the opportunity IYV +10 will bring in global recognition and enhancement of volunteering as well as the work of various international organizations such as United Nation Volunteers, Johns Hopkins University, International Labour Organisation, etc. The full declaration can be accessed at http://www.iave.org/NewsView.asp?newsID=199.

Currently the United Nations is preparing report on the follow-up to the International Year of Volunteers which will be presented by the UN's Secretary General to the UN General Assembly later this year. There is a possibility that achievements in New Zealand will be included in this report. In addition, the European Parliament adopted a Declaration calling for 2011 - European Year of Volunteering to be declared by the European Commission and celebrated across the 27 EU member states.

VNZ has begun its initial planning on how best to mark the year, including celebrating its 10th anniversary. There will be a major volunteer involvement in that other big event of that year - the Rugby World Cup. At least 6000 volunteers will be needed to ensure it is a smooth running and successful celebratory event. It will offer a great opportunity for inter-sectoral cooperation aimed at achieving a lasting legacy for volunteering in NZ through capacity building and infrastructural enhancement. An article below on volunteering and 2008 Olympics is a good material for thought and inspiration on what we want to achieve in the years to come.

Link to Volunteer Centres on SPARC volunteer support website

SPARC has added included information on how to contact a local volunteer centre to the Recruiting Volunteers section of its Club Kit website resource. This online resource, found on the SPARC website, provides a range of information and guidance on the running of a sports or recreation club. It provides special sections on the recruitment and managing of volunteers. The following is the link to the home page of Club Kit http://www.sparc.org.nz/sport/running-your-club .

Volunteering People

Victim Support appoints new Chief Executive

Tony Paine, CEO of the Arts Centre in Christchurch for the past 10 years, will take up the position of Chief Executive of Victim Support in September 2008. Mr Paine holds a Masters of Management Studies with first class honours from Waikato University. He has worked in community mental health as CEO of Comcare Charitable Trust, in social services at Christchurch Methodist Mission and NZ Aids Foundation, and is on the Board of Housing New Zealand Corporation.

New Patron for Age Concern New Zealand

Age Concern, the national organisation that works for the rights and wellbeing of older people, has announced that retired Judge Ken Mason (73) as its new Patron. He was invited to become Patron by Dame Augusta Wallace, Age Concern's first Patron, who died in April. Justice Mason (Ngai Tahu) has a distinguished career as a district court judge, leader of several inquiries in the mental health field, 18 years in race relations conciliator roles, and as a former commissioner of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission Te Ohu Kai Moana.

News from New Zealand and Australia

New Zealand Leads the World in Prison Volunteering

According to Prison Fellowship, New Zealand has more prison volunteers in proportion to the prisoner population than anywhere else in the world. There are currently over 3000 volunteers and around 7,500 prisoners; ie volunteers are 40% of the total prisoner population. As far as is known, Canada is next, where volunteer numbers are 28% of the prison population. In the UK the ratio is 14%, with lower numbers in Australia and other OECD countries.

The Department of Corrections has made significant efforts to increase volunteers' participation in the life of prisons and volunteers numbers doubled in the last 5-6 years. A National Adviser for Volunteers and five regional co-ordinators were appointed about two years ago and a Prison Volunteering Advisory Group was established to advise the department on volunteer issues.

The volunteers provide a wide range of services to prisoners. These include assisting the chaplaincy with church services and bible studies, one-to-one visiting with prisoners who do not have anyone to visit them and providing or assisting with art classes, carving tuition, remedial reading, sport and recreation, budget advice, public speaking tuition, and life skills which serve to equip prisoners on release.

Kukupa Dove Trust Takes Out Trustpower Tauranga Award

Kukupa Dove Trust has won the Supreme Award at the TrustPower Tauranga Community Awards. The Trust, founded in August 2006, has implemented many different ways of whanau support. Some of this support includes providing food and clothing for children in schools, budgeting advice for the community, nutritional education, counselling and life skills education.

Last year they implemented a very successful lunch programme at Merivale Primary School after facing a high number of children not having lunches on a daily basis. Eighteen parents made 50-80 lunches for children on a daily basis promoting the true spirit of uniting a community through support and by drawing on many community members to complete a project

The category winners were:
Heritage and Environment: Matua Estuary Care Group
Health and Well Being: Tauranga Budget Advisory Service
Arts and Culture: Tauranga Repertory Society
Sport and Leisure: Tauranga Inline Hockey Club
Educational and Child/Youth Development: Welcome Bay Community Centre

Vodafone NZ Foundation - Call for grant applications

Deadline 15 August 2008

The Vodafone NZ Foundation makes grants available to youth organizations or projects as part of its annual World of Difference programme. The World of Difference programme pays the salary (up to $60k) and expenses (up to $30k) of up to six individuals per year so they can work full-time for 12 months for their favourite youth-related cause. Online entries for World of Difference 2009 are open and will close on 15 August 2008. For further information and application please visit http://www.vodafonenzfoundation.co.nz/difference/.

International News

International Youth Day: Youth and climate change: time for action!

12th August

Designated by the United Nations in 1999, International Youth Day (IYD) gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies.

The selection the theme "Youth and climate change: time for action" for IYD 2008 is in recognition of the fact that climate change has already begun to devastate communities and deepen the effects of poverty and hunger. However, young people are increasingly adding their voices to the call for action on climate change.

International photography competition, concerts, workshops, campaigns and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organizations are some of the activities that will take place around the world in honor of International Youth Day. To learn more on how to commemorate IYD 2008, please visit: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/iyouthday.htm.

Olympics push for volunteer service

According to the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee; the Olympics will provide an invaluable opportunity for the development of volunteer services in Beijing and across the country. The committee reports there will be millions of volunteers supported by a large number of volunteering experts working during the Olympics. It expected is a strong legacy of volunteer service to carry on after the Olympic and the Para-Olympic Games. The most intangible assets are volunteerism reflected in the Olympics, the experience in recruiting and managing volunteers gained across the country, the culture of volunteer teams and the promotion of volunteer logos.

Tangible results that continue after the Olympics of will include the Volunteers' Square at the Olympic Park, the Beijing Voluntary Service Foundation, the volunteer service information system, voluntary service stations in city operations, multi-colored "smile wristlets" (representing commitments to helping others, environmental protection, an enterprising spirit, courtesy, and honesty), the 12355 volunteer hotline and volunteer service in public welfare projects are mentioned.

For the full information please read http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6452554.html.

Devastating earthquake sparks increased volunteering in China

China's devastating earthquake has sparked widespread volunteering among young people, writes the Reuters India correspondent from Beijing. He quote Li Tong, a 28-year-old nightclub manager in Beijing who has organised a series of benefit concerts for quake relief, talks about his experience as a volunteer: "I think the reason (for the widespread response) was simple. The earthquake was just too big and devastating for anyone to ignore. So we all felt we had to get involved. It wasn't political calculations or anything like that. I'm not sure about the long-term impact. For now, there's this sense of joint participation -- and that could continue."

To read more stories of China's "post-'80" generation volunteers, giving their views on how this dramatic year has affected them, please visit: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia33890820080604?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0.

Events

Second National Volunteering Research Symposium Australia

Radisson Resort, Gold Coast
2 September 2008

Volunteering Australia will host the Second National Volunteering Research Symposium, in conjunction with the 12th National Conference on Volunteering bringing together researchers with a strong and demonstrated research interest in the field of volunteering. James King, OCVS and Tim Burns will be co-presenting a paper on the recent research work on Giving in New Zealand undertaken by Nick Jones. For further information and registration please visit Volunteering Australia website www.volunteeringaustralia.org.

Asia Pacific Volunteer Leadership Conference

Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
16 - 19 September, 2008

There has been a reduction in the registration fee to $US200 for the Asia pacific Volunteer Leadership conference and the website is up and running. Registration can completed online and there is assistance with travel and accommodation if needed. The organisers have been offered a group discount travel rate which allows flexibility in the return date.

The list of workshops being offered under each of the four streams (Volunteer Management, Disaster Readiness & Response, Six Billion Paths to Peace, and Opportunities for the Aging are now listed for review. For more information please go to www.vrchawaii.org and then link to the Asia Pacific Conference.

New Zealand Council of Social Services Conference

Lincoln Green Conference Centre, Henderson
1 - 3 October 2008

This two yearly conference will be hosted for NZCOSS by Community Waitakere. The theme is "Our Voices In Social Change". The keynote speakers include Judy McGregor, Commissioner Human Rights Commission, Gael Surgenor Manager Family and Community Services, Murray Edridge, Chief Executive Barnardos and Rod Oram, Adjunct Professor for NZ Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The workshops will cover issues such as local government, media and economic venture related to the social change. For further information and registration please contact Ros Rice at 04 4723364 or nzcoss[at]nzcoss.org.nz or visit www.nzcoss.org.nz.

Australia New Zealand Third Sector Research 9th Biennial Conference-Early Bird Registration EXTENDED to 15 August

AUT University City Council, Auckland
24-26 November, 2008

The conference aims to gather academics, practitioners, artists and everyone else involved and interested in the Third Sector to present their ideas, experiences, processes and findings of their valuable work they have accomplished. The overall theme of the conference DEMONSTRATE - Come demonstrate the valuable work done in by and for the Third Sector has three main sub-themes:

1. Responsibilities and Rights for Wellbeing of People and Planet
2. Organisation, Governance, Management in the Third Sector
3. Public Private Partnerships, Corporate Social Responsibilities

For more information visit http://www.anztsr.org.au/2008%20conference%20web%20home.htm.

New Zealand Diversity Forum

Auckland
25-26 August 2008

The 5th NZ Diversity Forum will bring together organisations and individuals who have a commitment to practical action to support cultural diversity and foster harmonious race relations in New Zealand. The programme offers a wide range of specialist and public forums by participants in the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme. For registration details and programme please visit www.hrc.co.nz or contact nzdiversity[at]hrc.co.nz.

8th Global Conference on National Youth Service

Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, France
19 - 22 November 2008

This Conference will bring together practitioners, policymakers, government officials, and researchers to come together to discuss the potential for scaling up national youth service for greater impact on community and youth development. The conference will be hosted by International Association for National Youth Service (IANYS) secretariat, Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP), in partnership with Unis-Cité and the Association of Voluntary Service Organizations (AVSO).

Registration is now open online. For more information about the Conference please visit:

http://www.icicp.org/ht/d/sp/i/1915/pid/1915.

Education/ Professional Development

This issue compiles two interesting features starting with Susan Ellis commenting on how volunteers' expenses are recognised in other parts of the world. In the US for instance, volunteers can treat transport expenses as a charitable donation and receive a tax deduction, but the rate allowed is very low. Other countries have different approaches. Second, in her brand new publication The Effective Leadership of Volunteer Programs, Marlene Wilson moves from the hows to the whys of leading volunteer programmes.

Susan Ellis Hot Topic: Volunteers Should Not Be Second-Class Taxpayers

A week ago, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service raised the mileage deduction for the rest of 2008 to 58.5 cents a mile (an increase of 16 percent) because of the rising price of gasoline. "Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers."

It's certainly legitimate to recognize the soaring cost of gas and adjust tax benefits accordingly for Americans (at least for those who take deductions). But, wait! Here's the rest of the news:

The mileage deduction for the first half of the year was 50.5 cents per mile. The 58.5 cents per mile deduction applies to business use of a personal vehicle. Drivers who use their vehicles for medical reasons or to move can deduct 27 cents per mile, up from 19 cents in the first half of the year. The use of a vehicle for charitable purposes is set by law at 14 cents and wasn't increased.

The tax deduction for driving as part of volunteer service has been 14 cents for the last 10 years, having been raised from 12 cents by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Some of us can remember the struggles in the 1970s and 80s to get past 7 cents a mile and the determined efforts of first Representative and now Senator Barbara Mikulski (D, Maryland) to champion better tax support for volunteer drivers. Since then, however, there has been little interest in introducing the necessary legislation to get Congress to raise the reimbursement/deduction rate for charitable driving. Given the life-and-death nature of most volunteer driving, this situation is unacceptable.

If the Federal government wants to show its respect for volunteers who deliver meals to the homebound, assure that seniors get to doctor's appointments, assist patients needing dialysis treatments, and any of the wide variety of important services we rely on volunteers to provide, it's time to demonstrate "support of volunteering" in a tangible way: raise that rate!

Not Just the USA

In preparing to write this commentary, I did some research into how the tax code of different countries treats volunteer service. I found some interesting information - and hope that site visitors will add more explanation in response. For example:

• Canada does not seem to permit any charitable deductions apart from cash donations. Ruth MacKenzie, CEO of Volunteer Canada, has recently testified to the Canadian government to urge legislative action on exactly this issue. [edited 8 July]
• England handles automobile expenses differently in its tax code. Citizens may drive a certain number of miles tax-free and then calculate tax owed on car usage above that:
  

  HM Customs and Revenue sets tax-free mileage rates under the Fixed Profit Car Scheme (FPCS). This scheme allows for the payment of mileage allowances without the need for either the organisation or the volunteer to keep detailed records. The scheme applies to both employees and to volunteers.

The good thing is that volunteers are treated equally and can include their charitable driving in their calculations for their total car use. But this also means that charitable driving is not exempted from tax calculations.

• In Australia, there are no specific provisions of the income tax law that allow deductions for expenses incurred while undertaking voluntary work. This creates a catch-22 like this: "deductions claimed by the taxpayer would not be an allowable deduction for the reason that the deductions were not incurred in gaining or producing assessable income." Of course, this discounts the fact that the expenses were actually a donation to the charity - income to them.

At this point, my head was swimming enough to stop reviewing tax codes (and apologies for any misinterpretations above!). But there seem to be two common assumptions at work, namely:

• If volunteer-related tax issues are ever considered, they are rarely re-visited and often therefore get totally outdated before anyone remedies the oversight.
• While the US and other countries deal with the tax value of cash and property donations to charities, they basically do not consider volunteer out-of-pocket expenses as donations. A gift of $100 in cash is recognized as both revenue to the charity and an exact cost to the taxpayer; paying for $100 in gas or for art supplies to complete a youth activity is not acknowledged as $100 of value to the organization, let alone as a gift from the volunteer.

Whether or not you believe that the tax code is where such philosophic issues should be decided, as long as there is some attempt to deal with volunteer expenses at all, we ought to make sure it's done properly.

What Can We Do?

In the US, the only way to change the current mileage deduction is through the legislative process. Congress must pass a law and the President must sign it. So…are we ready to make some noise?

Write to your Representatives and Senators, and get all the volunteers in your program to write, too. I'll help. Below is a "template" note that can be cut-and-pasted or modified to insert into an e-mail or old-fashioned letter. Let's see if we can create some buzz…and maybe some positive action! For those of you outside the US, please take whatever action you feel is warranted. Then, everyone, please report back here on what you did, what response you received, and what else you think we might do collectively and individually.

Note - VNZ will be telling Susan Ellis about the planned changes to our tax law to ensure expenses reimbursement are tax free.

Keeping Soul in Our Work - extract from The Effective Leadership of Volunteer Programs, by Marlene Wilson

"Now let's talk for a moment about the concept of soul. . .and especially what it has to do with your work as volunteer managers. An amazing phenomenon has been occurring the past two to three years. The word "soul" is creeping into almost all the new leadership and management literature - and it is coming from the secular world. Whole books have been devoted to the topic, and others include chapters on it; many are ending up on the best-seller lists, including:

Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore

Leading with Soul by Lee Balman and Terrance Deal

The Heart Aroused by Stephen Whyte

The Art of Leadership by Max DePree

The Servant as Leader by Robert Greenleaf

I especially recommend an excellent collection of essays, entitled Leadership in a New Era, edited by John Renesch. It is one of the most thought-provoking books I have read in a long time. In one of the essays, there is this excellent illustration of the relationship of soul to work: "This was observed about Louis Armstrong. . .He is the greatest figure in the history of American jazz because he brought so much joy, happiness and love to people. There was no barrier between his horn and his soul."

What a lovely tribute to a life! Perhaps one of our challenges is to examine honestly if there are barriers between our souls and our work that filter out our joy in serving. If so, what are they and how can we remove them? I have realized that in those times that I have personally come close to burnout (when there seems to be more on my mind that there is room for and more to do than there is time for), I have been in grave danger of losing the soul in my work. It becomes just work. The passion, energy, dedication and excitement is crowded out and I find myself asking, "Is all this really worth it?" My joy diminishes and so does the quality of my work.

One thing that replenishes the "fire in the belly" for me is to revisit the vision and the purpose of what I believe volunteerism and volunteer leadership is all about. When I am clear about the why and infuse my work with heart and soul, I find people frequently commenting on how obvious it is that I love what I do. I am always somewhat taken aback when that happens and am tempted to respond "of course I love it, otherwise why would I be doing it?" There are many other things each of us could be doing and we also know we pay a price to work in this field (especially regarding salaries). So, are we crazy, or just not too bright?

Kathryn Graham once said, "To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?" That is a gift beyond price. You are embarking on one of the most challenging and fulfilling jobs anyone could ever undertake - please don't ever forget that!

My goal is that you leave here not just equipped with the vital tools needed to ensure your competency but also with a clear, personal statement of vision and a commitment to invest your soul and spirit in the tremendously important work that you do. Wow! Is the world really ready for you?"

The Effective Leadership of Volunteer Programs is scheduled for release on 1 September. Pre-orders through the following link will make a 20% saving on the price Pre-order the book NOW!

Volunteer Management Education Books for Sale

Volunteering NZ has for sale copies of four books written by Linda Graff on developing policies and risk management for volunteering programmes. The titles and prices are:

Best of All - Quick reference Guide to Best Practice $46.00

Better Safe - Risk Management for Volunteer Programmes $46.00

Beyond Police Checks - Screening Guidebook $46.00

By Definition - Policies for Volunteer Programmes $36.00

We also have copies of Mary Woods' book

Volunteers, A guide for Volunteers an their Organisations $25.00

Postage and Handling

Up to 2 publications $5.50 3 or more publication $10.00

All the prices are GST inclusive.

Posters from past Awareness Weeks suitable for general promotions and recruiting volunteers are available free from VNZ.

Orders for all may be faxed to 04 3843637 or emailed to office[at]volunteeringnz.org.nz. Payment may be made by cheque or credit card. If wishing to pay by credit card we will send you documentation to complete and return.