Micro-Volunteering: Should Charities Pay Expenses?

What is micro-volunteering?

Micro-volunteering is a flexible form of volunteering that covers a wide range of tasks, from online and remote work to short, in-person tasks such as popping in to help at an event. What ties them together is not the setting, but the shape of the commitment: short, one-off and requiring little to no set-up, so people take part whenever it suits them, rather than signing up for a regular rota or shift.

Most of the conversation around micro-volunteering focuses on recruitment and engagement, but almost none of it looks at cost. Because these tasks are short and often unplanned, few organisations have thought through whether, or how, volunteer expenses should be reimbursed. We've written before on why volunteers should be reimbursed for expenses more broadly, and this piece looks specifically at where that principle gets harder to apply in relation to micro volunteering. We looked at a range of micro-volunteering roles through this lens, the type of expense each one is likely to generate, and grouped them into four categories, set out below. This is not an exhaustive list, but it covers the shape of the problem.

1. Digital and online tasks

Skills-based or content work completed entirely online, using the volunteer's own device, software and, increasingly, personal subscriptions such as AI tools.

• Reach Volunteering places skills-based volunteers into finance, marketing and digital roles for charities - https://reachvolunteering.org.uk/
• Zooniverse runs citizen science tasks such as photo tagging, transcription and data analysis - https://www.zooniverse.org/

What costs could the volunteer incur here?

• Personal AI subscription usage (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot) when drafting content, code or design on their own account
• Software subscriptions such as Canva, bought or already held by the volunteer
  
• Wear on a personal laptop or device

Should a charity pay for this expense?

Costs such as general wear on a personal device should not need to be considered for micro-tasks. Software such as Canva, ChatGPT or Claude is a different matter, since most of these tools run on a monthly subscription rather than a one-off payment. Some also come with usage limits, so a volunteer doing charity work on their own account is eating into their own allowance. Where a charity relies on the same volunteer's personal subscription for meaningful or repeated work, a small contribution towards that month's cost is a thoughtful gesture, even where it does not cover the whole bill.

How can a charity reimburse for digital tools and online tasks?

We suggest keeping it simple. The volunteer takes a screenshot of their monthly invoice, whether that is an AI tool, Canva or another subscription used for the task, and submits it through the charity's normal expense process, most likely under an "other" or miscellaneous category. It is worth noting on the claim that this is a contribution towards that month's bill, not a request for the charity to cover the whole subscription.

2. Communication-based tasks

Tasks centred on a phone or video call, usually supporting an isolated or vulnerable person, carried out on the volunteer's own phone, personal data allowance or home broadband.

• Be My Eyes connects sighted volunteers to visually impaired people by live video call - https://www.bemyeyes.com/
• Royal Voluntary Service's Check in and Chat service, delivered via NHS Volunteer Responders, offers telephone support to isolated or shielding people - https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/

What costs could the volunteer incur here?

• Cost of the call or the use of mobile minutes package
  
• Mobile data or broadband for a video call
• Electricity

Should a charity pay for this expense?

Strictly speaking, HMRC only allows a phone or internet cost to be reimbursed tax-free if the volunteer bought that connection specifically for volunteering, which in practice rules out almost every micro-volunteer using their everyday phone for a short call. Sector guidance goes further, warning that a fixed sum unconnected to an actual cost risks being treated as income rather than a genuine expense, and is not considered good practice.

Even so, this leaves a real gap for some volunteers. Someone with no home broadband and a capped mobile data plan can lose some of their monthly allowance to video calls or an hour of remote support, in a way a landline user would never notice.

These cases are edge cases, but they should still be considered and paid. A practical approach is to ask volunteers, as part of onboarding for a communication-based role, whether they rely on mobile data rather than broadband, and offer them the option to claim if so. Framed correctly, this is a small, occasional contribution towards their data plan rather than a fixed allowance, which keeps it in line with the guidance above while making sure nobody is quietly out of pocket.

3. Material based tasks

Brief, tangible one-off tasks requiring the volunteer to buy or use their own small materials, generally with no travel involved.

• Post Pals ask volunteers to send letters or care packages, with postage paid by the volunteer - https://www.postpals.co.uk/
• Bliss asks volunteers to knit hats and clothing for babies in neonatal units, with wool and materials bought by the volunteer - https://www.bliss.org.uk/support-bliss/volunteer/knit-for-premature-babies

What costs could the volunteer incur here?

• Postage and packaging
• Wool or craft materials
• Ink and paper for home printing

Should a charity pay for this expense?

Yes, the charity should definitely reimburse this. It is the least contentious category, since existing guidance from NCVO and GOV.UK already treats materials and postage as standard, reimbursable volunteer expenses. The only real question is process, ideally reimbursing promptly to avoid leaving the volunteer out of pocket.

4. Event or in-person tasks

Short physical attendance at a set time and place, such as event stewarding or a single collection shift. The main cost here is travel.

• Sarcoma UK lists one-off event stewarding as micro-volunteering, and reimburses reasonable travel expenses if agreed in advance - https://sarcoma.org.uk/one-off-and-micro-volunteering/
• Team London recruits one-off route marshals for events such as the London Legal Walk - https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/volunteering/search/events-steward-2

What costs could the volunteer incur here?

• Travel to and from the event, mileage or public transport
• Parking
  
• A meal, if it is a full-day commitment

Should a charity pay for this expense?

Yes, this is also well established practice, backed by HMRC's approved mileage rates. The main risk here is process, not principle. Tell your volunteers upfront, during the application or sign-up process, that travel costs can be claimed. This should also be written into the charity's volunteer management policy, so it does not depend on which staff member happens to be coordinating that event.

Where vHelp comes in

This is exactly what vHelp is built for, reimbursing one-off volunteers within twenty-four hours. Our system and pricing are designed to serve organisations working with supporters who may claim a single one-off expense or ongoing regular expenses. There is no annual licence for volunteer usage, organisations simply pay for what their volunteers use.

We regularly write on the importance of reimbursing volunteer expenses quickly, and this is a message we continue to push forward. Whether this is a one-off expense or a regular one, it still leaves that person out of pocket until it is settled, and it should be processed quickly. We covered this in more detail in 3 Reasons Why Charities Must Reimburse Volunteers Expenses Quickly.

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash