Many campaigns mobilize volunteers and in-kind donations (e.g. free office or meeting space, free transport, free airtime, and pro bono communications design or legal advice), which are not always easily expressed in monetary terms. These anticipated contributions should be accounted for on a table appended to the budget.
Practical tips for in-kind contributions
- Acknowledging pro-bono work and volunteer time in for example, campaign publications, websites or public events, is important to motivate contributors, and demonstrate to a wider audience that the campaign receives broad support. Even though some contributors, e.g. PR agencies, may expect their support to be highly visible, it is important to obtain formal, informed consent before publicizing the names of volunteer contributors.
- Keeping track of donated goods (e.g. hardware, stationery, food) is important to prevent misuse of such goods or conflicts over their use. Written rules and agreements should state where such goods will be kept, who is authorized to use them under which circumstances, and what will happen to the goods when the campaign ends. An inventory should list all equipment used in the campaign, the date of purchase/receipt of each item and the place where it is kept. If there are large numbers of similar equipment (e.g. 10 digital cameras), they should be tagged with numbers for easy traceability. Use of any motor vehicles (cars, motorbikes) should be recorded in a logbook according to procedures known to all users.