The PDV

As we have noted in the post about "In-Kind" requirements, your only real hope of making your match requirements is the PDV--The Program Development Volunteer.

What does this mean? How do you capitalize on PDV's? Well, it's pretty difficult to impart the necessary knowledge in a mere blog post. We will give it our best shot.

First, a PDV can be of any age. They do not have to be 55 years or older. Theoretically, an Eagle Scout could be a PDV. It's unlikely that people younger than Eagle Scout level would qualify but you never know. Typically, the PDV's we've worked with tend to be younger volunteers--20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. I don't have a median age because I don't have to ask their age. Their age is totally irrelevant as a PDV. It matters not. I'd guess the average age is perhaps 40-something but that's not based on data--it's just a SWAG. (Speculative Wild Anatomy Guess)

The key thing to remember is that PDV's MUST (repeat MUST) be doing something truly legitimate to help develop either an existing or a new program offered by RSVP. They can't be engaged in routine volunteering, even if their routine volunteering utilizes their special skill.

Let's say a lawyer goes to a Senior Center to offer legal advice. Is that helping further develop an existing RSVP program? No, it's not. Legal Advice in Senior Centers has been around forever. The lawyer is only utilizing his/her skill to do something that's a tradition in Senior Centers.

Now, let's take a lawyer or someone else who wants to help you leverage and EXPAND the legal advice program for Seniors. Let's say you sit down with them and plot out goals, objectives, tactics and strategy. Then the individual goes out and spends their time trying to help you expand a legal advice program. That would be a classic PDV project and, as such, their time would count toward your in-kind match requirement. If they were a normal volunteer doing routine volunteer things, it would count at the normal BLS Idaho rate. But if they were an attorney using attorney skills to help you develop such an expanded program then their labor would be valued at attorney rates.

Naturally, a PDV must sign a different set of paper work and you keep track of their service in different ways than for a regular RSVP volunteer. One thing you need to know--you can't double count a PDV's hours. If the PDV is over 55, they can only be counted one way or another. If you count their hours as RSVP, they can't then be counted as PDV. Vice-versa, if you count them as PDV, they can't be entered as RSVP. That's not a problem for people under 55 years of age. They can ONLY be counted as PDV's, provided, of course, they that are truly helping you develop or enhance an existing or new program.

Let me give you an example of a PDV's value for an Idaho Falls partner--the Idaho Falls Farmers Market (IFFM). RSVP partnered with the IFFM in February 2009. Through conversation, we determined that the IFFM really wanted to expand awareness not only of the market itself but also the market as a viable place to volunteer, especially for Senior Volunteers. So, the question then became, how does RSVP develop and enhance a program to assist increasing capacity for the IFFM to accomplish their stated goals and objectives?

Simple--a website is needed and photos are then needed to post on the website to "tell the story." Once the story is in place, then we can aggressively market for volunteers for future years to help in the operation of the IFFM.

RSVP was able to recruit a PDV in Bucksport, Maine, to do the website and then a young, up and coming photographer to take hundreds of pictures. Deb The Webmaster is probably in her 30's or 40's and Emily The Photographer is in her 20's. Deb has really gone the extra mile in building a terrific website for the IFFM--it's totally professional and first class. Naturally, the value of her work is valued at what it would cost to get a comparable website on the open market. Trust me, that's BIG BUCKS! Emily turned in hundreds of professional photos. Her work is valued at the rate of a professional photographer because that's what her career ambition is--to become a professional photographer. If she said she wwas an amatuer and wanted to stay an amatuer, well then her valuation rate would be considerably lower. However, we are justified in assigning a value to her work that would be comparable for what it would cost in the so-called open market.

The bottom line is that this is how you are going to meet your match (AKA--in-kind).