Volunteer Value Calculators

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and International Public Safety Data Institute (IPSDI) developed the following three calculators for volunteer and combination fire and EMS departments. Use these calculators to determine the local cost savings to your department and community by utilizing volunteers as well as calculate the retention value of your volunteers.



Return on Investment

The charts on this page will not display clearly on mobile devices. It is strongly recommended to use a desktop or laptop computer when working with this calculator.
On average, how many hours per month does this volunteer dedicate? Enter the total amount of costs associated with onboarding a new member
Onboarding Cost Worksheet
Select your state, or use the United States national average Enter the number of years to analyze the value of retention
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Onboarding Cost Worksheet

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Total Onboarding Costs: $0.00

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Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator
This calculator shows the time it takes a volunteer firefighter or EMS provider to return value to a community after their onboarding and training costs.



Retention Value Calculator

Enter the total amount members in your department Enter the total number of volunteer hours for the year Select your state, or use the United States national average

Volunteer Department Retention Value Calculator
This calculator will show the retention value of all members for their donated time to the fire or EMS department for the current year. As the total retention value of the donated time is the sole focus of this calculator, onboarding and investment costs are not considered.



Career vs. Volunteer Comparison

Enter the number of daily staffed positions for comparison Enter the number of hours per day of paid coverage to compare Select your state, or use the United States national average

Career Versus Volunteer Comparison Calculator
This calculator will show the cost of positions if staffed by career responders, representing the cost savings of volunteers filling those positions.