The benefit and cost of voluntary work in government: The case of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Boat Crew Program

Abstract

This research aimed to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of a volunteer program. The literature lacked empirical evidence on the cost efficiency of voluntary work in the public-sector context. Most previous studies have paid attention to the cases of nonprofit organizations, although there have been many volunteer programs in public organizations. In this research, we focused on the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Boat Crew Program which may help distressed boaters in distress, patrol regattas and marine events, and assist in maritime observations. We discovered that approximately $1.39 million was invested in volunteers to run the boat crew program for 2019. We also estimated the total monetary benefit of volunteer contributions by using the replacement cost method. As a result, we found that 5369 volunteers contributed approximately 199,000 h to the boat crew program in 2019. It means that the program extended the equivalent of 104 full-time Coast Guard personnel in 2019. The total economic benefit attributed to the volunteer contributions of labor ranged from $4.8 million to $5.4 million. Therefore, for every dollar the Coast Guard invested in the volunteer program, they obtained an additional return of $3.42 to $3.89 from volunteer contributions.