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Incentives for volunteers
I've heard that some FD's offer allowances, some areas get tax breaks, etc.
What's in it for you to volunteer and to continue to volunteer?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by mountain firegirl on
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What's in it to Volunteer and continue to do so?
The love of the job..
The passion and desire to be a firefighter..
To give back to the community in which you serve..
The brotherhood and family of your fellow firefighters..
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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We receive no monetary or material incentives.
Just like Mtn Firegirl's department... The members of our department volunteer because we love to help our neighbors. We joke about the size of our paycheck.
We have a half dozen family groups: husbands and wives, parents and children, even grandchildren who volunteer together. Very family-oriented.
It might be nice to have allowances and LOSAP but we get by without all that so far. Recruitment and retention are holding steady.
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LOSAP is Length of Service Award Program. A neighboring department received a grant from FEMA specifically for the purpose of setting up a LOSAP account. As I understand it they put the grant money in an account which draws interest, kind of like a trust fund. Members begin drawing pensions from the fund after so many years of service, up to $800 per month. I think they get a set amount per year of service up to that limit. So, for instance, a guy who has been on the department for 20 years might draw $400 a month after retirement.
Here's a link to the VFIS LOSAP page:
http://www.vfis.com/firefighter-length-of-service-awards-program.htm
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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Both volly FDs I am on pay for going on calls. One pays $12 a call, the other pays $10 an hour.
Anyone that vollies for the money is a fool. You never make enough to pay for the time you invest.
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I wouldn't have been interested in $10 per hour or $12 per run, but now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel (LOL) I'm interested in a pension that would continue long-term. The only possibility of that happening is through the LOSAP. Seems a lot of volunteer departments are utilizing it.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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$10 per call? I'll be in that! Where does the money come from? Is it through a LOSAP type of thing or is it fundraiser by the dept?
Is there a criteria? Do you have to physically be on the truck, or is responding to the station but missing the truck still make you eligible?
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Permalink Reply by Danny Thomas on
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In our V.F.D. we are giving our members who come to training, a break on there utility bill, now i live in a small town of 490 people. So we have 25 members on our dept., but only get 4-9 people showing up for training. Now since we have got the word out for the bill breaker, were now getting 9-14 members to our training, and I'm the asst. training officer, and im making the training fun and with food, to fill them full after a good training. We also brought our town council to a mayday training to see what we do and go through, by letting some of the town council get some PPE'S onand play with us. The town council now has a big appreciation for what we do, and has supported us more, since that day.
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Permalink Reply by Knightlite on
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Our department actually has an"Incentive Program" that is tied to a point system. It works this way. The Town gives the FD $30,000 to divide up among the members who meet the requirements to be eligible for the "incentive Pay." That is dictated by the Point System.
Members are given points for:
Responding to calls.
Attending drills.
Attending department meetings.
Years of service.
More points are given towards calls than meetings or drills, since that is what we want them to do… show up at fires.
They must accumulate a set number of points, or they will get nothing. So, only the members who make that set number of points actually get the Incentive Pay.
When you know how many points a member needs, we stick all the numbers into a spread sheet app we call "The Vonk Formula" the spread sheet will then calculate the number of calls, drills, and meetings and multiply them by the number of years of service. The more members who qualify for the Incentive Pay, the less the payout. The incentive system is a better replacement for a pension plan since it does not require front loading a lot of money to pay off veterans. The veteran members will get more of the payout because they get extra credit for each year of service.
James
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