Hour Tracking

Quick Answer: Hour Tracking

Approval-based hour logging with grant-ready and recognition-ready reports so you stop rebuilding volunteer totals in Excel before every funder deadline.

Log Volunteer Hours

Track volunteer hours from submission through approval and reporting. Coordinators review entries before they count toward exports and recognition milestones.

How to Log Hours

There are three ways to record volunteer hours in Alignmint:

1. Self-Service: Volunteers log their own hours from any device. They enter the date, project, activity type, start/end time, and optional notes.

2. Staff Entry: Coordinators can log hours on behalf of volunteers—useful for group activities or when volunteers don't have accounts.

3. Automatic Tracking: When volunteers check in to a scheduled event via the Volunteer Scheduler, their hours are calculated automatically from the event duration. No manual logging needed.

Hour Entry Fields

• Date: When the volunteer work took place

• Project / Program: Which program or campaign the hours are tied to

• Activity Type: Direct service, administrative, fundraising, governance, or custom categories

• Duration: Start and end time, or total hours

• Notes: Optional description of work performed

• Mileage: Optionally log miles driven with start and end locations—Alignmint calculates reimbursement at the current IRS standard mileage rate

Approval Workflow

Submitted hours go through a review process before they count toward reports:

1. Submitted: Volunteer or staff member logs the hours

2. Under Review: Coordinator sees pending hours in their approval queue

3. Approved or Flagged: Coordinator approves, flags for correction, or rejects with a note

Set weekly review cadences so coordinators are reminded to review pending hours. Every approval action is logged with a timestamp and the reviewer's name for a complete audit trail.

In-Kind Valuation

Approved volunteer hours can be valued for board and grant reporting using the nationally recognized Independent Sector rate or a custom hourly rate you configure for specialized skills.

Reports & Exports

Generate volunteer hour reports filtered by any combination of:

• By Volunteer: Individual hour summaries with totals

• By Project: Hours grouped by program or campaign

• By Date Range: Weekly, monthly, quarterly, or custom periods

• By Activity Type: Direct service vs. administrative vs. fundraising

Export to PDF or Excel—ready for grant applications, board presentations, and volunteer recognition programs.

Recognition Milestones

Alignmint automatically tracks when volunteers reach hour milestones (50, 100, 250, 500, and 1,000 hours). Use these milestones to trigger recognition emails, certificates, or appreciation events.

Related Tools

Pair with Volunteer Scheduler for check-in automation and Mileage Tracker when drivers need a dedicated log. See Volunteer Hour Tracking features.