Getting paid to volunteer is a bot of an oxymoron, no? (was Re: [NCSG-Discuss] Subscription configuration (was: [NCSG-Discuss] knitters needle))

[Avri Doria]

On 4 Jul 2012, at 04:27, Alain Berranger wrote:

>  for volunteer stipends to compensate for volunteering direct and opportunity costs... I would not argue for remuneration for volunteers as that would be non-sensical.


I do not really understand the difference.  Getting money for doing stuff is getting money for doing stuff.
being a volunteer means not getting money to do stuff.
being paid means getting money.

I know people give it all sort of names: renumeration, stipend, honorarium ...  it all looks like pay to me.  The only reason I have ever thought people used words like stipend and honorarium was that it made it possible to pay people less that their going rate when doing so.

I beleive volunteers should be treated well and have all of their expenses and incidentals taken care of.  But I beleive that once some gets paid any monies beyond a reasonable per diem, they are not longer a pure volunteer.  E.g I no longer see the Board as volunteers, if i remember the amounts of stipend they (will) get, it would put them beyond the poverty level in most countries of the world.

avri