Compensation for Community Members


As part of its commitment to equity, the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger offers compensation to any person who participates in meetings or projects – directly hosted by our organization –  voluntarily, outside of their existing paid professional duties. 

WHAT TO EXPECT

We deeply value the contributions of community members, and our team wants to ensure our processes are supportive and equitable for everyone involved. With this pledge, we have changed how we structure participation and compensation in our spaces as of Tuesday, October 1, 2024.

  • Compensation Structure: We offer a tiered compensation structure with flat reimbursement rates, as shared below. This will simplify tracking for community members and Blueprint staff, as well as streamline reimbursements for more timely delivery.

    • Engagement Tier: Everyone volunteering outside of a paid role will receive a flat $200 per month, regardless of how many spaces they participate in. Based on the current average hours per month of participation across the Blueprint, this rate equals about $45/hour.

    • Leadership Tier: Those leading projects by helping set agendas and/or facilitating meetings will receive an extra $200 per month ($400 total) for every month that they're in this role. These leads are selected by the Blueprint liaison for that space.

  • Tracking Participation: Please complete this online form for each month that you're requesting compensation. Blueprint staff liaisons for each meeting space will also monitor participation through Zoom.

  • Onboarding: We take an active approach to welcoming and onboarding new members who want to participate in existing and new spaces. This includes having a purposeful, one-on-one meeting with the designated Blueprint staff liaison. They’ll cover current work priorities, who else is participating, meeting expectations, and more.

  • Active Engagement: We encourage active participation in meetings rather than being passive observers who do not contribute over many months. Your expertise and input are crucial, and we want to ensure they're utilized effectively. This means we won't compensate for watching meeting recordings or reading meeting minutes afterward.

  • Excused Absences: Occasional, excused absences will still be eligible for the "engagement tier" stipend in the month missed. We want to be flexible and acknowledge that life happens, and that's okay.

The Blueprint team is also working to offer the following in the future:

  • Currently, we only provide compensation for meetings and project work that are directly organized by the Blueprint and are part of one of our recurring committees or project spaces. However, we'll soon begin accepting requests for stipends to participate in conferences or other projects to create chances for Blueprint participants to engage in other work. We're currently working on creating an accessible way to receive and respond to these requests. 

  • Also, we’re researching ways to provide compensation that doesn’t affect benefit program eligibility or income tax. 

PAYMENT METHODS & REQUIREMENTS

Please fill out this online form for each month that you're requesting compensation. (Before requesting compensation, you must complete and submit a W-9 to Leticia Macias.)

Our fiscal sponsor, Trailhead Institute, can currently make payments to participants in the following ways:

  • Direct cash payment, either as a direct deposit or check
    (This is considered countable income for some programs like SNAP/food stamps.)

  • Gift card for a specific retailer
    (This is *not* considered countable income for some programs like SNAP/food stamps.)

Payments are subject to IRS guidelines and any payments equal to or exceeding $600 per year must be reported on a formal 1099 tax form. Therefore, to receive direct cash stipends for participating in the Blueprint, a person must complete a W-9 from the IRS and submit it to Leticia Macias of the Blueprint prior to receiving compensation. 

The W-9 form can be completed using either a Social Security number, a Tax ID number, or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

CONTACT US

Please contact Leticia Macias if you need to submit a completed W-9 or have any other questions related to compensation.