Local match, sometimes referred to as cost sharing, is cash or other contributions that a grantee contributes to a project. Most grants require a local match contribution to demonstrate local commitment to the project. When volunteers provide critical contributions to a project's success, funders often allow the grant recipient to count the volunteer's donated time towards the grantee's local match. The grant guidance may specify an hourly amount that must be used to value volunteer contributions. If it doesn't, most funders will accept the rates published by independentsector.org’s webpage, The Value of Volunteer Time. You can download a 1-page report to find Vermont's current rate. Vermont's volunteer rate is $28.14 as of April 2022. The rates are updated annually in April. Don't forget to save the downloaded report in your project file as documentation of how you obtained the volunteer rate! Check the site each April to update your files for the current volunteer rate. The rate usually increases, and you can use the increase to increase the hourly rate of your project's volunteer time.