Talk:Compensation

Rob: I understand the motivation for this. I have never seen anything like this and suspect it is not needed. Volunteers work not for compensation - whether real or fictional. They work because they a) have the time available, and b) believe in the cause / objective. As the party grows, if may increase its ability to raise funds and it would then be in a position to pay for labour. I strongly recommend that this be avoided except for very surgical / high profile exception. As soon as people begin getting paid - two things begin to happen a) resentment (some people get paid, some don't) and b) demoralization of volunteers (unpaid), and c) turf protection by paid staff. Having the Leader receive compensation would not cause any problems. Having an Executive Director paid would not cause any problems. Paying these two key roles does widen the candidate pool. Paying for certain things very selectively would not cause any problems. While it may seem hard to operate a 100% volunteer organization, I suggest that it is even harder to run a mixed paid / volunteer organization - and introducing pay for work will likely reduce the total labour output from our membership.