It usually starts with one volunteer. They pull you aside after a shift, a little embarrassed, holding a form from the SNAP office or a letter about Medicaid. Can you sign this? Then it's three people. Then a caseworker calls to check. If that's where you are, you're not alone, and you don't need a new department to handle it.
This guide covers why it's happening, what you're actually vouching for, and a simple system that works for a pantry with two staff or a program with two hundred volunteers.
Why volunteers are suddenly asking you to sign
Two federal changes in 2025 and 2026 pushed this onto nonprofits:
- SNAP now expects most adults 18 to 64 without kids under 14 to show 80 hours a month of work or activity. Federal rules count "unpaid work, verified under standards established by the State agency." The state sets the standard. The proof usually comes from you.
- Medicaid will require 80 hours a month from expansion adults by January 1, 2027, and community service counts.
Here's the key part. States plan to check work hours automatically using payroll data, but volunteering isn't in any database. In KFF's survey, states said they "probably could not get information for most volunteer activities" that way. So when a volunteer needs proof, the state asks them, and they ask you.
The federal Medicaid rule even describes what it expects from your side: an organization that provides oversight and has "a process in place to track" each volunteer's activity, dates, and hours, with "a point of contact who can confirm the hours completed."
What you're vouching for (and what you're not)
When you sign, you're saying: this person did this work, on these dates, for these hours, and here's how to reach us. That's it.
You're not saying they qualify for benefits. You're not judging their circumstances. The state decides eligibility. Your job is to be an accurate witness.
That makes the rule for signing simple: only confirm what you saw or what your records show. If your sign-in sheet shows 18 hours and the volunteer remembers 22, write 18. If you're missing a day, say so. A precise, honest letter helps the volunteer more than a generous one that gets questioned.
A simple monthly system
You don't need software for this. You need a habit. Here's one that works:
1. Record every shift the day it happens
A sign-in sheet with name, date, time in, time out, and activity is enough. A clipboard by the door works. So does a shared spreadsheet. The point is that it's written down the same day by someone other than the volunteer alone.
2. Pick one person who confirms hours
Name a point of contact, usually the volunteer coordinator or a shift lead, plus a backup. Put their name and phone or email on every letter. Caseworkers call that person, so make sure they know it.
3. Close out each month
In the first few days of the month, total last month's hours for anyone who needs proof. Some states have tight deadlines. Washington, for example, wants SNAP volunteer proof by the 10th of the next month.
4. Use the state's form, or a short letter
If the volunteer brings a state form, fill out that form. Pennsylvania and Washington both have one. If there's no form, use a short letter on your letterhead. Our volunteer hours letter template has every field a caseworker looks for, and volunteers can fill it in for you to check and sign.
5. Keep a copy
Save a copy of every form or letter you sign, with the sign-in records behind it. When a caseworker calls six months later, you'll have the answer in a minute.
When you're not sure what to do
The hours don't match your records. Sign for what your records show and note the difference. Don't guess upward.
The work isn't really your program. If someone helped a neighbor on their own time, that's kind, but it's not your hours to confirm. The Medicaid rule specifically excludes "helping a friend move" when it's not part of an organized effort.
You don't know if your organization qualifies. For Medicaid, the rule says states "must not restrict community service" to 501(c)(3) groups. Public agencies and religious nonprofits can count. For SNAP, the state decides, and some keep a list of approved sites. Ask the volunteer to check with their caseworker.
You're getting more volunteers than you can supervise. That's real. FRAC notes that states are leaning on nonprofits, "many of which lack the infrastructure to host or supervise mandated volunteers," with no new funding. It's fine to set a limit, keep a waitlist, or point people to other sites. It's better to say so up front than to take on volunteers you can't track.
Privacy and respect
Volunteers who need hours for benefits are often stressed about it. A few small things help:
- Keep their reason for needing hours private. Other volunteers don't need to know.
- Share hours only with the volunteer, or with an agency the volunteer asked you to talk to.
- Don't ask about their case, income, or health. You don't need it to confirm hours.
Where Verified Hours fits
If you're signing letters every month for a handful of people, a sign-in sheet and the template above may be all you need. If it's turning into dozens of letters, that's what Verified Hours was built for. Volunteers log their own shifts on their phones. Your coordinator confirms each one with a tap, from anywhere. At the end of the month the volunteer gets a signed letter with your letterhead and a QR code, and a caseworker can scan it to see the hours and who confirmed them, without calling you. It's free for nonprofits, and you can use it alongside whatever volunteer software you already have.
What to read next
Share our explainers on Medicaid work requirements and SNAP work requirements with volunteers who are confused about their own rules. It saves you from becoming the benefits help desk.
You took on volunteers to get good work done, not to run a verification office. A sign-in sheet, one named contact, and a monthly letter are enough to protect your volunteers' benefits without burying your team.