Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund

Effective date: 2026 July 1st

Adopted by Board of Directors of KOI on: 2026 June 13th

Review cadence: Annually

Plain Language Summary

This section describes in plain language what is otherwise a fairly technical document. It is important to note that this section is provided for easy understanding but shall not be used in place of the below detailed and specific policy.

This policy creates a Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund to support active volunteers and help prevent burnout.

The fund is meant to provide cash support to volunteers based on their expressed needs, not based on income or financial status. Volunteers are not required to request or to accept money, and the organization cannot use means testing to decide who qualifies.

To qualify, a volunteer must be:

• An active volunteer in good standing
• Someone who volunteered at least 10 hours in the previous month
• Someone who completed Direct Service work that month
• Not a member of the governing Board of Directors

The fund is calculated monthly. After each month closes, the organization totals expenses related to Evacuee Support, then sets aside 10% of that amount for the Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund. The fund is based on expenses, not revenue.

Volunteers request support through the normal expense reimbursement process. They must include a short summary of their volunteer activities and hours. Payments are usually calculated and distributed in the second week of each month.

Each volunteer can receive up to $1,000 per month, but payments may not happen if the fund has no money or if the organization’s cash flow can’t support it.

Recipients will be told that these payments do not make them employees or contractors. The organization views the payments as partial reimbursement for donated time, money, and resources, but the IRS may treat them as taxable income. Volunteers may need to provide a W-9 if payments reach reporting thresholds.

The policy also includes safeguards: the Treasurer can stop suspected abuse, such as volunteers inflating Evacuee Support expenses to increase the fund. The fund is restricted to only this use, tracked in the accounting system, and cannot grow beyond certain limits. Donors cannot donate directly to it.

Purpose, scope, and definitions

Purpose

In accordance with the Mission of the Kawaguchi O’Connor Initiative (KOI), Mutual Aid is one of the core tenants to ensure the sustainability of KOI and the Trans/GNC Community. From KOI’s inception, Volunteers have been the driving force, life blood, and sole reason for KOI’s existence. Their contributions are to be honored.

To prevent burnout and over-utilization of our volunteers, a Volunteer Mutual Aid is to be established. On June 13th 2026, during the budgeting meeting (“The Budget Meeting”), KOI budgeted, and approved the Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund.

Who and what this policy covers

This policy applies to all Active KOI Volunteers, regardless of their age, ancestry, color, disability, ethnicity, sex, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, access to wealth, criminal convictions past or pending, access to banking, relationship past or current to KOI members or volunteers past or current, or housing status past or current.

This policy is limited in scope to the establishment, maintenance, and distribution of The Mutual Aid Fund. Any other funds, financial or otherwise, are excluded from the scope of this document.

Acceptance of disbursements from The Mutual Aid Fund is not mandatory for any volunteer.

This policy expressly forbids means testing for eligibility.

Definitions

Volunteer - An individual who has been onboarded into KOI, including alias and chat platform access, and whom donates labor toward the furtherance of KOI’s goals and programs

Active KOI Volunteer - An individual volunteer who has contributed no fewer than 10 hours the previous calendar month

Director - A Director is a volunteer who, for purposes of governmental and interorganizational interfacing, holds a titled position within the organization but does not have authority for governance - which remains restricted only to the Board of Directors (e.g. Chair, Secretary, Treasurer).

Governing Board Director -  A Volunteer who has a titled  governance position within the organization as laid out in the organization’s bylaws and is registered as such by Government entities (Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, etc.)

Direct Service - Direct Service is defined as work conducted with individual evacuees. This can include Hosting, Driving, Emotional Labor, Care Coordination, Speaking with Evacuees on Element, etc. These can also include admin tasks to support Direct Service such as Volunteer Intake, Recruitment, Community Engagement, etc. Finance and Fundraising are not considered a Direct Service.

Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund - The fund established by this policy for the sole purpose of facilitating mutual aid via cash disbursements

Mutual Aid Fund Disbursement - Cash in an approved amount paid out to an individual volunteer as to the volunteer’s expressed needs.

In Good Standing - The default state for active KOI volunteers who have not been censured, disavowed, or asked to leave the organization and are otherwise meeting all requirements outlined in the organization’s bylaws and rules.

Means testing - A determination of whether an individual is eligible for assistance based upon whether the individual possesses the means to do with less or none of that help

Governance, fiduciary alignment, and legal

Directors of Washington nonprofits have statutory duties to act in good faith, with ordinary prudence, and in the nonprofit’s best interests.

Volunteer Disclosures

Recipients of the Mutual Aid Stipend will be notified of the following:

• They are recognized as volunteers, and not as independent contractors, employees, or any other legally binding agreement that would be outside of the scope of a volunteer with KOI.
• KOI views recipients of the Mutual Aid Stipend as protected by the Volunteer Protection Act. However, there could be oppositional views in the legal system that would set up recipients to possible legal liability. KOI has no capacity, and will provide none, for legal support should such a situation arise.
• KOI views the disbursements a partial reimbursement of donated time, money, and resources. However, the IRS may view such reimbursements as taxable unearned income, or as Non Employee income. KOI will never provide tax advice, and it is up to the recipient to decide how to reconcile their disbursements with the IRS.
• Mutual Aid recipients may be required to provide a completed W-9 if their disbursements reach applicable reporting thresholds. This information may be needed if KOI is required to file Forms 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, and/or Form 1096 to comply with nonprofit reporting requirements.
• Volunteers should not rely on the disbursements as a stable source of income due to possible volatility of the fund balance.

Financial

Due to the labor of calculating the time and energy dedicated to Evacuee Support, the Volunteer Mutual Aid fund will be calculated on a periodic basis based upon expenses for the Evacuees.

The Volunteer Mutual Aid fund may never be calculated based upon revenue.

The Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund may be capped - with justification - per volunteer, even if there are excess funds left over.

Mutual Aid recipients may be required to provide a completed W-9 if their disbursements reach applicable reporting thresholds. This information may be needed if KOI is required to file Forms 1099-NEC, 1099-MISC, and/or Form 1096 to comply with nonprofit reporting requirements.

The Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund will be a restricted fund in the organization. After a period, such funds will  be released back into the general fund.

Donors may not donate to the Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund.

Currently, KOI uses Cash Based Accounting. Should KOI’s accounting methods change, This Policy and Procedure may change.

Due to the direct support of the programs of KOI’s activities, Volunteer Mutual Aid disbursements will be classified as “Programs” for the 990.

Cadence

Only volunteers who have completed any number of Direct Service Activity hours for the month  can receive such disbursements due to the mental/emotional workload.

In light of the possibility that Volunteers could artificially inflate expenses for Evacuees to increase the Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund, KOI will be vigilant against such a possible fraud scheme, and the Treasurer can veto such schemes. Volunteers who are found to be increasing expenditures to increase the Volunteer Mutual Aid fund will be held accountable and possibly removed from the program.

The governing Board of Directors cannot be recipients of the Mutual Aid Fund.

A recipient must be an active volunteer in good standing with KOI at the time of disbursement in order to receive disbursements from the fund.

Volunteer Mutual Aid Fund Disbursements are calculated, and disbursed in the second week of each month.

Funds may not be disbursed if:

• The fund balance is Zero, or negative.
• Current Cash flows prevent such a disbursement, even if the fund balance is positive.

If Cash flows are anticipated to prevent disbursements, it is the duty of the Treasurer to flag this adequately far ahead that the organization may discuss and vote on how to proceed.

Procedure

1. After month close, the total of all GL Accounts with the phrase “Evacuee Support” will be calculated. The total of Evacuee Support will be multiplied by 10%. The result of the equation will be entered in a month's closing Journal Entry to transfer the total from uncategorized Equity to Equity categorized as “Programs – Volunteer Mutual Aid”.
2. The working paper to back up the calculation will be retained by KOI, and attached to the Journal Entry in the accounting software used by KOI (currently Xero).
3. Volunteer Mutual Aid disbursements will be requested and approved by the standard Expense approval process.
4. When Volunteer Mutual Aid disbursements are entered into the Accounting software, the transaction must include
   1. The Volunteer Alias as the vendor/contact.
   2. The Account 6414 Volunteer Mutual Aid
   3. The Volunteer Mutual Aid as the Fund.
5. Disbursements are requested by volunteers each month to an amount they feel appropriate via the Expense Reimbursement form, including a summary of activities and hours volunteered for the applicable month.
6. Disbursements are capped per volunteer at $1000 per month. Volunteers must have provided 10 hours of labor for the month to qualify.
7. If disbursement requests for a given month exceed available funds, all individuals requesting reimbursement will receive an equal percentage of the available funds.
8. If a volunteer receives more than $550 for the tax year (Jan – Dec), or the disbursement is above $600, a W-9 must be filled out by the volunteer and provided to KOI in a secure manner before further disbursements.
9. The running balance of the fund may never be more than the aggregate additions of the past 6 months to the fund. Such a calculation will be regularly calculated in the Workpaper attached to the Journal Entry. If said occurrence happens, the fund will be reduced, or possibly, transferred back to general to match the constraint.