What mileage records does the IRS expect from a volunteer driver?

Reliable written records made regularly and at or near the time of the driving. IRS Publication 526 says a volunteer using the 14-cent rate must be able to show the miles driven for the charitable purpose, and that a record might name the organization served and the dates the car was used. A volunteer who deducts actual costs keeps the cost of gas and oil instead. Parking and tolls are deductible either way.

Can volunteer hours and miles count toward a transit grant match?

Sometimes. For FTA Section 5310, the circular says donated or volunteered services can count toward the local share if their value is documented and supported, covers a cost the program could otherwise claim, and is included in the project budget. The program has to be able to produce that documentation, which is why a per-trip record matters. Your state agency may add its own rules.

What does FTA Section 5310 pay for in a volunteer driver program?

Circular C 9070.1H lists administration, recruiting drivers, safety, background checks, scheduling, passenger coordination, mileage reimbursement, and insurance, plus enhancements that add capacity. Vouchers that pay mileage reimbursement to volunteers count as an operating expense, so they need a 50/50 federal and local match.

Can a state require training for volunteer drivers?

The Volunteer Protection Act allows it. A state law that makes a nonprofit or government entity follow risk management procedures, including mandatory training of volunteers, is not inconsistent with the Act (42 U.S.C. 14503). Whether your state, insurer, or funder asks for training records depends on their own rules, so check the agreement and keep the training date on each volunteer's record.

Volunteer Driver Program Software for Medical Rides

Q: Does a volunteer need a letter from the program for car costs?

For unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses of $250 or more, yes. IRS Publication 526 asks for a written acknowledgment from the organization that describes the services the volunteer gave and says whether the organization gave anything in return. The volunteer needs it by the earlier of the day the return is filed or its due date, including extensions. Smaller amounts still need the mileage records.

What does volunteer driver program software have to do?

It has to run the schedule, keep a record of every mile a volunteer drives, and give funders the counts they ask for. A shared calendar and a group text can book rides. They cannot produce a mileage statement, a license reminder, or a trip count a year later. Who may volunteer, how much to reimburse, and what insurance to carry are covered in volunteer driver programs for medical rides. This page covers what the software has to do about them.

A program that runs well on software usually has five things in place:

A schedule that repeats. Dialysis, therapy, and radiation visits come back every week. A ride is booked once and keeps itself going, with single days skipped or moved.
Volunteer availability. Each volunteer’s open days and hours sit on the schedule as shifts, so the office assigns a ride to someone who can take it.
Vehicle matching. A volunteer’s sedan suits a rider who walks to the car. A rider who stays in a wheelchair needs a vehicle built for it, and wheelchair, stretcher, and oxygen needs are matched to the vehicle.
A record the trip writes itself. Times, miles, and the rider’s signature are captured on the volunteer’s phone, not typed up afterward from memory.
Reports sorted by funder. Trips and cancellations for each grant or contract, over any date range, plus a trip log that shows the miles.

What mileage records does a volunteer need?

A volunteer who deducts car costs needs written records made at the time of the driving, and the program is the one place most of that information already lives. The rate itself (14 cents a mile, fixed by section 170(i) of the Internal Revenue Code), what is deductible, and when reimbursement above that rate turns taxable are covered in the volunteer driver guide.

The record rules come from IRS Publication 526. Records count as reliable when they were made regularly and at or near the time of the driving. A volunteer using the 14-cent rate has to be able to show the miles driven for the charitable purpose, and a record might name the organization served and the dates the car was used.

For unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses of $250 or more, the same publication also asks for a written acknowledgment from the organization. It describes the services the volunteer gave and says whether the organization gave anything in return. The volunteer needs it by the earlier of the day the return is filed or its due date, including extensions.

A program that keeps GPS-recorded miles on every trip can print each volunteer’s year as one list: date, pickup and drop-off, and miles. For volunteers the program reimburses, the same list backs up each payment.

Does the Volunteer Protection Act cover a volunteer who is driving?

No, not for harm caused while driving. 42 U.S.C. 14503 can spare a volunteer of a nonprofit or a government agency from personal liability, but it carves out harm caused while operating a vehicle for which the state requires a license or insurance. The volunteer driver guide and starting a nonprofit transportation service cover the insurance that fills the gap.

Two other parts of the Act matter to a program’s paperwork. It leaves the organization’s own liability unchanged. And it lets a state require nonprofits and government entities to follow risk management procedures, including mandatory training of volunteers, so a funder or insurer may ask for training dates.

After a crash or a complaint, the questions are who drove, which license and insurance dates were on file that day, who was riding, and the route and times. Software answers them with credential dates that raise a reminder before they lapse, a guard against assigning a volunteer whose credential has expired, and a trip record that names the driver and the rider.

Which funders ask for trip counts, and what do they count?

Each funder defines its own count, so the first job is to read the unit in the agreement and set up reports to match it before the first month closes. Two common funders show the difference.

FTA Section 5310. Circular C 9070.1H, in effect since November 1, 2024, makes volunteer driver programs an eligible project. The listed costs include administration, recruiting drivers, safety, background checks, scheduling, passenger coordination, mileage reimbursement, and insurance. Operating projects need a local share of at least 50 percent, and donated or volunteered services can count toward it when their value is documented and supported and covers a cost the program could otherwise claim. A per-trip log of each volunteer’s miles and times is the natural way to document that. The Section 5310 guide covers applying.
Older Americans Act transportation through an area agency on aging. The state sets the unit. Ohio’s rule (OAC 173-3-06.6, effective February 1, 2025) counts one one-way trip as one unit, so a round trip is two. The area agency on aging guide covers how these contracts pay, and the senior center software page covers voluntary rider contributions, which the volunteer in the car never needs to see.

What do volunteers and families need to see?

Volunteers need a short, obvious view of their day, and families need a text and a link so they stop calling the office.

Joining. A volunteer joins from their phone with an invite code.
The day. The app shows today’s rides and the next pickup, and one tap opens turn-by-turn navigation in the volunteer’s maps app.
Dead zones. The app keeps working without cell service and sends everything once the phone is back in coverage.
Privacy. Rider details stay off the phone’s lock screen.
Families. The rider or a family member gets a text reminder before pickup and a link to follow the car, and can book a ride online without phoning the office.
The office. A board shows every ride, assigned or not, so a paid backup driver can take the early-morning or evening runs that volunteers do not cover.

Running a volunteer program in HealthRide

Volunteers run each ride in the driver app on their own phone, and it keeps working without cell service. A finished trip carries its GPS-recorded miles, the pickup and drop-off times, and the rider’s signature from the screen, and trip logs export to CSV or PDF for a volunteer’s mileage statement or a funder. Recurring trips keep standing rides going, and a generated ride that no vehicle can serve stays visibly unassigned instead of being mismatched. The payer summary in reports counts completed trips and cancellations for each payer over any period, and riders and families follow the car live from a text link.

Volunteer driver program software for rides to medical appointments