Minimum Service Contribution (MSC)

In order to maintain Active status, volunteers are asked to contribute minimum hours of volunteer service each calendar year; the Minimum Service Contribution (MSC). The intention of the MSC is to:

• Keep the skills and awareness of volunteers sharp and practiced;
• Keep volunteers engaged with their fellow volunteers and in their communities;
• Protect the indemnification status of all Active volunteers.

NET and BEECN volunteers must contribute no less than twelve hours of volunteer service annually.

Linking the MSC, Volunteer Indemnification, and Risk

The City of Portland indemnifies BEECN and NET volunteers but not ATVs, SUVs, or COAD volunteers. In exchange for the protection offered by indemnification, NET and BEECN volunteers must complete and maintain a currency in their training that lowers them as a liability risk to the City of Portland. If a NET or BEECN volunteer does not keep up a minimum level of training, they are too much of a risk to be considered a deployable resource by PBEM.

From a policy perspective, deciding what constitutes a minimum level of training/knowledge for NET and BEECN volunteers is a three-way balancing act between 1.) keeping the risk profile of PBEM volunteer programming low; 2.) ensuring that NET and BEECN volunteers possess a level of training and experience that makes them helpful in disaster response (e.g. a "deployable resource"); and 3.) not driving volunteers off by asking for too much of their time. If risk profiles of PBEM volunteer programming are out of sync with the City of Portland's risk tolerance, PBEM may be directed to adversely adjust the MSC and throw it out of balance.