In-kind match has real value to your program, but it never arrives with an invoice. This article explains what counts as in-kind match, how to value volunteer time and donated property, and what your records need to show under 2 CFR 200.306.
When your award includes a match, the cash portion is usually the easy part. It runs through your accounting system and shows up on a report without much extra effort.
In-kind matches work differently. Volunteer hours, donated meeting space, and a partner's staff time all have real value, but none of them come with an invoice. Unless someone builds the record as the contribution happens, that value can be hard to prove when a monitor or auditor asks for it.
Under 2 CFR 200.1, cost sharing is the portion of project costs not paid by federal funds, and matching is a required level of cost share. Third party in kind contributions are property or services given to your project without charge by a non federal third party, such as volunteer time, loaned partner staff, donated supplies, or donated space.
Your organization should document these parameters in a written policy so staff understand what may count as in kind match, how contributions should be valued, and what records must be maintained.
If you pledged a match in your proposal that the program did not require, 2 CFR 200.1 treats that voluntary committed cost sharing as a binding requirement of the award.
Under 2 CFR 200.306(b), a contribution has to be verifiable from your records, necessary and reasonable, allowable under the cost principles, and not counted toward any other federal award. When the agency requires it, the contribution also has to appear in the approved budget.
Of those conditions, "verifiable from your records" is where in-kind match most often comes apart.
Under 2 CFR 200.434, donated services should be supported, to the extent feasible, by the same methods you use for regular staff time. A record that holds up shows:
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The volunteer's name
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The date and hours contributed
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The activity and how it connects to the grant
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A supervisor's approval
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The rate used to value the time
Under 2 CFR 200.306(e), that rate should be consistent with what your organization pays for similar work, or what's paid for similar work in your labor market. The rate follows the task, so a volunteer doing data entry is valued at a data entry rate regardless of what they earn in their day job.
When a partner organization lends you an employee, 2 CFR 200.306(f) values that time at the employee's regular pay plus allowable fringe benefits and indirect costs. Get those rates from the partner in writing at the start of the award.
Donated equipment and supplies can't exceed fair market value at the time of donation. Donated space can't exceed the fair rental value of comparable space in the same area, as established by an independent appraisal (2 CFR 200.306). For each donation, keep a donor letter describing what was given, when, and how the value was set, along with any appraisal you relied on.
In-kind match reflects a community showing up for your program, and a simple record kept as the contribution happens is what lets that support count. This week, pick one active award and check that every in-kind entry has a name, a date, a value, and the source of that value.
