Can I ask the organization I volunteer for to cover my commuting expenses?

Q. I’m a full-time volunteer for a youth organization. I love my work, but I cannot continue to do it without at least some reimbursement for transportation and administrative costs, which I am currently paying out of pocket – all the money raised by the organization goes for its program costs. Is it wrong to ask for pay for doing this job? And if not, how should I go about it?

A. It’s not unreasonable for you to ask for some type of compensation or reimbursement, says Jennifer Bennett, a program manager at VolunteerMatch, a San Francisco organization that helps charities find volunteers online, but do your homework and come up with possible solutions first.

“It’s uncomfortable to talk about money, but if it’s stopping you from being able to do the work that’s important to you and to the organization, it can’t hurt to ask, and it can’t hurt to think creatively how those funds might be raised,” she says.

Depending on your organization and the programs you work on, you could handle this several ways, she says. Your organization could apply for a grant to cover a specific program in which you are primarily involved, she says. “The money for administration or your transportation can be a part of the program cost,” says Ms. Bennett.

Many charities also reimburse their employees and or volunteers for transportation costs. Young Aspirations/Young Artists, a charity in New Orleans that provides inner-city youth with art classes, only recently began reimbursing its teachers for travel at the rate of 50 cents per mile. Timeka Junius, the organization’s programs manager, says the group made the change after the teachers asked for it. She recommends keeping track of your transportation expenses for a few weeks before approaching the head of your organization.

“If I was in the shoes of this volunteer, I would go talk to the person that’s in charge, whether it’s the director or someone in accounting. I would bring to their attention how much I’ve been spending in gas.”

If the organization is unwilling to reimburse you for transportation costs, you can still take them as a tax deduction at 14 cents per mile, as long as you document your expenses and your charity provides a letter confirming that you did pay transportation costs while volunteering. You can also deduct the cost of office supplies or other administrative goods you bought for the charity, if you weren’t reimbursed. However, you cannot deduct the value of the time you donate. For further information on taking tax deductions for charitable donations, see IRS Schedule A for the Form 1040 and Publication 526 at the Internal Revenue Service Web site.

Your organization will most likely do what it can to keep you around, Ms. Bennett says, so recognize that you are in a position to both ask for money and assist with raising that money.

“If you’re a long-term, valuable component to this program,” she says, “hopefully the organization understands and recognizes that and values your work.”