I refer to the letter “Decline in volunteerism calls for greater scrutiny” (Dec 29). Although the points about declining volunteerism are worrying, dropping volunteerism rates and rising donations as reflected in the Individual Giving Survey may be a good opportunity to move towards monetary-based charity.

The inherent weakness of volunteerism is that the onus is on voluntary welfare organisations to convince Singaporeans to free up their time. Many Singaporeans have busy lives; few are able to volunteer regularly without sacrificing time for something else.

Even if a large part of the population wishes to volunteer, many do not because of their jobs, family time or other commitments. The Individual Giving Survey shows that the top reason for not volunteering is lack of time.

This means that a large part of volunteering potential in Singapore is not activated. A proposal by Swiss author Rolf Dobelli, among others, can address this weakness.

When trying to secure volunteers, non-governmental organisations can introduce an option whereby potential volunteers choose to work an extra hour or two and donate the income from that. The NGO would then use the donation to hire people whose occupation is in line with the volunteer project and keep the remainder in their coffers.

This utilises some of the wasted “volunteering potential”. And where the potential volunteer lacks expertise in the tasks required, the end product of the project will be of better quality, with greater impact on the beneficiaries.

The Government could co-fund the additional costs borne by the individual’s employer from paying these extra wages or give other benefits. Large organisations could also divert part of their budget for charitable ventures to fund this.

This method, some may say, removes the base principle of altruism. But as long as our aim is to better the lives of others in the best way possible, it should be considered.