Harnessing volunteer feedback is a cornerstone of successful volunteer management. When using TeamKinetic, it is a requirement for volunteers and providers to leave feedback before logging hours. Collecting or offering feedback needn’t be viewed as a chore or an unnecessary formality. By prioritising volunteer feedback, your organisation can improve its opportunities and reach.

The Value

Volunteer feedback is valuable for the following aspects of your volunteer engagement process: 

  • Recruitment – Once volunteers have been onboarded, the opportunity for feedback enables your organisation to improve the recruitment experience for subsequent volunteers. In doing so, your organisation’s volunteer base will widen.
  • Recognition – Giving your volunteers feedback is an essential aspect of any volunteer engagement strategy. Volunteers who are freely giving their time deserve to feel valued and appreciated. 
  • Reassurance – To avoid volunteers beginning opportunities and leaving, visible feedback before onboarding provides clarity. In being transparent, your volunteers can be reassured that they will feel comfortable and capable during an opportunity. 
  • Retention – If they are unsatisfied with one opportunity experience, a volunteer is less likely to volunteer with your organisation under different opportunities. Addressing feedback so that opportunities can be improved upon aids volunteer retention. 

Collecting Feedback

A systematic collection of feedback is essential if data is to be successfully interpreted and implemented. Some effective methods for feedback collection include:

  • Satisfaction scales
  • Suggestion boxes
  • Recommendation likelihood 
  • Surveys

On the TeamKinetic system, Thumbs Up feedback works for volunteers and providers. Thumbs Up feedback makes saying thank you or reporting any issues that have occurred during volunteering quick and easy. Your organisation can also create unique digital rewards and recognition OpenBadges for your volunteers. Feedback can be sent to specific volunteers or volunteer groups via TeamKinetic’s inbuilt email function and mobile messaging.

Take Time to Survey

Volunteer surveys are a thorough method for collecting feedback. Receiving written as well as numerical data makes feedback more personal and specific. This may take more time to record and analyse, however, as a result, there is more scope for meaningful feedback implementation. Survey questions often aim to understand volunteers’ perception of your organisation, how likely volunteers are to continue volunteering with your organisation, and particular likes and dislikes. Due to the customisable nature of surveys, your organisation can ask whatever questions you feel will be beneficial for your organisation. With TeamKinetic, your organisation can link external surveys to opportunities. For example, a SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics survey.

Implementation

Feedback is only useful if it is put into practice. Equally, volunteers will be motivated to provide constructive feedback when they know their feedback will be prioritised. Implementing feedback makes your volunteers feel heard, and improves your organisation’s reputation and overall productivity.

TeamKinetic’s feedback features including Thumbs Up feedback, external surveys and integrated messaging make collecting and circulating feedback simple. Your TeamKinetic site can be regularly updated to reflect any changes that have been made in response to feedback.

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