Author: Chris Martin Page 2 of 13

3 Reasons Why You Don’t Use SMS Text Messages

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On 18th March 2021

In TeamKinetic Features, Volunteer Management

If you are reading this, you might not be using SMS text messages to manage your volunteers. And you will have your reasons as to why you feel that SMS text messages would not benefit you, your organisation, or your volunteers. This is where we come in. We’re here to debunk some of the common reasons why organisations think they don’t need text messages to manage their volunteers.

1) You don’t know how to use them

If you have never bought them before, then of course you’re not going to know how to use them. But, it is very easy to pick up. In fact, we have created a video that shows you exactly how to turn text messages on, how to set up automatic messages, how to send texts to specific volunteers, and how to send texts to the volunteers on a specific opportunity. Sending text messages to volunteers has never been so easy!

2) You don’t know the Impact

So, you think your organisation doesn’t need SMS text messages. But, do you know about the impact?

It will make you wonder why you didn’t use them earlier. Here are just a few ways it can ompact your volunteers:

  • You can automatically alert your volunteers by text when they have a session coming up, if their criminal check is due for renewal, or even when one of the providers they follow adds a new opportunity. Not only does this help engagement and encourage volunteers to attend sessions, it also makes your life a lot easier. 
  • Our SMS text messages function has been proved to be a more effective way to reach people and ensure they read your message over email. No longer will you have to worry about people not receiving your email because it either got lost in their inbox, they rarely check their emails, or it just went to spam; sending texts gives a higher chance of volunteers seeing your message.
  • You can easily text groups of volunteers, individual volunteers, or all volunteers on a particular opportunity, and give them the information they need. Alternatively, if you enter a valid mobile number as the reply-to number, volunteers will be able to text you back and continue the conversation. Or you can provide a short name that will let volunteers know where the message has come from, but they will not be able to reply directly. This makes communication a lot easier for both the volunteer and the volunteer manager.

Let’s look at some scenarios for example:

3) It costs too much money

You may worry that using text messages is just another ongoing expense for your organisation, and it is, but, it’s all the brilliant benefits, like the ones mentioned above, that makes it worth the expense.

We also have an offer available for a short time, which may help your organisation if one of your reasons for not buying SMS messages is money. Currently, for every 2 messages you buy, we give you one for free. So when you buy 500 texts, you get 750 and when you buy 1000 texts, you get 1,500. Meaning, the more you buy the more money you save! Perfect for communicating with volunteers, both when in a lockdown and when out of a lockdown. 

So, should I use them?

After reading all through the reasons why you thought you didn’t need SMS text messages, you might be thinking there could be benefits after all. So why not check out our SMS text offer? After all, it is saving you money in the long term. Take a look at our video below which explains how to do this:

Should I Be Using SMS Text Messages?

By

On 18th March 2021

In TeamKinetic Features, Volunteer Management

Yes, yes and yes. That is the first thing you see when you Google ‘Should I be using SMS text messages when managing volunteers?’. And the research isn’t wrong, using texts as a form of communication to your volunteers is incredibly beneficial. Not only does it improve communication, but it can also increase engagement and volunteer return rates. And let’s not forget the speedy responses that come from sending text messages, perfect for those time-sensitive situations.
However, the one thing you don’t really see when you Google this question is how beneficial SMS texts are from someone who is currently using them.

This is where we come in. If you are considering using SMS text messages but are still a bit unsure, hear from Claire at Halton and St Helens Volunteer Centre about her personal experiences using them.

Halton and St Helen’s Volunteer Centre

First, a little bit of background. Halton and St Helens is an organisation that provides advice, information and development support to voluntary, community, non-for-profit, faith organisations and volunteers in the Boroughs of St Helens and Halton. Here, Claire spoke to us about her experiences using SMS text messages in her TeamKinetic system.

1) When did you start using the SMS text message feature?

So, we started to use the text message feature fairly early on into the first lockdown of the pandemic. It was also around the same time that we first launched our TeamKinetic portal. 

In addition to this, it was around March/April that we had quite a substantial funding grant come through, which allowed us to buy a great big text bundle. And I already knew of the texts and how they worked from the work we have done with TeamKinetic before.

2) How do you use your text messages?

Initially, we used text messages for our volunteers who were supporting local residents during the pandemic with the community tasks. We would use the function to send a text to show they are a verified volunteer for us, this was pre the ID cards. It was a quick and easy way for us to give them something that was mobile that they could show the person they were working for that they were a verified volunteer. 

When the ID cards came into play on the community task dashboard, we started to use the texts to message our ‘Street Champions’ about ongoing tasks that hadn’t been picked up that needed to be done. I’d say that is the main way we used them now.

3) Do you find the SMS text messaging feature helpful in communicating to and engaging volunteers?

Yes, definitely. Between that and emails, we can have more of an impact in terms of communicating straight away with volunteers. And it’s that instant impact that is important for us particularly when there is an urgency in terms of volunteer support.

Recently we have also used them with our vaccination volunteers. For example,  when volunteers have dropped shifts and we have then asked other volunteers to quickly log in and see if they can pick up a shift. So, that’s been really helpful as we’ve now had full commitment and maximum volunteers throughout our vaccination programme which is great.

4) How have you benefited from the SMS text message feature compared to a time when you didn’t use them?

For me, it’s just an added bonus in terms of being able to communicate quite directly with that we’re not always in connection with and we don’t see physically. It wouldn’t even matter that much when we’re back into the ‘new normal’ after COVID-19 and we do see people on a regular basis. This is because the text messages would still be a massive benefit in terms of that quick turn around and communication with volunteer around shift patterns etc.

For example, we have worked with the TeamKinetic portal for years at Warrington Hospital, and we have never used the text message feature with them. This is mainly because we have never had the funding to be able to do that. But, again with some added funds, we have been able to out a little bit of a bundle on there too. So, we have now used it for when we have needed to contact our away finders, when there’s been an urgent need for people to support the vaccination centre, or when we’ve needed a quick turnaround on support. I think we could probably do that again going forwards, even when we start to bring our volunteers back, it will be a great tool.

We also use them differently in the Hospital in terms of the communication that we do in Halton and St Helens through the Volunteer Centre. So, with the Hospital it’s linked directly to a phone number which helps that two-way communication. With the Volunteer Centre, we actually just link it to a name so they understand it’s just from us and there’s no response from that.

5) What would you say to another organisation that is considering using the SMS text message feature but is still unsure?

For me, it’s a great way of quickly communicating and getting action from volunteers very quickly too. Particularly if you have got an event on for example or you are providing urgent response support;  it’s a great way of supporting that quick action of volunteers to get engaged, get involved, and get moving.

Thinking About Buying SMS Texts

If after reading this, you realise SMS texts would benefit your organisation and your volunteers, then check out this video explaining how to take up the offer!

Training Module: Using TeamKinetic to Manage Your Volunteer Programme

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On 11th March 2021

In TeamKinetic Features, Training

An exciting in-depth look at how to use TeamKinetic on a day-to-day basis to run your volunteer programme.  Partly hands-on, your tutor will talk you through setting up opportunities and allow you to see the system from different users perspectives. At the end of this training session, you will have a good understanding of how each user interacts with the system and how to communicate and manage your volunteers and service providers.

Who Should Attend?

Either new employees who have taken over the role of administrator OR existing administrators who would like a refresher of all the main functionality.

What Does It Cover?

A practical session where attendees will experience the system from each users perspective covering the following:

  • Registering as a provider
  • [As a provider/admin] Creating an opportunity
  • Registering as a volunteer
  • [As a volunteer] Joining the opportunity
  • [As a provider/admin] Managing and communicating with volunteers on the opportunity
  • Searching for volunteer/s
  • Search filters explained
  • Sending volunteers an email/sms text
  • Volunteer/Provider bulk emails
  • Adding volunteers without an email address
  • Inviting volunteers onto the system
  • Achievement badges
  • Criminal checks
  • Volunteer groups
  • Meetings
  • References
  • HourTrades
  • Events
  • Standardising activity tags
  • Accreditation badges
  • Shared opportunities
  • Adding Courses
  • Reporting library explained
  • Exporting information
  • Notifications
  • Volunteer news
  • System support

How Do I Sign Up?

You can access this training from your HELP > EXTRA TRAINING menu. Purchase the number of credits you need and then click on the BOOK button and select your dates.

You can check the latest training dates from within your system. Just go to ‘Help & Support’ → ‘Extra Training’

We Got Nominated Two iNetwork Awards!

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On 11th March 2021

In Awards and Prizes

Yes, that’s right! We got nominated for 2 iNetwork awards,  The Partner Excellence Award and the Covid-19 Response Recognition Award for our work with Halton and St Helens. And as of the 5th February, we have been shortlisted as a finalist. Here is how we got there…

About the initiative with St Helens

St Helens Together is the name of the collaborative community response programme of residents, businesses, public services and voluntary and community groups across the Borough. One of the key foundations was the Volunteer Portal which was implemented through a partnership which included us!

The aims of the development of the Volunteer Portal were to increase engagement with volunteering, to support organisations more efficiently with the recruitment and management of volunteers, to provide greater flexibility, support, reward and recognition to volunteers, and to have a system that would offer business intelligence and greater insight to volunteers across the Borough.

The volunteer portal was able to create identification cards, which helped with the safety and security of residents as the card had a photo of the individual and confirmed if their identity had been verified and if they had been DBS checked. A Community Task Dashboard was implemented, allowing an overview of all tasks and their status. We then implemented the I Can Help App which is a new innovative and effective way that volunteers could pick up tasks in their area.

What were the key achievements of the initiative?

  • 1,744 volunteers have been registered and together they offered 8,688 volunteering hours.
  • The economic value of the volunteer support offered £80,796 during the first six months of the programme.
  • Twenty different voluntary and community sector groups have used the portal.
  • 32,993 people have been supported.
  • The volunteers managed 37,339 food related tasks.
  • 16,161 telephone calls have been made to support those feeling lonely or isolated.
  • 3,675 tasks have been completed in relation to support around employment and the impact of unemployment.

In relation to the I Can Help App, here is just some of the feedback collected from the volunteers:

“I find it easy to pick up tasks that are suitable to me. The app is great.”

“Great way of linking volunteers with the community.”

“Using the I Can Help App is easy and efficient. Really happy to be helping others and making use of my spare time.”

The Awards

The St Helens Together Volunteer portal has provided a focus and foundation to the wider community response to the coronavirus pandemic. It has provided an infrastructure and efficient organisation which has helped us channel help and support to where it is most needed. 

The portal and the App, have shown how volunteers and community tasks can be managed more efficiently through a collaborative, digital approach. This has made it much quicker to recruit volunteers, to raise awareness of tasks that people need supporting with and to gain intelligence. It has also supported volunteers that had not previously used Apps the opportunity to increase their digital skills. The programme has broken down organisational and sector boundaries as it has brought everyone together with a common purpose. Volunteers have come from very different backgrounds and have very different demographics. They have reported that they have greater levels of empathy with others and feel a sense of belonging to their communities. Therefore a greater level of community cohesion, tolerance and kindness has been achieved.

Thank You!

We want to say a big thank you to Halton and St Helens and to everyone who has voted for us so far. It is a huge achievement and milestone for TeamKinetic to have been nominated for 2 iNetwork awards, especially one that recognises our efforts throughout COVID-19. Next step, the awards ceremony!

Managing Coronavirus Vaccine Volunteers

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On 20th January 2021

In COVID-19

Three types of coronavirus vaccine (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna), have been approved in the UK for use on the NHS.

So far, over 3,639,309 people have been vaccinated in the UK. Additionally to this, the government have planned to have every over 18 UK citizen vaccinated by this Autumn. But until then, the government plan to have 15 million vulnerable people vaccinated by mid February. And in November it was realised the NHS would need 30,000 volunteers to help deliver the programme.

After speaking to our clients, it came to our attention that many will be simply using spreadsheets to managing their volunteers for the coronavirus vaccine, unaware of the software they could be using to help. This is where TeamKinetic can help. We offer an easy to use online system that makes managing your volunteers safe and easier.

How can we help? 

Saving Time…

When using spreadsheets to find volunteers and their contact information, it can take a lot of scrolling….and time. With TeamKinetic, it couldn’t be simpler. Our system allows you to search for a volunteer and find all their information in just a few clicks. Easy right? You can even email or text them or even set up rotas straight from the app; saving you time.

Easy Access…

Volunteers have access to their own profile in your TeamKinetic powered app. Self-service means less work for you, so if they forget any details about where they need to be and what time, they can simply log in to their profile and everything will be there with easy access. This all supported by automatic reminders about their shifts or any other requirements you may have. Saving you loads of time to support those who need a little more help.

Safety First…

Best yet, TeamKinetic is fully protected and encrypted with the most up to date security. We adhere to all GDPR regulations so you don’t need to worry about it.  Excel Spreadsheets are unsafe and are easily deleted and corrupted, what happens if your data is then stolen? TeamKinetic ensures your personal data is safe and secure and meets all legal requirements.

Hear It From Someone Else…

We recently spoke to one of our clients, Claire from Halton & St Helens Volunteer Centre. We spoke to Claire about how TeamKinetic has helped them since the start of the pandemic, to managing volunteers at their vaccination centre at St Helen’s Ruby Stadium. Here’s what she had to say about our recruitment process and communication tools…

‘I have found that the TeamKinetic support they give and app they have built to be the best way to recruit our pandemic volunteers. Since the covid-19 pandemic, it’s been a godsend really. We have noticed that other organisations have not had the ability to recruit like we can, as quickly and safely, as they don’t have this kind of support.

We have had 1500 volunteers register since the beginning of the pandemic as it is easy to get volunteers to register.

The way that TeamKinetic excels for me is the communication tools, the ability to get in touch with volunteers very quickly. We are an avid user of the community task dashboard, our volunteers very quickly pick up tasks on there, and they can chat to one another on there. So being able to text them or email them as a group or a specific cohort of volunteers is really important for us, and helps us to manage the way, when and who gets involved.

When we knew we had to ramp up for the Vaccine, it was straightforward to promote, recruit, track training and deploy the volunteers as all the volunteers and the managment tools were right there in the app’

The Community Action Network that covers Bournemouth, Dorset and Pool, started using TeamKinetic in the break between Christmas and New Year and went live with over 1200 volunteers on the 7th of January. TeamKinetic have specialised in rapid deployment so you can get on with focusing on the important job of getting people vaccinated.

Join The TeamKinetic Family Today…

To find out more about TeamKinetic, feel free to call us on 0161 914 5757 or email our Director of Sales at chris@teamkinetic.co.uk. 

Alternatively, take a look at our website to find out more and start your FREE trial today! Or, read through our social media pages for more tips and tricks – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. 

We hope you enjoy our system!

 

2021 Resolutions – What Happens Next?

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On 13th January 2021

In News & Views

I think everyone would agree that 2020 was a bit of a rubbish year. Between the pandemic, Brexit and Trump we saw some of the very best and worst of human nature play out in front of our eyes. As we head into 2021, we at TeamKinetic think we can make the world a slightly better place to be. As part of our first meeting back as a team, we discussed what our hopes for 2021 look like and our resolutions to help us get there.  We thought it might be nice to share these with the internet and challenge you to come up with your own resolutions to share with us.

Personal Resolutions

Here’s what the team are thinking about for 2021:

Company Resolutions

As a company we have set ourselves some resolutions and goals as we look to come out of the pandemic stronger. We want to share these with our customers, so you can hold us to account if you think we are coming up short.

TeamKinetic will be investing time on our UX/UI across our product as we look to standardise and modernise the interface.  We’ll be giving special attention to mobile and small-screen usage as we think this will be the number one way volunteers interact with our services in 2021.

We have plans to improve how opportunities can be created with a new approach based around the creation of ‘roles’.  This is a really big change for TeamKinetic so you are likely to see this feature set develop over the next 12 months. We’re excited for you to see what we have in mind with this.

We are looking at DBS/ PVG and other forms of ID verification that can be undertaken directly in your TeamKinetic application.  We want to reduce your administrative burden and save you money on the cost of administering criminal record checks.

This year we want to build on our customer steering group with more interaction and feedback from you, our customers.  We will be launching our customer attitudes and satisfaction survey which we hope you will get involved with.  We are developing new tools that will help us understand how you use TeamKinetic. Also, we’re launching our supplementary training that you can access to improve what you get out of TeamKinetic.

Last year saw some huge new features added to TeamKinetic. We will be continuing to refine and explore where these go next. We hope you will be with us to share your thoughts and opinions on what we do.

Here’s to 2021.

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:

Twitter       Facebook       LinkedIn       YouTube       Instagram       Podcast

 

Have you enjoyed using TeamKinetic? If you could leave us a review on Capterra, we’d really appreciate it! We’ll even send you a little thank you.

A Spooky Competition

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On 12th October 2020

In Halloween

Who doesn’t love a good competition? We certainly do!

With COVID-19 still looming, we are determined to help companies boost staff and volunteer morale with a little help from the spooky season. That is why we have created a list of 7 different ways you can lift the (spooky) spirits of those you work with. And, we are want YOU to send pictures in of your organisation getting involved with any of the 7 ideas below; the most creative one wins our ‘trick or treat’ prize. But, you only have until the 1st of November to send your creative pictures in.

 

1. Get Creative

Whether you are working from home, or still in the office, that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative for Halloween. Why don’t you decorate your desk (or work from home space) with some spooky decorations? This is a cheap and fun way to ensure you can still make the most of the haunting holiday, despite COVID-19 restrictions. You can even make it a friendly competition and reward the person with the spookiest desk!

2. Get Fancy…Dressed

Whether you are still in the office, working from home, or volunteering, you can still make a show-stopping appearance in some fancy dress this Halloween! You could even do spooky make-up too. 

We are currently working from home, but I know I will still be dressing up this Halloween. Why don’t you get speaking to your volunteers and employees to encourage them to take part in some fancy dress this year? You can even make it another Halloween competition. Have a look at some popular inspiration below.

  • Velma and Daphne from Scooby Doo
  • The Purge make-up
  • Cobweb make-up
  • Mary Poppins and The Chimney Sweep
  • Breaking Bad

3. Low-key spookiness

Fancy dress and make-up not your thing? Don’t worry. You could simply wear some spooky socks, a terrifying tie, a Halloween headband, or a scary scrunchie. And if you’re working from home, you can even just wear some Halloween pyjamas at your desk, whatever gets you in the  positive spooky spirit while COVID-19 is about.

  • Terrifying Tie
  • Halloween Headband
  • Scary Scrunchies
  • Spooky Socks

4. Carving Out Spooky Competition

One thing that screams Halloween fun to me is pumpkin carving. Mine is currently on the table staring at me as I type this, ready to be carved along to a spooky film. Even with COVID-19 still lurking about, this is still something you can get your staff and volunteers involved in. You can make it a fun competition over a Zoom call, perfect for keeping things COVID-19 safe whilst also boosting morale.

5. Ghoulish Games

Did somebody say…quiz?! If there is one thing we love at TeamKinetic, that is a good quiz. Especially one that fits in with the festive holidays. This is another idea you can use to boost the morale of your staff and volunteers. You could arrange a Halloween quiz over a Zoom call and do your quiz over a PowerPoint presentation? 

6. Bewitching Baking

With COVID-19, actual baking may not be possible. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t purchase some spooky cakes to give out to your volunteers and staff. This is a perfect way to encourage some spooky spirit in a minimalistic way. These could be cakes, biscuits, chocolate apples, you name it! In fact, take a look at a few of your options in supermarkets now.

  • Spooky Mummy Marshmallow Lolly- Tesco
  • Spooky Muffins- Tesco
  • Freaky Fondant Cakes- Sainsbury’s
  • Deadly Cupcakes- Sainsbury’s
  • Cadbury’s Pumpkin Patch Cakes- Sainsbury’s

7. Spoooky Social Media

Holidays such as Halloween acts as the perfect opportunity to put your company in the spotlight for getting involved in festivities through social media. You could redesign your logo and header picture for October? We use Canva to make our profile look spooky; take a look at what we have done below and it may spike you with some spooky inspiration.

TeamKinetic Twitter- @TeamKineticUK

Inspiring Each Other

Everything is uncertain right now, with a lot of things being cancelled and many of us beginning to work from home again. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t all inspire each other to still enjoy the upcoming holidays. Share these ideas with your staff and your volunteers, send your pictures in before the 1st of November, and we can make sure we use Halloween to boost morale! And, one of you will be lucky enough to win our ‘trick or treat’ prize!

Send us your pictures through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Or email them to us at chloe@teamkinetic.co.uk

Managing Micro Volunteering

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On 12th October 2020

In COVID-19, News & Views, Volunteer Management

Micro-volunteering is the idea of volunteering in ‘short bursts’. This means volunteering in short and convenient ways, at times and places which suit everybody’s schedule. What makes micro-volunteering different from standard volunteering is that it can be done online or face-to-face, and doesn’t require any long term commitment. This means that the volunteer also doesn’t have to go through an application or training process first. Micro-volunteering is perfect for both volunteers and organisations! It has the potential to attract a wider diversity and greater number of people, including individuals who wouldn’t have got involved otherwise due to conflicting schedules. 

Examples of micro-volunteering include:

  • Delivering supplies to those isolating from covid-19
  • Signing online petitions
  • Writing blogs
  • Retweeting and posting relevant content to social media
  • Two minute litter pick
  • Buying a homeless person food or a hot drink
  • Researching and completing online surveys
  • Donate old clothes and goods to a charity shop

Remember this..?

Going Beyond the Ice Bucket Challenge | Ipsos

Remember when the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral in the summer of 2014? Where everyone, including big celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg, would tip a bucket of ice water over their head to raise awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Well, this was a perfect example of micro-volunteering. While this wasn’t classified as your ‘typical’ volunteering, it engaged people all over the world and encouraged them to donate their time and resources into raising awareness of ALS. This viral challenge raised $116 million over two years from people engaging in this challenge who previously might not have got involved if it wasn’t for micro-volunteering.

How has COVID-19 impacted this?

The rates of micro-volunteering will have naturally increased from COVID-19. This comes from people having too much spare time and wanting to use their time to help others during such a negative time.

COVID-19 has made the majority of the population go into self isolation to protect themselves and to protect others. This then meant many volunteers had the suspend their volunteering duties- this is where micro-volunteering comes into play! Micro-volunteering has allowed volunteers to continue their contributions whilst isolating at home. For example, VolunteerScotland has seen 60,000 people come forward as a response to COVID-19, prepared to help in the most difficult of times- and this is just Scotland!

 

The future of micro-volunteering…

Micro-volunteering is only going to continue to grow, especially considering the current climate, and this is something we need to encourage. It’s simple, without micro-volunteering there would be less people volunteering their time- especially during COVID-19. 

One of the biggest barriers to volunteering is people not having the time. Work commitments is the biggest barrier at (49%), with people ‘doing other things with their spare time’ closely following (35%), and child commitments following at (23%). Micro- volunteering allows people to contribute to volunteering around their schedule. This can even be sharing something on social media to raise awareness.

With COVID-19 now also causing volunteering barriers, micro-volunteering has come to the rescue. Micro-volunteering has allowed volunteers who are self isolating to continue to contribute to a cause from the safety of their home. This could prove to be the future for many volunteers who may not feel safe to return to face-to-face volunteering for a while. This then allows organisations to continue to receive volunteer support, despite the current COVID-19 situation.

How can you encourage micro volunteering with TeamKinetic?

During the peak of the COVID pandemic, we added an entirely new feature set around micro community volunteering. It includes a new admin and provider management page. Your volunteers also have access to their own progressive web app, allowing them to join micro volunteering tasks and record their progress using their phone.

Step 1 – Enable the community tasks feature from your super admin options menu

As you can see above, there are a few options available. Remember to give access to your volunteers and allow them to download the web app in order to access your community tasks.

Step 2 – Add your community tasks

Select ‘Community Tasks’ from the ‘Opportunities & Providers’ menu. Once you have enabled them in the super admin options menu.

Hit the big GREEN plus button to add your first community task.

There are some important things to know when adding your community tasks;

  1. All the data you add in the red section is visible publicly to your volunteers.
  2. The first set of data in the yellow section headed ‘Private Data’ is never revealed to volunteers.
  3. The second set of data in the yellow section headed ‘Data Shown to Assigned Volunteers’ is only revealed to the volunteer that applies and is accepted for the task.

You can describe the task here and provide a location for the recipient. This is as well as restricting which volunteers have access to see and pick up these tasks. You can restrict by their ID check, criminal check status, and whether they are linked to the assigned provider or not.

All your volunteers that have logged into the web app will receive notifications when new tasks are added. This will either be in the app for Android/Chrome devices or via email for iOS devices.

Step 3 – Get your volunteers completing the tasks

By enabling access to volunteers in the super admin options menu, your volunteers can login at ICanHelp.teamkinetic.co.uk. Additionally, by switching on the relevant options, you can also select to advertise the web app to your volunteers when they login on their dashboard.

When they login they will see a familiar mobile app interface and can search and select community tasks and apply to join.

Once they have applied you will see their application in your admin community tasks management page. From there you can assign them to the task. The volunteer will receive a notification that they have been assigned a task and can then view the full details in the app. Once they have completed the task, the volunteer can then update the status within the app.

It’s a super easy and fast way to encourage participation with those small micro-volunteering activities in your community. This will also help to build lasting connections.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch or open a support ticket if you need more help setting up your community tasks. You can chat to us through our website or directly email us at chris@teamkinetic.co.uk.

 

Conquering Ben Nevis

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On 21st September 2020

In Charity, News & Views

Ben Nevis is one of the UK’s most famous natural landmarks, and is the tallest mountain across the British Isles! It is a long and strenuous climb that takes around 7-9 hours, guaranteed to leave you with stiff legs the next day! But it also leaves you with a big feeling of accomplishment.

This mountain is a lofty 1,345 meters high. To put this into perspective the London Eye stands at 135 meters high and Big Ben at 96 meters high. They don’t call it the tallest mountain for nothing! And our TeamKinetic Software Engineer, Rolf Herbert, is about to climb it in aid of Macmillan.

Rolf’s Ben Nevis Adventure…

On the 27th September our software engineer is taking on the Ben Nevis challenge! Rolf is taking this challenge on with 30 team members, with only a few having real experience for such a challenge!

“Macmillan is a superb charity that helps so many people in a positive way, it helps celebrate and appreciate what you have even when you are at risk of losing so much. Sharing an adventure with friends in a stunning location, whilst raising some money, seems an apt way to help” – Rolf Herbert

About Macmillan…

At Macmillan Cancer Support, they understand the many ways in which a cancer diagnosis can affect your life. But from the moment you’re diagnosed, through your treatment and beyond, Macmillan are right there with you, offering emotional, physical and financial support.

They take the time to understand you as a person, so that they can provide the support, tools and inspiration you need to find your best way through. They do it like this because they understand that everyone’s cancer journey is unique. 

Macmillan Cancer Support is a group of millions of supporters, professionals, volunteers and campaigners. And together, they make sure you are treated like a person- not just a patient- and get the support you need to live life as fully as you can.

Read how Macmillan are helping people today…

Sara’s Story
Cathy’s Story
Ria’s Story

Best of Luck Rolf!

Everyone here at TeamKinetic applauds Rolf for taking on this challenging climb to raise money for a brilliant charity! We wish you the best of luck and we can’t wait to hear all about it (and make sure you wear some good shoes)!

If you wish to support Rolf on his endeavour for Macmillan, follow the link below.

GoFundMe

Celebrities Who Do Great Charity Work

By

On 18th September 2020

In Charity, News & Views

Celebrities are some of the richest people in the world, whether they be actors, footballers, or singers. Today, we take look at the celebrities who really care. The ones who donate their money and time to causes they’re truly passionate about.

Here are a few of the celebrities doing great work, and maybe it can inspire you to follow in their footsteps…

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie speaking to Syrian refugees, celebrities who volunteer, charity, volunteer management, volunteering, volunteer management software,

Angelina Jolie has always been associated with being charitable, and today is no exception! Despite becoming one of the biggest names in Hollywood, she still used her time to help others…

  • Since 2001, she has embarked on field missions around the world and met with refugees in more than 20 countries.
  • In 2003 she set-up the Maddox Jolie Program that is today known as the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP). The foundation is dedicated to eradicating extreme rural poverty, protecting natural resources and conserving wildlife. They even donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders.
  • 2016 saw her set up the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict which aims to ensure that children and young people affected by conflict, internal displacement, and refugee status are not denied their fundamental human right to education.

David Beckham

David Beckham. celebrities who volunteer, charity, volunteer management, volunteering, volunteer management software,
  • Has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2005 and travelled across the world to see the work that they do. Beckham has visited Swaziland, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and the Philippines.
  • In February 2015, to mark his tenth year, UNICEF and David launched ‘7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund’. The 7 Fund states that they are “tackling bullying, violence, child marriage and missed education, and making sure children – especially girls – get a true chance to realise their potential”.
  • The 7 Fund has also supplied polio vaccinations, drilled wells and brought clean water to schools and communities. They’ve also provided HIV medicine to pregnant mothers and given life-saving food to malnourished children.

Miley Cyrus

Miley often speaks out on social issues too – here she is at the Women’s March in 2017.

From rising to fame as Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana to creating media frenzies with her provocative live performances, Miley has had quite a journey in the public eye! But through it all, she’s kept her charitable spirit…

  • In 2009, she started a program for Youth Service America called ‘Get Ur Good On‘. Its purpose was for youth to support each other in their missions to do ‘good’ in their communities. Get Ur Good On Grants awarded 100 $500 grants to support projects that addressed critical community needs such as poverty, education, and environmental sustainability.
  • In 2014, she founded the Happy Hippie Foundation. The foundation provides homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable groups with consistent support services, education and employment opportunities.
  • Finally, in 2018 Miley, and her then-husband Liam, donated $500,000 to Malibu Relief after their home burned down due to the California wildfires. They noted that they wanted to give back to the place that “created so many beautiful memories for themselves and others”.

Feel inspired?

Do you now feel inspired to take part in some charity work to help make a difference but don’t know where to start? Check out our website as a starting point to see the clients we work with, and the volunteering opportunities they have on offer.

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