In our final pre-release Facebook Live session we are going to be looking at the opportunity application process and how to get the most out of applying opportunities.
Many of our customers have specific on-boarding processes for specific opportunities or types of opportunities. These checks take place before a volunteer can join a session on an opportunity.
Unlike requirements like inductions and criminal checks, the application process is specific to the opportunity and so all volunteers are required to complete the on-boarding before being allowed to join an opportunity.
When creating an opportunity look out for the selection options and from there you can choose to create an applying opportunity and also specify some of the other pre-requisites like references.
When a volunteer finds this opportunity they will be presented with an option to apply and will be asked to complete all the pre-requisites.
They provider and volunteer will each receive an email letting them know the application has been received.
The provider or administrator can manage the applicants from the regular opportunity management page. From the applicants tab they can view all the current applicants, approve or deny applicants and download the applicant list.
Once approved the volunteer is sent an email confirmation with a link to the opportunity and can then go ahead and join sessions in the normal way.
If the opportunity is a flexible opportunity the volunteer is automatically joined to the single session that represents the length of the flexible opportunity.
It’s important to remember that when an application is received, the volunteer is not yet on the opportunity, their application must be approved AND they must choose their sessions (if the opportunity is session based).
In summary the application process looks like this;
Create an APPLICATION opportunity
Wait for volunteers to apply
Process your applicants on the opportunity management page applicant tab
Continue to manage the volunteers that have joined your opportunity after having their application approved
This week we will be discussing a much requested new feature, that will give you far more control than ever over the communications TeamKinetic sends to volunteers and providers; customising automated emails.
TeamKinetic keeps your volunteers and providers up to date, with notifications about opportunity activity, chat room messages, applications, registrations and many other actions and events.
We have default content for all these messages but now you can edit and customise over 30 messages.
Its dead simple to edit a message, just click the edit button to bring up a window like below.
Each message has its own set of replacements you can use which will be replaced when sent, like opportunity title, opportunity link or the volunteer name. Just click on any of the blue replacement buttons in the right column and they will appear at the current position in your custom message.
For week three we will be discussing a new feature whose beginnings you may have spotted and wondered about in our last release; trusted providers.
Trusted Providers
Trusted providers have an elevated set of privileges compared to your regular providers. The could represent for instance, providers that are internal to your organisation, or those that have received extra training.
To add the trusted status just use the button in the provider management page. You can also use the new provider search pages to change the status of multiple providers in one go.
What are Trusted Providers?
Trusted providers have some extra abilities over your regular providers;
Their new opportunities are auto authorised
They can add criminal check and induction required status to their opportunities
They can add any volunteer to a session, not just those that have already joined one of their sessions or that is linked to them
Welcome to week two of our pre-release introductions to the new features coming in TeamKinetic 1.4.
This week we will be focusing on the new features in the add opportunity page and when searching for opportunities.
Adding a New Opportunity
When your admins or providers add a new opportunity they will now be given an immediate choice of whether they wish to create a complete or a quick advert opportunity.
If they choose the quick opportunity type they will be presented with a much reduced option list for the opportunity. This is aimed at people that either don’t have much idea of what the final opportunity details will be, but want to get on and start recruiting, or for those organisations that will probably be managing the post sign up process themselves.
The resulting opportunity will be a flexible opp that is set to start immediately and will run continuously.
Once created the provider and admins will have full control over the opportunity and can add further details, or convert to a session based opportunity at anytime.
We have also updated and we hope simplified adding sessions to an opportunity. We’ve taken out some of the confusing language around the types of opportunities you can add and instead just asked them to make a choice between an opportunity with sessions and a flexible opportunity without sessions.
If a user picks the session based opportunity they can then choose a recurring session structure or can add the sessions individually.
Searching Existing Opportunities
For 1.4 we have a great new set of features for searching and filtering opportunities.
You’ll notice straight away that this is very different from our previous opportunity search page!
You can now page through the results, add filters, download the results and perform bulk actions on the opportunities by clicking the checkboxes at the start of each row.
This type of search table will be appearing throughout the application in future version and is already implemented for volunteer and provider searching complete with custom field filtering.
TeamKinetic v1.4 will be released on November 5th, there will be fireworks and parties all across the UK!
1.4 is a big release where we have brought together many requests for new features and also importantly we have made big steps towards unifying the interface to create a consistent experience everywhere.
1.4 will probably be our last new feature focus release for a good while. The next few releases will be focused on continuing the unifying process, improving the foundations, continuing our accessibility improvements and tidying all those loose ends up.
We have added a brand new email editor so that you can customise over 30 of the TeamKinetic automated emails.
New Searching for Volunteers, Providers and Opportunities
Completely rewritten search pages for volunteers, providers and opportunities. Much clearer and cleaner layout with row and bulk actions, paging, and filters.
Search for Volunteers by Custom Field
Custom fields are included in the filters, so you can filter and search for volunteers by all the profile and registration fields you have added.
Ability to Customise Your Genders & Ethnicities
Add, remove,re-order and re-map your gender and ethnicity results. These custom lists will also be reflected in the reports and downloads.
Collect ‘other’ Ethnicity and Gender
If registering volunteers select OTHER from the gender or ethnicity list they will be presented with a text box where they can enter their self identified gender or ethnicity.
You can use the new custom gender and ethnicity management shown above, to view, add and map these other entries.
Trusted Providers
Providers can now be marked as TRUSTED, this means that they will have additional privileges including:
Ability to add ANY volunteer to their opportunities (not just the providers limited cohort of volunteers).
Only allow trusted providers to create opportunities which require CRIMINAL RECORD checks.
Trusted provider opportunities can be auto-authorised.
Set Maximum Volunteers PER SESSION
When creating or editing opportunities you are now able to set a maximum volunteer limit on each session independently. When creating repeating opportunities each session will default to the same maximum but you can then adjust these session by session if required.
Define Time Gaps Between Sessions
Need to define a minimum gap between session that a volunteer can join? Now you can!
If you are hosting an event you may want to enforce a time limit gap to prevent a volunteer joining two opportunity sessions with not enough time to get from one to the other. You can now define the allowable time gap between these sessions. For example, if you define 30 minutes then a volunteer will not be able to join a session that ends at 1:00 pm AND a session that starts at 1:15 pm.
Improve Page Layouts
Courses page
Find Volunteers Page
Find Providers Page
Find Opportunities Listing Page
Parental Consent Phone Number
When a volunteer registers who requires parental consent, it asks for their parents email and in addition for their parents contact number. This information is held against the volunteers profile so the parents can be contacted by telephone if required.
Inviting Volunteers
Administrators and providers can now invite volunteers to your system from their main menu. Volunteers are invited by entering their email address OR uploading a list of email addresses.
Administrators can see the list of all invited volunteers and we have also improved the messaging you receive when duplicates are added.
Volunteer & Provider Downloads Include Custom Fields
When you export your volunteer or provider data it now includes any custom fields.
Volunteer Note Improvements
Providers can now record private notes on their volunteers. These can be used for recording conversations or additional information related to the volunteers personal needs.
Both administrators and providers can now add and remove discrete dated notes creating a history and audit trail for notes.
Improved Interface For Uploading Images
There is now the ability to move and crop images when uploading them to either the front page, providers profile page or the events page.
Registration Captcha Updated To Simpler System
The Google Captcha v2 (the image picking one) has now been thoroughly defeated, which means we are making it harder for people to register but not any harder for robots, so we have removed it.
We now protect your applications from bogus registrations with a number of discreet features that will not get in the way of your volunteers registering.
Improved Interface For Applicants
We have added some notification reminders and visual clues if an opportunity has unprocessed applicants.
If there are any applicants that have not yet received a decision your home page will list them and if you manage the opportunity, the applicant tab will be highlighted and a notification appears in the summary area.
In addition we have improved the default email that is sent to providers when a new application is received to help clarify that difference between an application and a joining event.
Creating Quick Opportunities
The new opportunity screen can be daunting for new users and for those providers that have little or no training. It also assumes that providers wish to manage the entire volunteering life-cycle within TeamKinetic, which is not always the case.
We have added the option when creating a new opportunity to choose a quick opp. This gives a much reduced option list to the provider and allows them to quickly create an open ended flexible opportunity that starts as soon as it is authorised.
Combined Linked Volunteers and Volunteers Searching
Providers can now search for both their active volunteers and linked volunteers from the same search page. They can unlink volunteers directly from the search results and no longer need the separate linked volunteers page.
Pause Emails means PAUSE EMAILS, but not Brexit!
We have changed the pause emails button to pause all emails including when a volunteer is removed from the opportunity or session. When completely removing a volunteer you are given the option of sending the removal email.
Simpler Interface for OWED HOURS
If you have a volunteer who has done some volunteering outside of your system it is now easier than ever to record those hours within you system.
Always Accessible Super Admin Menu
The Super Admin menu is now located on the top right of your screen making it faster for the user to access.
Providers See More About Their Volunteers
We have increased the amount of information that a provider can see on volunteers who join their opportunities, this should help them in identifying who is best suited to particular roles. (NOTE: This also includes external volunteers).
Improved Interface When Copying Opportunities
We have changed the way you copy opportunities, you are now asked ‘what the new start date is?’ and the system will move all associated sessions accordingly.
Adjust The Size Of Your Logo
You can now adjust the displayed height of your logo when uploading.
To have a successful, functioning volunteer programme, you’ll need to avoid making simple but fatal mistakes. A detailed management strategy that puts the volunteer at the centre of it all is essential.
Volunteer management is like one big machine all the cogs need to work together in order to maintain efficiency, but sometimes this doesn’t always work out and errors are made.
Here are 3 volunteer management mistakes and how to avoid them!
Volunteers will be less inclined to donate their time if they can’t find you online
Avoiding a digital strategy now will cost you more in the future
Your organisation will not be as connected to its supporters
How to fix them
Invest time and money in creating a digital strategy. Many organisations still carry the assumption that going digital will cost them an arm or a leg, but there are several simple, free tools you can start using today. But utilising digital as an organisation doesn’t have to happen overnight. Start off with creating social media accounts and engage with hundreds of communities with the same ambitions as your organisation.
2. Lack of communication with volunteers
Communication serves as a foundation for planning. Without it, it’s very hard to get much done. So when it comes to managing volunteers there’s nothing more important than regular, clear communication. The workload on volunteer managers makes it difficult to keep track of everything and communication is usually the first thing that flies out of the window.
Issues it can cause
Volunteers don’t know what is required of them on the day (arrival time, logistics, location)
The struggle for volunteers to find upcoming opportunities
Frustration from volunteer could lead to their departure from your organisation
How to fix them
Volunteer management software of course! A volunteer system makes communicating with volunteers straightforward. TeamKinetic’s volunteer software comes with several tools to help you stay informed and connected to your volunteers. Automated emails can be sent out to specific opportunities and volunteer subgroups. Feedback functions also allow for regular interactions between the volunteer and opportunity providers.
Good volunteers will be sent to bad places and vice-versa
Potentially allowing a convicted individual to work with a vulnerable group due to low entry standards
Valuable time and energy are used up
How to fix them
When recruiting you should always start by understanding what it is you want out of the volunteer and define the role that is to be undertaken. Our volunteer software allows you to create specific, detailed opportunities with key information such as the volunteer requirements, perks of the opportunity and skills required. The system makes it easy to advertise volunteer vacancies with a click of a button. Opportunities can be shared across a wide range of channels such as social media, email and are linked to do-it.org.
We always try and avoid jargon but sometimes it is a little difficult when talking about the internet and software. When we talk about ‘domains’ we are really talking about the address or URL that your website will use so people can find you on the internet.
This is the address they type into their web browser to access your website.
TeamKinetic offers a variety of options with regards to the domain’s you can use, these options are somewhat dependant upon your choice of subscription.
In every subscription, there is some room for customisation and personalisation of this address.
So what are your options and what do they mean.
FREE subscription.
tryvolunteering.com/yourname
If you join us on our free version to use of TeamKinetic, you will be hosted on our FREE to access site TryVolunteering.com.
This means you will be assigned a web address that starts with “https://tryvolunteering.com” and you this will then be followed by your organisation’s name with all the spaces removed. So if your organisation name is “Harchester Utd FC” your website address will be.
Our Advanced level subscribers have their own application and as such have their own ‘subdomain’. What this means is you can add your organisation name to the start of the web address. An example would be
https://harchesterutdfc.teamkinetic.co.uk
From a user experience perspective, users feel more assured as your name is first in the address, and because the Advanced subscription offers significantly more customisation this combines for better overall user experience.
Enterprise Subscription
yourdomain.com
Enterprise subscribers have the benefit of greater customisation and personalisation. As an enterprise customer, you can select an available new and unique address for your site. Examples from our customers include
https://mcrvip.com
Or
https://Hockeymakers.co.uk
These URLs are purchased on behalf of our customers and remain the property of our customers but are managed by TeamKinetic on behalf of our customers as part of our ongoing agreement. In the event of that agreement coming to an end, we can arrange for that domain to be transferred or released depending on the needs of our customers.
A new domain is very easy to set up, requires no technical support or resource from our customer to manage, as TeamKinetic manage all this on our customer’s behalf.
Enterprise customers can also use a ‘sub-domain’ of an existing URL they already use our own. An example of this might be our customer the Youth Hostel Asociation who’s main website address is:
The volunteer team at the YHA wanted the TeamKinetic system to look and feel like it was part of the wider YHA web site. The best way to achieve this is to embed the TeamKinetic system into the YHA’s existing web brand. So the TeamKinetic system now live at
No matter what subscription you wish to use, TeamKinetic will support you in setting up your site and getting the address you want. We are available to walk you through your options and help you find the set up that you require for your volunteers.
For more information on how we can assist with your volunteer management and getting the best out of all your volunteers visit our website or contact us on – 0161 914 5757
Our ambition was to build the very best online volunteer management application in the world. Part of our definition of the very best means easiest to use, as well as the most useful features. Unfortunately when you build software there is a real danger of “JARGON”! We know volunteer managers want to be great at managing volunteers not specialists in information technology. So I wanted to try to explain in plain English how TeamKinetic works
Software and Application
We sometime use these words interchangeably, but they often share the same meaning, which is to describe the TeamKinetic product. Application does not necessarily refer to mobile specifically, but it can do sometimes. So now I’ve cleared that up!
Cloud-based
The TeamKinetic application uses a group of computers that are connected via the internet to enable the website and mobile apps you see to work. These computers or servers as we call them form our cloud. This cloud contains a combination of our own private servers and third part services from people like Amazon and Google.
All our computers are based in the UK.
Software as a Service
As the internet has become faster, the need to go to the shop to buy your software on disk or CD is now a distant memory. Now your Software does not even need to be on your actual computer but lives on the internet and is provided by someone who’s only responsibility is to make that software great.
Back in the day you would go to a shop and buy a physical disk or CD (depending on how old you are) with your software on there. Once you got home you would install that software onto your computer, those were such innocent times. That software would then remain on your computer until you replaced your computer or bought the next version from the shop and put that on your computer.
The someone in the case of TeamKinetic is us. That’s Steve, Rolf, me and the rest of our team. We have built and continue to improve TeamKinetic for you to use. We take your advice and feedback, mixing that with the user data we collect and we try to look at the best ways to continue to improve the TeamKinetic experience.
Being on the internet means that you can browse the web from anywhere, you can access your TeamKinetic application on the go or comfort of your home. More importantly, this approach means you can concentrate on your volunteer management, whilst we focus on keeping the website working or ‘live’ as we call it. TeamKinetic make sure your data is stored appropriately and in accordance with regulations such as GDPR. We concentrate on making TeamKinetic work on all the different devices, such as iPhones, tablets and laptops. We have even start to look at Alexa. You don’t need to worry about things like servers, security or accessibility standards as we take care of all that.
TeamKinetic’s Software as a Service approach means you can be confident that your volunteer management system will always work and will always be making the most of the latest developments in technology, social media, regulation and user behaviour trends.
Licencing
As we provide TeamKinetic as an ongoing service we have developed a business that requires an ongoing fee or subscription, we call this our licence. To keep the servers working and up to the job, to ensure the developers continue to improve TeamKinetic, our customers to continue to support our work through the licence fee. This fee ensures you continue to get the help and support, software updates and that we can keep the power lights on all those computers here a TeamKinetic.
The team believe strongly in a ‘no-surprises’ approach to pricing. Our customers can be confident that we will not hit them with hidden costs. Our licence covers everything you will ever need to set up and keep your volunteer application running day-to-day. We are transparent about the few things that fall outside the licence fee.
Volunteer Management Software (VMS)
Different companies may each have a slightly different explanation as to what is volunteer management software, but for TeamKinetic we want to offer a place where volunteers can go to manage their volunteering, where organisations can post, recruit, on-board, training, deploy and track volunteer engagements. Where a volunteer reward and recognition is built into the experience. Where data and insight are generated in real time.
This is all delivered in a website that is easy to use and super flexible for your needs and that can integrate with your other digital systems. It is not the same as Customer Relationship Management software and its also not the sames as Human Resource software or scheduling applications that are out there, but it’s a curious mix of all the above built for your volunteers. If you want to know more about the differences and similarities feel free to read more about it here.
Get in Touch
There will no doubt be more jargon to contend with as you look through the product description, so please feel free to get in touch if we have failed to explain it in plain English.
If you want to talk about the more technical aspects of TeamKinetic SaaS then please do not hesitate to email me or call the office on +44 (0)161 914 5757 or contact us via our website
Hi there and welcome to the 1.3 release of TeamKinetic. We’ve got some great new time saving features this time round, the normal raft of small fixes and tweaks and a large dollop of accessibility improvement as we journey towards a fully accessible system for all users.
Headline Updates
Full screen layout for administrators and providers. We’ve removed the logo header bar to give more room for what matters
Brand new dashboard for administrators and providers
Universal search across volunteers, opportunities and providers is available right from the top menu on all pages
New mapping library which produces we think, better looking maps
Trusted status for providers
Upload your own custom areas for reporting and searching
Contextual help bar available anytime from the top menu
Keyboard accessible menus
Accessible forms
Accessible help tooltips
Accessibility layout improvements
Front page slider image controls improved
New application options
New POD functionality
Pause or end participation in a flexible opportunity without leaving the opportunity and losing hours.
New Dashboard
We’ve completely redesigned the dashboard for administrators and providers and it is now very much focused around helping you to get the tasks you need to do, done!
New administrator dashboard
Authorisations, latest chatter messages, logged hours since your last visit and lots more are displayed right there everytime you login. We’ve added some insight into your programme, like who is logging hours, which opportunities or providers are performing badly and suggested tasks to keep on top.
We think this new dashboard will be a real time saver.
Universal Search
From the top menu bar you now have access to a number of new areas including the universal search. It’s a stripped down lookup service that will find matching volunteers, opportunities and providers.
Universal search and lookup
Its obviously not as fully featured as the specific search pages for volunteers, opportunities and providers, but its fantastic for navigating quickly between different things. It also gives you a little visual clue as to the status of each entity, red for access denied when a volunteer, unauthorised when a provider and closed when an opportunity and green for access granted, authorised and open respectively.
New Mapping Service
We are switching to Open Streetmap for our mapping service. This is a fantastic open sourced effort to map the world without the propriety nature and vagaries of being in the Google ecosystem. It also has we think more natural looking maps.
Open StreetMap
Contextual Help
We have built a foundation for us to enable contextual help on every page. This will be accessible from the help icon in the top menu and will reveal all the help topics and tutorials for the page you are currently using. Both administrators and providers have access and we hope it will help new providers especially, get the most from TeamKinetic, and of course ask you less questions!
The slide out help menu available on every page
We are working hard to get help for as many pages as possible on launch but we’ll be adding them progressively and in response to questions that regularly arise. Let us know if there are any topics you’d like to see in the help menus to aid your users.
Accessibility
I’ve already blogged about the accessibility improvements we have coming in this release. This has been a really rewarding process and I’m looking forward to some feedback for how we can keep improving in this area. Most of the effort has been concentrated in the volunteer’s portal but there have been improvements throughout.
New Administrator Controls
Include the volunteer stats in the weekly email. We had some reports that volunteers that were interested in volunteering but hadn’t yet taken the plunge, we’re getting discouraged seeing zero stats every week!
Overlapping session booking option. Using this you can control if volunteers can join sessions which overlap or conflict. We are working on providing a further control to determine how close the sessions need to be in order to initiate the conflict. Volunteers are informed if they attempt to join sessions which overlap, on either the same or different opportunities. By default volunteers are not allowed to join overlapping sessions.
Require volunteers to upload a photo before they can join any opportunities.
Display nationally shared opportunities on your version of the native mobile applications. When enabled users will also be able to view and join nationally shared opportunities direct from their applications.
Ending Flexible Opportunity Attendance
For very long running flexible opportunities its useful to know if volunteers are finished. Previously this was only really possible by asking the volunteer to leave the opportunity but that meant there was now a hole in the audit trail and information for that opportunity.
Volunteers can now click a button when logging hours to say they won’t be logging any more hours and have effectively left the opportunity.
Volunteers can now say they have finished with a flexible opportunity
The same functionality is also available for administrators from the volunteer list on the opportunity management page. Just click the pause icon to flip the volunteer to the finished state and the play icon to flip the back. The volunteers that have finished are separated from the still active ones so you can easily keep track of your flexible volunteers.
Admin display separating finished and active volunteers on flexible opportunities
Launch Date
We’ve processed close to 200 issues for this release and there are many small improvements and bug fixes throughout the application and we are excited to be releasing 1.3 on March 31st.
