TeamKinetic has been providing volunteer management software to third-sector organisations for over ten years. As part of our service, we also provide free volunteer management software to organisations through our national brokerage website tryvolunteering.com providing TeamKinetic FREE.
This is the perfect opportunity for organisations to test the benefits of advertising opportunities nationally, understand the benefits of volunteer management software’s reporting functionality and test the responsiveness of volunteers to join opportunities through an online portal. TeamKinetic FREE lets you manage an unlimited number of volunteers on one opportunity.
To help understand the benefits of volunteer management software, TeamKinetic have put together this short guide:
What is volunteer management software?
‘Volunteer Management Software’ is a term coined to describe a built-for-purpose computer system which can be used by voluntary organisations to recruit and manage volunteers. It creates an online portal for volunteers to access advertised opportunities, which in turn makes volunteering more accessible. There are various systems available on the market. Each provider of volunteer management software takes a different approach to delivering their software system and this is reflected in the functionality, features and design.
Who uses volunteer management software?
Volunteer management software is used by many voluntary, non-government, education, health and sport organisations. The staff that use the systems often include volunteer managers, community engagement officers, events coordinators, sports development officers, volunteer coordinators, HR and operation staff, and many more.
What does volunteer management software do?
Volunteer management software helps organisations to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks. The software also helps to recruit and deploy volunteers. Depending on the software provider, additional functionality may be available, such as reporting features, social media sharing, communication tools and much more.
What is the difference between free and paid versions of volunteer management software?
Free volunteer management software often has limitations or simplified functionality. As more functionality, reports and functionality increase, so does the price of the software.
TeamKinetic provides several volunteer management software options to match the needs of different organisations. We have one free version and three paid versions of volunteer management software.
TeamKinetic FREE is a free volunteer management software system that is hosted on tryvolunteering.com. You can’t control the look at feel of the site, but you can advertise opportunities and invite volunteers.
TeamKinetic ADVANCED and TeamKinetic ENTERPRISE are both bespoke systems that are hosted on their own domain and include higher functionality features. You can find out more about this on our website.
What features and functionality does TeamKinetic FREE include?
TeamKinetic FREE is a national volunteer brokerage system with advanced volunteer management functionality; it acts as a virtual portal for volunteers to find voluntary opportunities. Removing the restrictions of traditional volunteering sign-up, your organisation will be bought into the digital age and will save valuable time, previously spent on administration tasks.
In all versions of TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software volunteers can access all of the same features. These features include:
the ability to join opportunities,
Create a profile
track achievements
add CPD and qualifications
track opportunities attended
log hours
Search for opportunities, events and training by:
keywords
categories
activities
distance and date
leave opportunity feedback
share opportunities on social media
As an opportunity provider you can:
Create a profile for your organisation
Create opportunities
Manage unlimited volunteers
Group volunteers
Check DBS
Request references
Access automated emails
Upload documents
Restrict opportunities
Share the opportunity onto Do-It
Using TeamKinetic enables you to report on essential KPIs and Data, including:
Gender of Volunteers
Volunteer Ethnicity
Volunteer Age Groups
Volunteer Group Membership
Hours Logged by Category
Opportunity numbers by category
Monthly cumulative logged hours
Unique Active Opportunity Sessions
Available Opportunity Sessions
All of this data is available for download in a CVS file.
What if my organisation needs its own system?
As mentioned, TeamKinetic also provides bespoke volunteer management software systems which can be integrated into your organisation’s current website. We are more than happy to discuss the pricing of the system, the specification required and which version would best meet your organisation’s needs.
Where can I find out more / Can I discuss this further with you?
TeamKinetic is always happy to help and support voluntary organisations and we will happily discuss which option of our software would be best suited to your organisation’s needs. Speak with one of our specialist Team today.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
With so many new features and products in TeamKinetic 1.0 (TK1.0) we thought it would be best to invite you all to a series of master class sessions with Steve and the team. This new version has the potential to take your volunteer management to a new level.
Join us on Facebook to see our interactive demos and join in the conversation directly with Steve. As you know we love to talk through how and why we have made some of our changes. We also love to hear yours and your volunteers thoughts and feedback and this heavily informs our next versions.
These sessions are designed to be short and easy to follow, with loads of opportunity for you to ask questions.
References
Wednesday 25th April 13:30
TeamLeaders
Friday 27th April 13:30
Setting Maximum Sessions
Wednesday 2nd May 13:30
TeamKinetic Chatter – Opportunity Chat Rooms
Friday 4th May 13:30
Managing External Opportunities
Wednesday 8th May 13:30
Reporting Update
Friday 11th May 13:30
If you can’t make one of these sessions, don’t worry, we will be keeping the video on Facebook, as well as adding it to our YouTube channel and where appropriate putting them into the help documents.
Of course, you can always get in touch via the support tickets, email, phone or chat function. We want to know what you think, so please get in touch.
We look forward to seeing you this Wednesday for the first session
To find out more information on TeamKinetic, please feel free to get in contact with one of our Team by:
Email: james@teamkinetic.co.uk
Phone: 0161 914 5757
For over ten years TeamKinetic has been developing innovative technological solutions for third sector organisations. We pride ourselves on our volunteer-centric approach and intuitive design.
Volunteer Management Software that WORKS for Third Sector Organisations.
TeamKinetic is pleased to announce on Sunday, 22 April 2018, the latest update of our volunteer management software went live.Combining the Volunteer, Access and Club Kinetic into one singular application. TeamKinetic V 1.0 brings with it a host of new features and functionality, in this blog we look to explain specifically what they are:
Why TeamKinetic v 1.0?
We have now fully integrated Volunteer, Club and AccessKinetic and our old version numbering was based on our VolunteerKientic releases. So it’s time for a new beginning.
What should I look out for in this release?
This is a huge update with great additions to TeamKinetic’s functionality as well as under the hood changes to improve speed and reliability.
Look out for TeamLeaders, volunteer referencing, our new ‘Focus’ design, Android and iOS apps, more customisation and GDPR compliance.
Check out the new features on the demo site before they go live on your site
From here you can see the new layouts, features and improvements.
Data Protection and Security
GDPR changes
You can see a summary of the changes we have applied for GDPR here
Information Governance ToolKit
As part of our commitment to the highest standards of data protection and information governance, TeamKinetic has undergone extensive self-assessment and external assessment by the NHS Information Governance team.
Apps and mobile
iOS and Android
As the march to mobile’s dominance in how many people interact with digital technologies continues, TeamKinetic have been working hard to catch up with this trend and provide an effective user experience available across all mobile devices. We have created a single mobile app that all volunteers can access.
Version 1 of the iOS and Android App is now available for your volunteers from the Apple App store and the Google Play store. From your mobile device, you can access the app store and SEARCH “TeamKinetic” and you will be presented with our app to download for FREE.
Below you can see how this should look. The Apps are only accessible to your existing users. All new users must create an account via the website before they will be able to use the app. This is just for Volunteers at the moment, but still includes all the basic features you would expect including searching for opportunities and logging hours etc.
This is our first attempt in the mobile space so as always we welcome your feedback on your experience as we will look to improve this over the next 12 months.
We plan to prompt users to download the app when they log onto the site.
TeamKinetic now on Google Play and iOS APP Store.
Design and usability improvements
Volunteer opportunity management area
Making it easy for a volunteer to manage their opportunities continues to be of the greatest importance to our design process as this significantly influences the volunteer’s engagement with the site. We have looked to bring all elements of opportunity management into a single area so a volunteer can easily join/ leave sessions, leave feedback, log hours, see a map of the opportunity location and join the opportunity Chat.
Using the new focus layout, volunteers can quickly see the navigation and actionable areas of the page.
More customisable emails
It has long been our ambition to give you the ability to edit all emails that the system sends. Over the next few months, you will notice the editable ‘customise emails’ list will grow as we expand this function.
Combined viewing and editing volunteer profile page
Volunteer information is now neatly and logically situated on a side menu, allowing easy access to all their information. We have removed the EDIT button and instead made the fields editable directly from each page.
Combined viewing and editing opportunity page
We have replaced the opportunities green menu bar and replaced it with a slicker side menu, removing the need to scroll down endlessly to find what you are looking for.
Shorter improved menu for volunteers
In design, less is often much more. This is why we continue to strive to reduce clutter and simplify the volunteer experience. It has been our aim to have all key volunteer functions only one click away from the front page.
The Volunteer front page acts as a snapshot of everything that volunteer needs to know. This will continue to be a work in progress as we look to improve the user experience, but this is the largest overhaul to the volunteer pages since we started some 10 years ago. As always are keen to hear your feedback.
Full set of sharing icons for volunteers to share opportunity details to social media
Where possible we have tried to make it simple for volunteers and providers to share their opportunities via existing social media, leveraging their existing audience reach.
“If you want more volunteers you need to ask!” is the simple advice when it comes to volunteer recruitment. Building an audience for your opportunities using social media makes asking even easier.
Simplified volunteer qualification and document upload and review
Many opportunities require volunteers to hold specific certified skills or qualifications, these might be achieved through in-house training or awarded by an external body. We have simplified how a volunteer can record their qualifications and training.
We have also added the ability for Admin users to be able to add training and qualifications on behalf of volunteers and lock these documents so volunteers can not remove or alter them.
Each volunteer now has a single page where they can quickly review all relevant certification and training.
New Features
References
References…References…References!!! The bane of many volunteer managers lives. All that paper flowing around, and waiting for people to respond can be a nightmare.
TeamKinetic now offers a complete digital solution, allowing you to create your own custom reference forms which are automatically emailed out to referees. When the referee completes the form, they are automatically attached to the volunteer ready for you to review.
This mean no more referees getting bombarded with the same referee form, as they can be reused for other opportunities. You can also create higher level reference forms for more demanding opportunities, allowing you to customise your questions in relation to the role.
Say goodbye to references stuffed in filing cabinets and say hello to the digitisation of your entire volunteer reference system.
TeamLeaders
Teams of volunteers often have a leader, someone who has been volunteering for years, the ‘go to’ person when things go wrong. For many organisations this person is a very valuable asset to your volunteer programme, and often knows what is happening on the ground more than the administrator or the provider of the opportunity.
You can now mark these people as TeamLeaders within the system, giving them a superior status, and more importantly allowing them to confirm when volunteers have attended. This automatically logs the hours on behalf of the provider allowing a more accurate representation (in real time) of what is happening on each volunteer opportunity.
Maximum sessions per event
When an exciting event is added to your system there is often a rush by volunteers to get on the best opportunities, as many volunteers will be aware that they may not be accepted for every one they apply for, they often try and join many more than they can practically manage.
For this reason we have built a ‘Max Limit’ function into each event, allowing you to stipulate how many sessions each volunteer can join on a single event.
Map view when searching opportunities
Over the past few months we have had a number of requests to make it more simple to find opportunities based around a particular location. The addition of a map view whilst searching opportunities offers a very effective visual tool to help volunteers look for opportunities that are near them.
Opportunity chat rooms
Do your volunteers use facebook groups or WhatsApp to communicate amongst themselves? This can pose some potential risks to you and your organisation. To understand more about these risks read our article on the subject here. To mitigate the need to use external sites such as these we have added an “Opportunity” chat room. This is an area where volunteers can talk to other volunteers or the provider on an opportunity.
User safety is of paramount importance so we have equipped the chat room with language filters that limit the use of offensive language, as well as users having the ability to report offensive or inappropriate comments. Only volunteers on that particular opportunity can use these rooms, so access is strictly managed and people can be removed or blocked from commenting if they are not using the chat room in good faith.
Volunteers do not automatically share any personal data with each other in the chat unlike with other social media.
This function can be disabled for your application if you do not wish to use it, we want to improve the social side of volunteering in a safe setting and we saw this as an important first step.
Minimum notice for leaving a session
This particular feature has been under debate for a long time and has been asked for by a number of customers. As an administrator, you will now be able to set a minimum notice period that a volunteer must give if they intend to leave an opportunity.
For example, volunteers will not be able to leave an opportunity less than 48 hours before it takes place. Instead, if they attempt to do that they will be presented with a pop-up message on the screen that says if you wish to leave this opportunity “please contact the provider on Tel no…..” And the provider can remove the volunteer from the session, but the volunteer will be prevented from removing themselves.
Please be aware of the unintended consequence of enforcing this feature. Volunteers who can’t leave the sessions may just not turn up, and you may be unaware and under-resourced as a provider.
New sharing page for administrators to track what opportunities are being shared and from where
You can now see which systems are sharing opportunities on your search pages, and how many opportunities they are sharing. Ideal for when you want to find out information about a particular external opportunity.
Reporting
Additional reports and quick stats
We have compiled some new exciting statistics for you and revamped the reporting library. You can now see how a full breakdown of how many volunteers are engaged with the system including; How many have joined at least one opportunity, how many have joined and logged hours and how many have joined multiple sessions.
The reporting page is also broken down into sections by using a side menu, making it much easier to navigate. And it includes a handy DATE RANGE facility, allowing you to integrate particular periods of time.
Zooming capabilities on web analytics graph
The Web Analytics reports now include the ability to select a specific date range, allowing you to pin point particular time periods when you have done promotional drives or canvasing, so you can see in more detail what impact your work has had in regards to people using your system.
Identifying inactive volunteers
The following definitions have been developed to create better clarity
For some time, Admin users have been asking how they can easily identify the level of participation volunteers have with your volunteer programmes. To help simplify this process we have developed the following definitions to describe a volunteers level of participation:
A “Converted” is volunteers who have joined one or more opportunity sessions.
An “Active” is a volunteer that has attended and logged hours for one or more opportunity sessions.
A “Repeat” is a volunteer who has joined sessions on two or more opportunity sessions.
TeamKinetic hopes you are as excited about these changes as we are.
If you have any additional questions or would like to find out more, please feel free to get in touch with one of the team via email or phone us on 0161 914 5757.
Please note this list is comprehensive but not exhaustive.
If you haven’t started preparing your organisation for compliance then the next 3 months are crucial. If you have started getting ready for the GDPR deadline, keep going.
Make sure your board is bought in to the importance of the project. Having the support you need from the top is vital to the GDPR compliance process.
ONCE THE GDPR COMES INTO FORCE, YOUR BUSINESS MUST:*
Keep a record of data operations and activities and consider if you have the required data processing agreements in place
Carry out privacy impact assessments (PIAs) on products and systems
If applicable to your organisation, designate a data protection officer (DPO)
Review processes for the collection of personal data
Be aware of your duty to notify the relevant supervisory authority of a data breach
Implement “privacy by design” and “privacy by default” in the design of new products and assess whether existing products meet GDPR standards
What are TeamKinetic doing right now
See what we have already put in place, to be ready for 25th May 2018.
Are the rules different for electronic communications?
What is TeamKinetic doing right now?
Disclaimer: The information in this whitepaper is for your general guidance only and is not and shall not constitute legal advice. If you need advice on your rights or responsibilities or any legal advice around data protection matters, please obtain specific legal advice and contact an adviser or solicitor.
Let’s refresh…
What is the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a binding legislative act from the European Union for the protection of personal data. The Regulation tackles the inconsistent data protection laws currently existing throughout the EU’s member states and facilitates the secure, free-flow of data.
Why do you need to know about it?
As of April 2016, businesses have been preparing for the legislation coming into effect on 25th May 2018. Although we are in the process of leaving the EU, working towards GDPR compliance remains crucial.
If you fail to comply with the Regulation you could find yourself being fined up to 4% of your company’s global annual turnover and your reputation damaged beyond repair.
That is 4500% increase on current fines that can be issued by the ICO!!
Now that the deadline is just 3 months away, is your organisation ready?
Why has the GDPR come about?
There is a need in Europe and beyond for a standardised data protection framework that addresses the rapid technological advancements that have taken place in recent years, putting the personal data of the masses at risk.
Where do vulnerabilities lie?
Everywhere. All organisations are at risk of a cyber-attack, despite common misconceptions that some industries are more secure than others.
The results of a survey carried out by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of 173 councils at the end of 2016 reveals that more than 15% of councils do not have data protection training for employees processing personal data and a third do not carry out privacy impact assessments (PIAs) as required by the GDPR.
The survey’s release coincided with the news that the ICO had fined Norfolk Council £60,000 for a data breach in which social work files were discovered in a cabinet bought in a second-hand shop by a member of the public.
Capgemini: The Currency of Trust, February 2017
74% of UK SMEs had a security breach in 2016.
While leaving vulnerable information in a cabinet or on a train may seem like a problem from 1997 rather than 2017 – when cloud technology means physical files never need to leave the office – the overarching security challenge remains.
Professionals across the public and private sectors must be aware of the nature of the data they are accessing from their home networks and ensure they are doing so securely.
Computer Weekly: Many Councils Still Unprepared for GDPR, March 2017
What about Brexit?
Despite the vote to leave the EU, UK businesses must continue to work towards GDPR compliance. Not only has the UK government stated that it is good business practice to do so, but the legislation applies to all businesses working within the EU and with EU data. A failure to comply can lead to significant fines and irreparable damage to a company’s reputation.
The latest thinking is that the UK could replace the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA) with legislation that mirrors the GDPR, enabling the UK to achieve free data flow with the EU post-Brexit. The government has warned that it may take two to three years for the European Council (EC) to decide that the UK has an adequate data protection regime.
While the impact of the Investigatory Powers Act on the UK’s GDPR compliance has yet to be fully understood, it is possible that the mass surveillance and data retention practices carried out under the Act could cause issues when the EC comes to decide whether the UK’s practices are adequate. The existence of these two extraordinarily contradictory legislations could result in a UK equivalent of the Privacy Shield agreement held between the US and the EU to facilitate secure transatlantic data flow.
If your business activities are contained within the UK or elsewhere within Europe, you will have to observe the protections afforded by the GDPR for citizens.
What happens if my business is not complaint?
The GDPR introduces a two-tier fine system that emphasises just how small a financial deterrent existed under the Data Protection Act (DPA).
As of the 2018 deadline, any data controller or processor that fails to comply with the Regulation will face the following fines:
Tier 1
If a data breach occurs that puts highly important data at risj, the data controller/processor will be fined upto €20M (£17.25M) or 4% of the previous year’s global annual turnover, whichever is greater.
Tier 2
Any other data breach could lead to fines of up to €10M (£8.6M) or 2% of the previous year’s global annual turnover, whichever is greater.
It is estimated that if breaches remain at the same level as in 2015, the fines given will raise 90 fold from €1.4 billion to €122 billion
Key changes to consent
Do you ask your customers for permission before you use their data? Do you go a step further and tell them what it will be used for? If the answer to either – or both – of these questions is no, you could be in trouble if you don’t start changing your ways before the GDPR deadline.
Why is consent important?
Consent enables your business to lawfully process data.
Organisations applying the GDPR’s standards are giving individuals greater control over their information and, in turn, building trusting relationships that ultimately keep customers coming back for more.
Any business found to be misusing personal data will be fined according to the highest level of the two-tier system and – most poignantly – is at serious risk of damaging its own reputation. When is consent required? You must have the data subject’s consent to lawfully process their data. However, just to confuse things, there are instances that will call for consent to be acquired via alternative methods; we’ll clarify this shortly. Consent is also needed under ePrivacy laws if you’re in the business of tracking communications and installing software and apps on devices.
If you want to use someone’s personal data they must give you explicit consent to do so. This means in practise no pre-ticked boxes, a user must always choose to tick the box.
If you want to use an individual’s personal data for multiple purposes, they must give consent for each purpose, separately
Who might need an alternative method of gaining consent?
Most commonly, data controllers in a position of power such as public authorities and employers who are likely to find getting valid consent challenging and so must consider the alternative options.
For example, if you are a highly successful eCommerce business is bringing on board a new supplier of garden furniture, you will need a contract with them that clarifies the role of each party and enables you to lawfully process their data.
Whether you are the data controller or processor, you must always record how consent was given, who from, when, how, and what the interested parties were told.
You must not bundle your consent request with your standard terms and conditions.
Does your consent process meet GDPR standards?
Carry out a thorough review of existing consent processes and asses whether they meet the Regulation’s requirements. if they do, there is no need to request consent from the subject again.
Key changes to breach notifications
Europe had a phenomenally inconsistent data protection landscape. It meant that when a Switzerland-based business suffered a data breach affecting people in Greece, Italy and Spain, the organisation would need to comply with the breach notification standards of each of the three member states.
This lack of uniformity throughout Europe means that while some member states, such as Spain and Germany, are recognised for their rigorous data breach privacy laws, there are also member states with minimal to no regulations in place.
In this environment, organisations in lax member states have not needed to notify an authority of a breach.
The GDPR smooths all this out with the introduction of a single breach notification requirement.
What is a personal data breach?
A personal data breach is not simply the loss of data but a breach of security, resulting in the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data.
When must the relevant supervisory authority be notified?
The relevant supervisory authority must be informed of any data breach that puts an individual’s rights and freedoms at risk. This includes a loss of confidentiality and financial loss.
Data controllers must inform the supervisory authority without undue delay and within 72 hours of learning of a personal data breach. They must state:
Its nature
The approximate number of people affected
The contact information for the organisation’s DPO (if one has been appointed)
The controller must also pin-point the likely consequences of the breach and the measures taken to reduce further risk to those affected.
Data processors must tell the data controller about a data breach without undue delay after having become aware of it.
If a breach is significant enough that it is in the public interest, those responsible – be that the controller or processor – must do so without undue delay.
The impact of data breaches If we hark back to our real world TalkTalk and Yahoo examples, we can see that the severe consequences each company experienced following their respective breaches were related to how they handled the aftermath of the breach and not simply because the breach happened in the first place.
What should you be doing now?
A personal data breach is not just the loss of that data but a breach of security, resulting in the destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data.
Educate your employees about personal data breaches and how to spot when one has occurred.
Set-up an internal process for reporting a personal data breach.
Make sure you have the internal resources and processes in place to detect and investigate breaches. Speak to any third-party data processers if they are storing your data.
Put an incident response plan in place.
Are the rules different for electronic communications?
No, not really. The EU has introduced a complementary legal framework to the GDPR to clarify exactly what data controllers and processors must be doing to protect individuals’ communications; electronic or otherwise.
New cookies responsibilities for browser providers Users must be given the choice to consent to cookies as part of the browser software set-up. This should reduce or eliminate cookie banners on websites entirely.
Extra-territoriality and 4% fines The Regulation no longer applies solely to the EU. It applies to anyone in the world that provides publicly-available “electronic communications services” to acquire data from the devices of EU citizens. Any organisation that breaches the Regulation will be subject to the GDPR’s two-tier fine system. That means you should be paying attention even if your business is contained within the UK.
The Regulation application is expanded Unlike its predecessor, the ePrivacy Directive, the ePrivacy Regulation goes beyond the traditional telecommunications organisations and internet service providers. It incorporates messaging apps like WhatsApp, and email providers, amongst other communications suppliers such as Facebook and Snapchat.
New rules for processing communications data The Regulation introduces new rules for handling: what was said, who said it, where and when. This data is confidential; interfering with it could result in a Tier 1 fine.
Exemption analytics cookies Businesses are exempt from the cookie consent requirement when using firstparty analytics. However, using third-party analytics platforms such as Google Analytics requires user consent.
For the non-techy amongst you, ‘party’ refers to the website that places the cookie. So when you visit www.ukfast.co.uk, and you find the domain of the cookie placed on your computer is www.ukfast.co.uk, this is a first-party cookie. If you visit www.ukfast. co.uk and a cookie by a suspiciously dissimilar name appears, this cookie has been placed by a third party.
Like the GDPR, the ePrivacy Regulation will come in to effect on the 25th May 2018.
TeamKinetic is now a mature and fully featured volunteer management solution. As it has matured we have been able to more rigorously enforce a design principle for better impact across all user interfaces that we call Focus.
Focus is a collection of typography, grids, spacing, colour, layout and sizing rules that aim to achieve consistency of design, fluid layout for smaller screens and help to retain user focus on important tasks.
Volunteers, providers and administrators are presented with large amounts of information and we have been working hard to make this volume of information easy to digest in our Volunteer management application so the individual user focus is on the most pertinent information.
The biggest layout difference you will see is the support for a two-pane design with navigation elements in the left pane and the action area in the right pane. This layout also encourages the collection of tasks into one area, either functionally similar tasks or tasks commonly undertaken at the same time.
A two pane layout with a navigation bar on the left and the action panes on the right
Colours are restricted to a limited palette so that actionable areas like buttons, menus and links, are obvious and easy to find.
Font sizes are consistent and changes in font size are restricted to key text and headings.
Animation are used to indicated areas of focus when information is updated or the user enters a new area.
Panels are elevated when active using an animated shadow effect
Message and information areas are distinguished by a thick left border, the colour is contextual and can refer to the category, message type or other information.
Thick left borders indicated messages or important content areas
Where possible we want to avoid page refresh as this slows the users experience and can break their focus on the task at hand. Volunteers, Providers and Admin users all want to be able to undertake tasks with the need for a screen refresh. Extended use of AJAX , a method of performing user interactions immediately without reloading a new page, enables us to keep the user focused on their task without the interruption of a page refresh and the subsequent visual scan of the page to locate the last point of focus.
AJAX methods are employed extensively across the admin area, especially when editing opportunities or volunteer profiles.
Grids and spacing automatically adjust to screen size and allow navigation areas to collapse to icon only links and wide content to collapse into vertical stacks keeping readability high.
Collapsible elements retain readability and usability for small screens
We just wanted to let you know what’s behind some of the design decisions in the brand new TeamKinetic v1 release and our design intent going forward.
Please add any comments you have below, thanks, The Team.
TeamKinetic kicks of the new TeamKinetic Academy with a focus on VolunteerKinetic and the use of Volunteer Surveys as a new functionality.
This is the first of our new series of webcasts offering an insight into the TeamKinetic community and volunteer management software.
We have already received some great feedback from Irene, at Glasgow Life Volunteering:
“We’re just about to go live with our own online survey volunteer questionnaires, so this video stream came along at just the right time for me to be able to advise our Glasgow Life Volunteering administrators and providers on how to add a link to each opportunity they create on our TeamKinetic system.”
Stevie Wonders: Signed, Sealed and Delivered (V 7.3)
Breathing a sigh of relief following the successful release of the latest update for TeamKinetic, I wondered just how many changes and tweaks we had made to the system since our last update. Although tempted to create a song about them, our initial pre-production proved more challenging than expected. We decided a list would have to suffice (for now at least).
We acknowledge as a tech-based company there is a certain expectation that we release regular updates, debugging our system, improving functions and performing general maintenance. But I would argue that TeamKinetic take customer feedback to a whole new level in terms of integrating it into our updates, where the vast majority of new functions come directly from customer requests and workshops.
Our first method is our annual TeamKinetic Conference, hosted in Manchester, where we spend the whole day listening to our clients and industry leaders t0 construct a roadmap for the development of our system.
The second is through speaking and listening to our clients through regular phone calls, emails, conversations and training sessions.
Knowing we take the time to listen and deliver to our customers gives us great satisfaction, and I believe sets us above the rest.
Having gone through the extensive testing process to get our latest version of VolunteerKinetic signed off. I re-examined the list of updates and thought a few of our customers would appreciate the shear number of changes that have been made, and would probably identify many updates in relation to conversations they have had with us.
We understand that for many, just knowing that the functions work is satisfactory, but for those who express a greater interest in our system we thought we would share a complete list of version 7.2 updates.
Volunteer Registration
New address lookup and controls for provider, Volunteers, Opportunities, System Profiles, TryVolunteering registration
The ability for Admins to HIDE emergency contact from volunteer registration pages.
Ability for Super Admin to change REGISTER AS PROVIDER button colour
Make Vol and Prov registrations optional via admin switch so the functions are hidden from the homepages
Volunteer Opportunities
Move Opportunity Categories to the SUPER ADMIN menu, under OPTIONS
Create more help videos for creating opportunities
Create one-way sharing limiter on the search, so linked organisations can opt to share opportunities one way with other systems
Remove Add Event section from CREATE OPPS page as this can be confusing to users
Allow providers to convert opps from regular to flexible.
Allow admin to action MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES at the same time (including authorising opportunities)
Update: Ability for OPPS to be filtered by ACTIVITY (providers & admin)
Time stamp when volunteers join an opp (this will be used for reporting and export functions)
Set character limits on the PERKS and SKILLS boxes?
Allow Documents to be uploaded to opportunities, which are visible to volunteers
Volunteer Manager Reports
Change provider reports so they reflect only their volunteers (YOUR VOLS and LINKED VOLS) not a global report on ALL vols on system
Move reports to 2 columns with a SIDE MENU
Volunteer HourTrades
Ability to download hourtrade data
Add toggle for HourTrade, remove from menu when off
Move HOUR TRADE VOUCHERS page to menu
Volunteer Surveys
Change hover over tip to Survey field – Volunteer ID Parameter Name
Add Survey links to opportunities
Add Survey link Unique Parameters (so each volunteer gets sent a unique survey which can be traced back to them)
Events
When a volunteer is not on any events, a notice should reflect this on their EVENTS page
Improve the layout of the EVENTS PROFILE edit box
When an admin or provider adds an EVENT there should be a default banner image
Address Lookup
EDIT address lookup and controls for ADMINS, PROVIDERS, and VOLUNTEERS in 17 pages
Add select COUNTRY to all address pages
make ADDRESS LOOKUP field RED (so it is highlighted) on the Volunteer EDIT page
Volunteer Achievement Badges
Improve achievements page and added a download format
Allow download of achievement badges and who has attained each badge level
User Guides
Create PROVIDERS online user guide page
populate PROVIDERS guide with relevant information on every function
Volunteer Timelines
Add timeline and stats to volunteers achievements page
Allow admin to view volunteers timelines
Courses
Ability to DELETE an application form from a course
Other
Download Volunteer or Provider DATA should show ACTIVE or REMOVED fields
Auto Refresh page after a group is added or removed.
Change provider link to only show currently linked and then have a search bar/auto suggest adding new links. Only include active providers.
Ability to sort feedback on provider or volunteer by thumbs up or thumbs down
Remove the CLUB tab from providers page, if the org hasn’t purchased the module
We have talked many times about how great it would be if all our customers could access any of them, easily from one login and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
VolunteerKinetic
A volunteer management solution that makes it quick and easy to grow and nurture your volunteer community with excellent communication tools that enable you to manage thousands of volunteers.
ClubKinetic
Bring together the power of volunteering and membership in your club community. Clubs can manage their own club profile, promoting their club and expanding their potential membership. Your community gains easy access to the entire range of opportunities across your area. Volunteers help clubs grow and clubs help volunteers grow.
BadgeKinetic
An accreditation system that lets you generate badges for your volunteers and other officials for major events. You can either create badges from events on opportunities on your database or create standalone membership for custom accreditation.
EventKinetic
Generate an event webpage which describes the event, lists volunteer opportunities and allows you to make documents and images available for download by users. Your volunteer opportunities can be associated with these events or just create a stand alone event to publicise it to your community
InformKinetic
InformKinetic gives you all the insight you need across your integrated hubs. Live reporting on the KPIs and metrics that are important to you in downloadable CSV format and visual reports online. Make informed decisions using accurate data collected automatically from across the TeamKinetic range.
SkillsKinetic
Generate course and training information for your community to access including session information and downloadable materials. Courses are available to search by your community and you can create HourTrade vouchers to use to reduce the cost of training. Let your community know how they can improve their skills.
For our existing customers this is great news as they will have access to some new and improved tools and will be able to increase the scope and usefulness of TeamKinetic for them.
New customers will be able to pick and choose which aspects of TeamKinetic they want to use and manage the total cost of the solution by only taking those modules they require, but being able to expand with their programme when required.
Our new TeamKinetic offering is not just a re-positioning of our existing solutions, there are also improvements across the range to aid integration and make each component more flexible. There will also be new front ends so that your customers and volunteers can get the information they need.
Its going to be an exciting time for us and we’ll be writing about each module and step on the way to the release of TeamKinetic.
The latest version of TeamKinetic (VolunteerKinetic version 5) has now been installed on all live systems, it contains a number of new exciting features including the ability to create Events and public-facing pages. You can view a video demonstrating the latest features below:
Three new help videos have now been added to the TeamKinetic demonstration site. There is a video for each user experience (Volunteers, Providers and Admin), allowing potential clients to view the main functionality that is available from within the demonstration system.
The videos are aimed at assisting potential clients when navigating around the system, giving them guidance on how to experience the main features of the system.
The VolunteerKinetic demonstration website is available here.
If you’d like a demo of the system to see how it can work for you, please contact us.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
