Category: COVID-19 Page 1 of 2

Post-Pandemic Volunteering: Lessons and Opportunities

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On 2nd August 2023

In COVID-19, News & Views, Volunteer Management

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on every aspect of our lives, including the world of volunteering. As a result, there are valuable lessons to be learned and new opportunities to be seized with post-pandemic volunteering. 

So what are these lessons? What can we learn from the pandemic and how can we explore emerging opportunities for post-pandemic volunteering?

Resilience and Community Spirit

The UK yo-yo-ing in and out of lockdowns created a new kind of resilience and community spirit that many neighbourhoods may not have seen before. Those who were able to help their vulnerable neighbours were happy to do so, from befriending to shopping deliveries, the power of individuals coming together to support one another was highlighted during this time. This renewed sense of community can continue to inspire and drive volunteering efforts in a post-pandemic society. 

These small acts of service during the pandemic have shed light on the power of micro-volunteering. Perhaps people now realise that they can volunteer and help their communities without long-term commitments. This perception of volunteering as a long-term commitment may have deterred people in the past due to busy lifestyles and other obligations. Micro-volunteering allows people to get involved and improve their communities in a way that works for them.

Remote Volunteering and Virtual Engagement

One of the significant adaptations during the pandemic was the rise of remote volunteering and virtual engagement. This shift presents new opportunities for volunteer engagement – especially for those who may face challenges in the form of geographical or physical limitations. 

Remote/virtual volunteering is accessible, inclusive, and again, allows for more micro-volunteering opportunities. Offering volunteering opportunities that are remote opens you up to a new, wider range of potential volunteers. Remote volunteering gives flexibility, not only to volunteers but to the opportunity providers too.

Health and Safety Considerations

The COVID-19 pandemic brought health and safety to the forefront of our collective consciousness. We learned valuable lessons about the importance of implementing proper health and safety protocols in all walks of life, including volunteering. These protocols protect both the volunteers and the communities they help. 

As we continue to navigate a post-pandemic world, these lessons will guide us to create safer environments for volunteers to do the work they love and improve the well-being of everyone involved. Prioritising health and safety considerations in volunteer programs can create an environment that protects volunteers, beneficiaries, and the wider community. 

Reimagining Volunteer Roles and Skills

During the pandemic, traditional volunteer roles were re-evaluated and re-purposed to dynamically meet the needs of local communities. COVID-19 prompted people to learn new skills and adapt. The shift to remote communication caused many people to learn how to use digital technologies for the first time – something that will no doubt be handy in the years to come. It has also opened the door for new volunteering opportunities centred around aiding people use these technologies who may have difficulty on their own.

The adaptability of people during this difficult time is admirable. The ever-changing world in which we live is likely to throw up new challenges again, but we can be confident in the population’s ability to adapt and respond in order to help their community.

Mental Health and Emotional Support

One big impact of the pandemic and lockdown was a rise in social isolation. People who lived alone were suddenly separated from society. To combat this, we saw a large increase in befriending services, with people giving their time to regularly contact someone within their community to combat those feelings of isolation.

Aside from that, the pandemic also took a toll on mental health generally. It highlighted the importance of taking care of your mental health and the need for good access to mental health services. Incorporating mental health resources and prioritising emotional well-being within day-to-day volunteer programs is now crucial. This approach not only enhances the support available to volunteers but also allows them to better serve and empathise with those they assist, building a better community.

You can do this by:

  • Regular training for all volunteers about mental health awareness
  • Providing resources and information about local services they can use
  • Peer support networks
  • Regular mental health check-ins
  • Promoting open conversations about mental health

Continually evaluating the resources you provide to your volunteers is also essential. Remember to keep everything up-to-date and relevant to make the best impact!

Enjoyed this blog? Why not join us at our 2023 Conference, where we take a look at the changing world and its potential impact on volunteering. You can get your ticket now for the low price of £10!

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Should you still be working with online volunteers post-covid?

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On 13th October 2021

In COVID-19, Volunteer Management

Now we’re heading back to ‘normal’, should you still be working with online volunteers? YES! By recruiting online volunteers from quite literally anywhere you’re expanding your reach. When it comes to volunteering: the bigger your reach, the better! Virtual volunteering slots here perfectly. 

In today’s blog post, we’re outlining the ways you can make sure your virtual opportunities stand out from the rest. 

Making Your Opportunity Stand Out

Your Opportunity Title. When creating your opportunity, make sure your title is compelling and attractive. A volunteer is more likely to join an opportunity that instantly excites them, so having a strong title is key. It’s also worth mentioning somewhere in the title that the opportunity is remote. 

Opportunity Description. Simply, don’t post the full list of details. Searching volunteers are likely to be leading with emotion – and a long description of there duties isn’t going to entice them. We suggest giving snippets of their duties but focus on explaining the impact they’ll be making.

Jargon. For a number of volunteers, this is their first time volunteering. Any specific language or acronyms should be left out. It’s most likely going to confuse potential volunteers, so keeping it as simple as possible will get more interest from new volunteers.

Calls To Action. Give potential volunteers the ‘next steps’ for joining an opportunity. Your opportunity should always have contact details too, for any other questions or support they might require. 

Image Use.  The use of imagery taps into volunteers’ emotions. Using the right image can trigger mirror neurons in the brain, so the volunteer feels the emotions portrayed in an image. Your images can also show that your organisation is inclusive to all. It’s important that your imagery is right, and sends the right signals to those browsing. 

Checking Your Posting. Once your post is complete, make sure to double check it. Go through and check that all the information is correct as well as looking out for any spelling/grammatical errors. It’s also worth, once posted, looking at the opportunity through a potential volunteer’s eyes – do they have everything they need to join? 

Are You Screening Your Volunteers?

Now that you’ve perfected your opportunity listing, and you have a set of virtual volunteers, the screening process can begin! What should you be considering when it comes to your volunteering screening process? 

At the outset, you need to find out where your volunteer will be working. Are they going to be in a pace that’s quiet and private, or will they be in a busy environment? The key thing is that they are able to volunteer effectively in the place they’ve set up. 

To ensure your volunteer is working effectively, are their any supplies or training required? Ensure that your volunteer has completed their training steps, and can access everything they need to start volunteering; this check makes sure there can be a smooth process into the opportunity, because there’s no stop/starting as a volunteer doesn’t have access to something important. 

Volunteers will be interacting with a number of different people – let them know the basic information on how they should interact. This can help build up a volunteer’s confidence, so they interact with the organisation and those it helps more. 

Make sure that you’re frequently staying in touch with those who virtually volunteer, over email, chat or video call. You can touch base weekly or monthly, building up a relationship that keeps them returning to volunteer. Establishing this relationship is important, volunteers want to feel seen and heard, like they aren’t just on the outskirts of the organisation. 

Volunteer Motivations

You can also match volunteers with other opportunities you think they might be interested in. One way you can do this is through understanding your volunteers motives. VolunteerPro teaches a lot about a set of motivations a volunteer is likely to have, and how they can be applied by volunteer managers. Their motivations are: 

  • Values: Where in which volunteers take something meaningful from the hours they spend volunteering. 
  • Careers: Opportunities open doors for volunteers to advance in their careers or network with likeminded people from their industry. 
  • Social: Volunteers can find themselves in emotional and supportive environments which they can also benefit from. 
  • Enhancement: Volunteering gives leadership development to volunteers and changes their perception of power to some extent. 

Volunteers that are open and motivated are most likely to have more than one goal in mind, rather than running on one single purpose. For some, they might not yet realise what those goals or motivations are, but they want to help in any capacity. 

Think it’s time to invest in volunteer management software?

You can start a free trial of TeamKinetic on our website. This will let you check out all our features for 30 days. If you like what you see, contact us to book a demo and see how we can help your organisation manage your volunteers!

Volunteer Passports: Is this the future?

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On 8th September 2021

In COVID-19, News & Views

The following round-up blog post comes from a research report commissioned by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), on Volunteer Passports that TeamKinetic helped to support. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were reminded of just how important volunteering is to communities. It’s suggested that around 12.4 million adults volunteered during the pandemic, 4.6 million of those for the first time! The pandemic has made waves within volunteering and with more and more organisations coming together to find a collaborative approach to recruitment and onboarding; there have been movements to introduce volunteer passports into organisations. 

What is a Volunteer Passport?

If you aren’t familiar, a volunteer passport can hold all the verified credentials a volunteer might need in order to volunteer, which can serve as credentials to a pool of organisations. This can be called volunteer portability; this concept refers to the easing of movement across different organisations and roles. Volunteer passports can be a quicker way to apply as a volunteer as any references or training needed has already been completed and verified! 

Passporting Aims…

The initiative aims to address key issues regarding volunteer recruitment, management and development…

In certain contexts, such as emergency response volunteering, volunteer passports can be a mechanism to recruit and onboard large numbers of volunteers to opportunities locally and at speed. With passporting, the aim is also to improve the effectiveness of matching volunteers to opportunities tailored to what they’re interested in, or want to take part in. It also means that volunteers can be ‘re-deployed’ onto different tasks where they may be needed. This also ensures that micro, ad hoc and event-based volunteering opportunities are supported, also known as volunteer portability. 

Reducing volunteer vetting can save time and money for all parties, through the standardisation of volunteer training and management. In the past, there have been previous initiatives that have explored this locally or within a particular sector, improving the consistency of trained volunteers. 

What about alternative practices?

Here’s a quick run-through of the practices that could be integrated into volunteer passports: 

A number of volunteering organisations already match volunteers with volunteering opportunities they find may be a good fit, based on previous opportunities or through a skill-based match. Many volunteers started volunteering through word of mouth therefore, online volunteer passports may be deemed unnecessary. Any passporting system would have to consider how the offline side could be integrated successfully. 

Volunteer profiles have also been in previous initiatives, numerous management platforms have offered volunteers a facility where they can develop and build their ‘profile.’ This can be used as an alternative to CVs or LinkedIn, which volunteers involved in the report have emphasised. Volunteer passporting could mean it addresses an aim that has already been met.  

Other related schemes have been surrounding rewarding volunteers. Just like within the TeamKinetic system, schemes can provide rewards through ‘time banks’ or ‘time credits’, where a volunteer’s time is recorded, which they can then use to redeem a reward of some sort. The reward would depend on the organisation they are working with. We know how important recognising and rewarding volunteers are, so volunteer passporting has to include this, or something similar. 

Key Areas of Demand

In order for volunteering-involved organisations to support volunteer passports there are some key areas of demand. The report consistently highlights that portable IDs, and DBS checks are deemed to be a core element of potential volunteer passports. This is because they benefit volunteers, organisations and stakeholders from different voluntary sectors. The introduction of portable IDs and DBS checks is welcomed by organisations as a way to reduce the admin burden that comes with mass onboarding. For volunteers, it reduces the barriers they may find when wanting to volunteer in a different sector. 

Allowing organisations to have a shared pool of volunteers would help particular types of volunteering such as emergency, event-based, and micro-volunteering. This element is a way of always having volunteers on hand to offer opportunities to.

From the suggestion for portable IDs, the standardisation of volunteer training is also of interest. Standardising training will be beneficial through local volunteer portability and regarding specialist skills with individual sectors. Not only can volunteers help across different organisations in their local area, those volunteers with specialist skills, are enabled to complete certain tasks for a number of organisations within the sector. 

Another element was found that there needs to be some sort of validation of volunteers’ experiences and skills. For some volunteer groups, this would be incredibly beneficial, where volunteering could become a potential route to employment, the validation of skills can be added to a CV etc. This aspect was also thought to offer benefits in terms of supporting social integration and the well-being of different marginalised groups. 

What Does Each Sector Think?

The research for the report presented some experiences and views from each sector regarding the introduction of volunteer passports and how they might be used. 

The health sector has seen a rise in volunteer passporting over the past couple of months, and the expectation is for the demand to grow. The sector has found that passporting ensures agile and efficient emergency responses along with the integration of statutory and non-statutory services. The demand has also increased in the community action sector; portability at local level of training and skills has already been introduced, so there is potential to build on existing initiatives to deliver a comprehensive passporting system in local areas.  

Regarding the culture sector, museums and heritage sites perceived passporting as beneficial. Specifically highlighting the portability.

Portability allows for volunteer learning and skill exchange, reducing administrative burden. There has been interest in developing a shared volunteer training standard within the sector.

In some areas, the sector has found they have been oversubscribed with volunteers. Therefore, standardising training and easy portability means volunteers can be moved into new routes while staying in the sector they’re interested in. 

While there is strong demand in certain sectors, the sporting sector has seen very little demand for a passporting system, with the exception of portable DBS checks. The report shows that demand is low as volunteer recruitment is mostly organic, so there’s little interest in the digital brokerage of volunteer passports. Along with this, for individual sports, qualifications are already there in terms of training, and therefore the standardisation of training has been met and recognised. 

So How Will it Work?

How might volunteer passports work moving forward?

  • Commonality: Volunteer portability is more likely to work when there is a common denominator between organisations whether this be locally or sector-based. This commonality between organisations may be essential to building a ‘federation of trust’ aligning volunteer standards and processes. 
  • Sustainable? Stakeholders have concerns that passport initiatives may not be sustainable. This is due to the temporary nature of funding, and a lack of resources. To overcome these issues, volunteer-involved organisations have stressed the need for passporting initiatives to be developed in a realistic way, building this into a long-term strategy for volunteering. 
  • Credibility: The Credibility of passport schemes is incredibly important for volunteer engagement and organisations. Some examples of the ways individual volunteer passporting schemes have been credible have included: endorsements from national councils of volunteer organisations and local authority and government institutions. 
  • Data Standards: This is a strong requirement from digital platform providers and organisations who explain that any volunteer passport system would only work if it was developed with open data standards. 
  • Control? Various organisations have emphasised how important it is for volunteers to be the ones controlling their data. For example, in previous initiatives, there have been options for volunteers to pause notifications at times when they were busy or wanted to stop volunteering for the moment.
  • Access: There is an element of exclusion and barriers for small organisations due to a lack of digital infrastructure and skills to join in on volunteer passporting for those who work for their organisation. Where are smaller organisations going to find and retain their volunteers? 

Expectations of Government Support…

There are areas where central and local governments can support volunteering in the context of volunteer passporting, including: 

  • Raising awareness of current possibilities to make DBS checks portable and improving their portability. 
  • Providing legal clarity over certain issues curtailing volunteer portability or any other elements of passporting. 
  • Working with the voluntary sector to support greater standardisation where appropriate through funding for resources and infrastructure. 
  • Encouraging volunteering by making sure other government policies do not pose barriers to volunteering. 

Where Does TeamKinetic Fit In? 

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, TeamKinetic helped support this report we’d like to thank the DMCS for inviting us to help! We’re intrigued to see how volunteer passports and passporting develop in the next couple of years. We’re currently looking at ways we could introduce volunteer passporting, or elements of passporting, into our system. 

If you’d like to know more about us here at TeamKinetic, you can start a free trial of TeamKinetic on our website. This will let you check out all our features for 30 days. If you like what you see, contact us to book a demo and see how we can help your organisation manage your volunteers!

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

Twitter       Facebook       LinkedIn       YouTube       Instagram       Podcast

 

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Will Volunteering Come Out Stronger After Covid?

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On 2nd September 2021

In COVID-19, News & Views

Coronavirus has introduced so many new challenges for communities over the past 18 months, but it’s also presented foundations to build a stronger community. Moving out of the pandemic means the focus is now on building the relationships between volunteers and organisations; along with renewing that drive to volunteer in the first place. This could mean we have to rethink the roles within volunteering moving forward.

Remote Volunteering? 

The use of remote volunteering over the pandemic has been phenomenal in helping those who’ve really needed it. Due to this, there is a larger market for this kind of volunteering, as so many people have volunteered in this way lately. In order for virtual volunteering to continue, volunteers must be attracted to your organisation’s missions as the social aspect towards volunteering has been stripped back. Communicating that their small contribution will make a difference will keep them involved and feeling positive for helping the community.

The pandemic has also increased the amount of online recruitment. So how have organisations found and kept in touch with their volunteers? It feels inevitable that recruiting volunteers online is something that will carry on far into the future. For organisations, their next steps may be to solidify their presence online. This is where a volunteer management system would come in handy; with TeamKinetic you can recruit more volunteers than ever before, and have constant contact to keep them informed. 

Flexibility…

To create a more accessible volunteering route, there needs to be flexibility. For those who cannot commit to certain dates and times: flexibility allows for no obligation to return. It also means that volunteers can now access the risks beforehand (because they haven’t committed to a continuous role). Despite saying we’re coming out of the pandemic, people still have to assess the risks before going out (coronavirus included)! While it becomes more of a challenge for organisations to be flexible, breaking down roles into smaller opportunities is a way to include more flexibility.

Looking towards the future

There is a feeling that volunteering has taken a strong leap forward over the past 18 months. There is a renewed purpose to help those who really need it: we’re more aware of our communities’ vulnerabilities. Volunteering has increased massively over the pandemic and as a result we have to focus on preserving the positive changes that we have seen.

Interested in TeamKinetic? 

Why not come and try our system for free! You can start a free trial of TeamKinetic on our website. This will let you check out all our features for 30 days. If you like what you see, contact us to book a demo and see how we can help your organisation manage your volunteers.

You can also follow our social media pages: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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!

 

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.

 

Reducing The Scare For Social Care

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On 7th August 2020

In Charity, COVID-19, News & Views

How is COVID-19 affecting social care charities and what they can do to manage volunteers during and after the pandemic.

English and American notes with masks

COVID-19 has impacted us all in different ways. For charities, this impact has resulted in a significant loss of income with ‘only 60% of the public [saying] they’ve given to charity in the last 3 months, down from 69% in January this year’. Social care charities have been particularly hard hit. As not only have they seen a reduction in income but people are more reliant on their services during this pandemic.

Pandemic to TeamKinetic

As lockdown has started to ease many organisations are starting to explore how their volunteers can return to their roles. For social care organisations this comes with some specific risks that need to be carefully assessed and managed before volunteers can return fully. Here at TeamKinetic we have been looking at how our technology might be useful in managing and mitigating some of these risks. 

PPE

Many roles involve close personal contact for your volunteers so appropriate PPE is necessary. It is essential for volunteers to wear their PPE if their is a potential of working in close proximity or going to people’s houses. Although we cannot provide this, we can make it easier for you to make your volunteers aware of when to wear and how to wear. This can be done through training which can be made mandatory before a volunteer joins an opportunity. The training can include information on where volunteers would need to wear PPE and also demonstrations on how to wear them correctly. 

House visits may be a possibility for some of your volunteers, so risk assessments can also be uploaded on to each opportunity. 

Recruiting New Volunteers

64 – 75 year olds are the age group most likely to volunteer but since the pandemic started there has been a huge decrease in this number, with this age group more at risk if they catch the virus. Volunteers will be less likely to return to their volunteering roles because of this, meaning there will be less people available to undertake the essential work your organisation needs to do. 

You may be worried about recruiting new volunteers but with our software the on boarding process is simplified. Once a volunteer registers there profile will be available to view and they can begin to complete any training for join opportunities. This then allows you to track their training or provide additional online support, all of this done through the web. 

Our research also demonstrates TeamKinetic is more effecting at recruiting younger volunteers. This could be down to our digital tools that let you share to social media or the fact young volunteers like a digital approach. 

Spending Money More Effectively

At a time when there may be a shortage of cash, it’s important to invest it in technology that can offer significant return on investment. Volunteers have never been more important. So, investing in a good volunteer management software will increase your volunteer retention and should lead to significant efficiencies in how you deploy and manage your volunteers workforce. “This sounds expensive though” you say, but what if I told you there is a more affordable software? 

TeamKinetic Can Help

TeamKinetic volunteer management software is free for 30 days. Starting a free trial is easy, just go to our website to get started! Our system can help you create volunteering opportunities, recruit volunteers, and unite you with your community. 

For example, the introduction of our community task dashboard makes it even easier to create COVID-related volunteering opportunities to help the vulnerable people in your community.

Don’t hesitate to reach out on social media! You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. You’ll see examples of the features we have to offer and some of the people we already work with.

If you have any questions call us on 0161 914 5757 or visit our website to chat to us online.

Communities and Coronavirus

By

On 5th August 2020

In Case Study, Community, COVID-19

If COVID-19 has proven one thing it is that adversity can really bring communities together. This is what has happened during the pandemic in Kenilworth. Members of the community came together and created ‘COVID-19 Kenilworth Support’, a mutual aid group, to provide support to the most vulnerable. The Kenilworth Support Group was formed right at the start of the Coronavirus outbreak. They were supported early on by various local politicians, the local police, local organisations, charities, and businesses. 

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to Nivvi Morales, a member of ‘COVID-19 Kenilworth Support’, who talked to me about their group and how they found using the TeamKinetic Volunteer Management System during COVID-19.

Could you tell me about what your group does and how you came about?

We came together due to the outbreak of COVID-19. We recognized that some people were vulnerable during this time and were in desperate need of support. The locals of Kenilworth wanted to provide this assistance to those in their town, who now needed support more than ever before.

With the help of all of our volunteers, we organise shopping collections, the delivery of food parcels, and the collection of prescriptions. As well as offering welfare checks and friendly chats.

Recently, we also also created a leaflet which contained information on what shops were offering home deliveries and what local take-a-ways they could get delivered to their doorstep. We was then was able to drop this leaflet at the houses of those self isolating so if they don’t have access to technology, or don’t necessary understand how to use it, they still have access to all the information they might need.

Why do you feel people wanted to join your group?

The people in Kenilworth have a real sense of community, so doing something for others comes quite naturally to the residents. For myself, I wanted to do something and be part of something, rather than sitting at home and watching the COVID-19 death rate go up on the news. We wanted to take action and do what we could to help other people who were more vulnerable during this time.

Why did you decide to look for a volunteer management system?

Early on into the creation of our mutual-aid group, we began to realise that the data we were handling was very sensitive and we wanted to ensure it was protected. We wanted to ensure that whilst we were helping the vulnerable, we were also ensuring their data was being safeguarded.

With this, we were originally using Google Sheets and WhatsApp to manage our data. This became too much hassle, so we wanted to find a volunteer management system where we could communicate efficiently, assign tasks, track tasks, and keep our data safe.

How did everyone find using the system , was it easy to use?

Initially, there were some teething issues as some of the volunteers were not big into technology so initially struggled to understand it. However, the majority found it easy to use. What I found really helpful was the ability to raise a ticket if they had an issue with the system, which would then be supported straight away. This really developed a sense of trust with TeamKinetic as we were never left feeling stuck and was always supported.

Which feature did you use the most and how did it benefit your group?

We used the community tasks feature, and it was honestly a LIFESAVER! Originally, we had such a big volunteer form which became very complex when it came to assigning tasks. This feature was a lifesaver when it came to assigning tasks  to volunteers and following up tasks.

What other benefits have you received from using our software?

It just saves so much time and everything is from one central point of access, making everything so much easier to manage. Using TeamKinetic allowed us to follow up who has done what task, which we originally struggled with. It was if we were missing the final piece of the puzzle; TeamKinetic.

Is there anything you would like to say to any non-profit organisations considering using volunteer management software?

Make sure you are organised first. Using volunteer management software is extremely helpful, but it will not solve your problems if you are not initially organised.  You must ensure your organisation is organised and efficient first in order to fit in with volunteer management software before first signing up.

What does the future hold for your group?

Well, since the coronavirus outbreak we have now become a registered charity! We want to continue to support those who are vulnerable, even after COVID-19 to ensure nobody ever feels alone. We want to ensure they never struggle to get support. We also want to start helping our customers connect with their family by introducing them to technology.

 

If you want to find out more about ‘COVID-19 Support Kenilworth’ you can visit their website, check out their Instagram, or visit their Facebook page.

TeamKinetic

TeamKinetic helps to build better volunteer communities by providing great tools for volunteer managers that save time, increase impact and improve insight. Our goal is to make volunteering easy for everyone no matter what. But don’t take our word for it, why not check out our customer reviews.

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

How Volunteers Are Tackling COVID-19

By

On 5th June 2020

In COVID-19, News & Views

Think back to New Year’s Eve, 2019. Did you make resolutions?
When you pictured 2020 what did it look like? I’m not sure anyone could have predicted what we’re living through right now.

Despite living in such unpredictable circumstances filled with loss, there are still good things happening out in the world. In particular, I want to talk about COVID volunteers – especially during Volunteers’ Week 2020.

Helping Their Communities Through Crisis

The most common form of volunteering recently has been deliveries. Delivering food parcels to those who are most at-risk is a great way volunteers have been helping their local communities. 

A further example of volunteers providing basic necessities comes from Compassion London. They’re a group of professional chefs and volunteers who worked out of Wembley Stadium to provide meals for thousands of local people. 

A little closer to home for us, The Bread and Butter Thing operates across Greater Manchester. The service redistributes surplus food from supermarkets and manufacturers to people on low incomes – the number of people using this service has risen greatly as a consequence of COVID-19.

Volunteers have also been called upon to ‘befriend’ members of their communities. The scheme pairs volunteers with someone who is alone in isolation. This tackles loneliness which is especially prevalent right now due to lockdown rules.

The key to finding a cure?

Scientists across the world have proposed that human trials could be introduced to test a vaccine quickly. These trials would involve volunteers, and while there are many dangers involved, it could help provide a cure much sooner.

Volunteers would have to be fairly young (mid-twenties) and in good health to apply for the trials. Knowing the potential risks associated with the Coronavirus, volunteers for the trials would be doing an incredibly selfless act.

Want to help?

For anyone considering face-to-face volunteering, you must ensure you are fit and healthy to do so. You can access the latest government advice relating to COVID-19 here. To find local volunteering opportunities, contact your council or simply do a quick ‘volunteering opportunities near me‘ internet search.

You can also search for existing opportunities near you with TryVolunteering.

What have TeamKinetic done to help?

We started offering our volunteer management system free of charge for the duration of the pandemic to help organisations recruit larger numbers of covid volunteers. Furthermore, we created a whole new community tasks dashboard to make it easier for covid-specific tasks to be created and completed. It is our hope that more people are involved with volunteering than ever before!

Find out more about our work through these blog posts:

Responding to a Global Pandemic: The TeamKinetic Way

By

On 27th May 2020

In COVID-19, News & Views

The COVID-19 pandemic has been at the centre of our lives for the past few months. As the chaos begins to settle (slightly), we thought we’d take the time to reflect on our response to the virus. 

Let’s go back to the 17th of March. Following new advice from the government to cut all non-essential contact with others, TeamKinetic closed our office and made the switch to working from home. 

Business as usual?

Being a provider of volunteer management, we had to wonder whether volunteering could even continue if people were being told to stay at home. However, there were at-risk people out there who were in need of medical supplies and food.

The biggest question we had was how exactly we could help these people in a safe way for both those who were at-risk and the volunteers. We not only had to consider the physical safety of everyone involved, but also the safety of their personal data.

We quickly set to work developing a new system that would connect volunteers wanting to help in their community with people who were in need of help.

New Features Developed

  • A new simpler, customised home page for organisations to let their volunteers know what their options and opportunities are during the COVID pandemic
  • Brand new community task feature set that allows for the creation, assignment and management of community requested tasks for vulnerable and at need individuals
  • API for the community task management
  • Progressive Web App for volunteers to search/find/join and complete community tasks
  • Volunteer ID card and QR code for the community task app users
  • Chat between the assigned volunteer and organisation admins
  • Push notifications

New Hardware and Infrastructure

Furthermore, we were anticipating spikes in traffic as various announcements were made so made some internal changes to help manage these spikes.

  • Transferred community task load to AWS elastic servers
  • New Google map management and capacity (for directions and geo location)
  • New logging and monitoring installed to check capacity and demand in near real time

Overall, with the new system changes it is now easier and faster to create volunteering opportunities (now called tasks). We believe this significantly helped combat the chaos felt by volunteer managers in the early stages of the pandemic.

Next, we had to find a way to make all our current users aware of this system while also targeting organisations that we thought could benefit from using it.

Creating awareness

The enterprise version of the system is entirely free of charge for the duration of the pandemic. By offering this extended trial period, we hoped as many organisations could get their own systems up and running to spread the positive influence of volunteering as much as possible!

We also hosted a string of webinars showing how to use the system. This allowed viewers to interact with our developers, ask questions, and raise any concerns they had. This seemed to be very beneficial for both us and our customers. It was great to hear from people directly, especially if the comments were full of praise!

You can read all our blogs related to the COVID pandemic by clicking here.

What’s next?

The system is being continually developed to meet the needs of our customers and make the volunteer management process as easy as possible. It’s also important to consider how the system can be used in a post-COVID world. Which is hard to imagine right now! The activities done by these volunteers don’t have to be confined to this pandemic, they can be done at any time. We believe that the kindness shown by these volunteers to help the more vulnerable members of their communities should be the norm across society.

Why can’t we continue to help each other on a daily basis?

Want to try it for yourself?

If you’d like to see how the TeamKinetic system can help you recruit and manage volunteers during COVID and beyond, check out our website to get started with a free trial.

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