Category: News & Views Page 22 of 42

The Community Fund

We know that the world feels a little uncertain right now and for many of our customers and users, there is significant unease about how they will be able to fund some of their services during this crisis and beyond.

So when we hear of a potential funding source we like to try and share that information with our customers and users. The Community fund has been around for a long time and is a tried and test source of funds for community organisations of all sizes.

They are prioritising funding for communities affected by COVID-19 with a new £200 million fund.

Prioritising projects and organisations supporting communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. To apply for funds click the links below:

Apply for funding under £10,000 

Apply for funding over £10,000

What types of projects they can fund 

The Community Fund want to fund activities supporting people and communities affected by COVID-19.  They are prioritising:  

  • organisations supporting people who are at high risk from COVID-19
  • organisations supporting communities most likely to face increased demand and challenges as a direct result of COVID-19
  • organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to COVID-19.  

Anyone who applies for our funding needs understand the Community Fund safeguarding policy. If you have any questions, get in touch with the Community Fund.

If you know of other sources of funding that might be of benefit to our other TeamKinetic users and would be happy to share that information please feel free to get in touch and we will do our best to share that information.

Responding to a Global Pandemic: The TeamKinetic Way

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.

COVID Task App – Development continues apace

We are delighted to see more organisations decide to use our COVID community task app and we recently zipped past the 2000 completed task mark.

We have been responding to feedback and continuing to develop the application and functionality; the most recent additions are showcased below.

Remember if you want to enable the COVID community task features you can do this at anytime from your super admin options menu.

Push Notifications

Users of compatible devices and browsers will now receive push notifications when new tasks are created or when any actions that concern them directly are performed; task application updates and new task chat messages. Unfortunately, Apple iOS devices do not offer support for push notifications via progressive web apps. Apple iOS users will continue to receive notifications via email when their task status changes or chat messages are sent.

Password Reset

Volunteers can now reset their password directly from the app. They can enter their registered email address and will be sent a PIN which they can enter directly into the app and generate a new password.

Photo Upload

When logging in, if the volunteer does not yet have a profile picture uploaded, the app will ask them to upload one.

The volunteer can change their profile picture at anytime by tapping on the current photo.

ID Card and QR Code

We have added an ID card to the volunteer app so that if challenged when outside the volunteer can show some evidence that they have a valid reason for leaving their home. The included QR code when scanned confirms the volunteers photograph and current status.

Repeat Tasks

A volunteer can now enter a repeat task when completing an existing one. So if the recipient asks the volunteer if they can come back next week, they can record it and you can track it just like a regular task that you have added.

All the task details will be replicated, except the date and time and auto assigned to the volunteer.

Target Completion Date Shown

The target completion date is now shown on the assigned task list without having to tap to show the task details.

Stronger Together CIMSPA

TeamKinetic is proud to announce that we are working together with CIMSPA- the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity.

Like many working sectors across the UK, the sports and physical activity sector has also been hugely affected by COVID-19. With all gyms, sports and leisure centres being closed due to the pandemic. This has created many uphill challenges for the 500,000 workers in the sports and physical activity sector.

The Challenge

The task of keeping the UK physically active and healthy has never been more crucial. Although we are faced with self-isolating, social distancing and many other sanctions in our daily lives, doesn’t mean we can’t all stay healthy.

We share the same ambition as CIMSPA of being versatile in these difficult times to aid the sector to keep the UK active. Therefore we have offered CIMSPA our support in the form of our Advanced volunteer management software – built for COVID-19. We hope by becoming a CIMSPA supporter we will be able to help some of the 500,000 workers affected by this pandemic and help those stay active and healthy along the way.

Read more below on what CIMSPA is doing as part of their Stronger Together campaign

CIMSPA launches Facebook group to provide support for the sector during the Covid-19 crisis

CIMSPA launches digital hub to support the sector during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis

For more information on how TeamKinetic can help your organisation

Visit: TeamKinetic.co.uk

Call us on: 0161 914 5757 

Email: info@teamKinetic.co.uk

TeamKinetic wins TechForce19 Award COVID-19

TechForce19 was developed as a call to action for all innovators who have the technological ability to be able to supply the elderly, vulnerable and those self-isolating during COVID-19.

The competition saw over 1600 entries who felt their technology could help to combat this pandemic challenge. We are very proud to announce that TeamKinetic has been shortlisted as one of the 20 companies who will receive the £25,000 to test their technology to help with the response to COVID-19.

TeamKinetic aim to use their volunteer management software and their new COVID-19 related volunteer management features to optimise staffing in care and volunteer sectors. This will be achieved by deploying TeamKinetic with 3 of our new customers, The Royal Brough of Greenwich, Halton & St Helens VCA and Groundwork working in partnership with Barnet Council. The application will be used in the recruitment and training of volunteers into non-clinical roles at a local level and providing essential services that people in isolation need.

TeamKinetic is already used across the UK with over 145,000 volunteers using the system and is used to power the national system Volunteering-wales.net on behalf of Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA). So this award feels like a nice acknowledgement of the hard work that has gone into developing TeamKinetic into the simple to use platform it is today, over the last 10 years.

In preparation for taking on the TechForce19 challenge, TeamKinetic has been working with their existing partners to look at the specific requirements that have been created due to the pandemic. Partners like Manchester City Council and Glasgow Life have all played a key role in helping TeamKinetic respond to the crisis and to push our engineering teams to do some amazing work in response.

Read all about TeamKinetic and the other winners here

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/digital-innovations-tested-to-support-vulnerable-people-during-covid-19-outbreak

TechForce19 is an initiative being run on behalf of:

NHSX is one of the largest health and social care transformation programmes in the world, created to deliver technology that staff and people need. With the aim to utilise technology in the most efficient way possible in order to reduce stress on our NHS workforce. 

AHSN connects the NHS and academic organisations, local authorities, the third sector and industry. They focus on improving outcomes for patients through innovation and technology.

PUBLIC is an organisation which aims to breach the gap that smaller start-up technological companies struggle to overcome themselves. Many small start-up organisations have made progressive headway in innovative technologies which have the potential of helping many people. However, they struggle with the initial start-up when connecting to the right people, like the governments and local authorities. 

For more information on how TeamKinetic can help your orgainsation.

Start your FREE Trial : TeamKinetic 

Call us on: 0161 914 5757

Email: info@teamkinetic.co.uk

Why You Should Be Customising Your Volunteer Registration Emails

Did you know that you can customise your TeamKinetic system’s volunteer registration emails? Changing the first email your volunteers receive can be a big step in improving your volunteer management. 

How do I change the registration email?

Go to the Admin Settings Cog → Customise Emails

Find the ‘volunteer registration’ email and click ‘Edit’. 

You can now edit the default text and style it accordingly. When you click on the blue buttons on the right, a placeholder will be added to your text, and when sent, that placeholder will be replaced with the appropriate text; in this case you can use placeholders for your organisation name, organisation contact number, the volunteers email address, and a login link for the volunteer to follow.

What changes should I make?

  • That first email after registration should layout the next steps you want the volunteer to take. For example, this might be to upload a photo and a piece of ID. You could also direct them to the Resources & Help, where all the documents in your document hub are available, if your volunteers require extra information after registering.

 

You can alter options regarding volunteer photo/ID uploads via the Admin Settings Cog → TeamKinetic Options → Everything Else.

Volunteers can easily access these things through the left-hand-side menu on their dashboard.

They should go to the underlined tabs to upload a picture, ID, and view the document hub (in that order).

 

  • You can also add links to various areas of the system for easy access and attach files to the email. For example, you could share the link to take them straight to a search for COVID-19 related opportunities. This will help highlight ways volunteers can help their local communities.
    You can find your shareable link to all COVID-19 opportunities on your admin homepage: 
  • If necessary, make sure to tell new volunteer about inductions, DBS and ID checks when they first join to allow them to get started with you as soon as possible.  As an admin, you can keep track of DBS checks via Volunteer Management → Criminal Checks as well as visiting a volunteer’s profile directly via Volunteer Management → Search Volunteers

  • You could also customise the ‘joined opp’ email that is sent when a volunteer joins their first opportunity to let them know what you want them to do next. Perhaps explaining the keywords used on the site, such as sessions, the different opportunity types, and how to log hours. 

What else can I do to get volunteers started?

  • Switching on text messages is another great way to keep in contact with your volunteers. Text messaging can be switched on by going to the Admin Settings Cog → TeamKinetic Options → Notifications → Switch on Text Messaging. 
  • Building your Document Hub can also be highly beneficial to your volunteers. You can add documents, links and text for your volunteers and providers, e.g. a code of conduct or training manual for new volunteers.
    To access the document hub, go to the Admin Settings Cog Document Hub 

Want more TeamKinetic tips?

Subscribe to our blog for more like this as well as other pieces relevant to volunteering and volunteer management. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

You can visit our YouTube channel to find further help navigating your system or call us on 0161 914 5757, we’re always happy to help you out!

How to Stay Safe Online During COVID-19

During this pandemic our governments have told us to stay safe and stay inside, but what about staying safe online? It’s fair to say we’re probably spending a lot more time online recently. I mean, what else is there to do if you can’t leave the house? Whether you’re video chatting with friends, mindlessly scrolling through social media, or managing your volunteers from home, it’s important to stay vigilant online.

So what does this mean generally?

In short: be careful what new programmes/applications you use.
Do a little bit of research before you download and give personal details to a new app. Ask friends and family if they use it, consult trusted online sources and decide whether it can be trusted. 

Remember: even apps that seem to be trustworthy can fall victim to security breaches themselves.
House Party seemed to be taking the online video chatting market by storm until rumours of data surfaced. Although these rumours turned out to be false, their reputation as a safe app was ruined. Furthermore, Zoom, an application used for video chatting/conferencing was actually subjected to a data breach. The CEO of Zoom held his hands up in apology but it doesn’t reverse the damage done. 

If the phrase ‘too good to be true’ comes to mind, it probably is. 
A growing number of people are falling victims to social media scams. Fraudsters posing as good Samaritans hosting giveaways on Twitter are some of the the people most likely to trick you. A few examples can be seen in this article from Refinery

The ultimate way to stay safe

Passwords. Passwords are key. Having a variety of passwords for everything you use may seem tough – who has the memory capacity for that?! – but it could save you a lot of trouble. Besides, there are ways to keep track of all your passwords, whether it be a password-protected note on your phone, an app that keeps track of all your passwords, or going old school and writing them down somewhere.

So what does it mean for volunteer management?

Here at TeamKinetic we work hard to make sure all data is secure and we adhere to GDPR regulations. You may have seen our new COVID-19 community task dashboard for volunteering. With this, a new set of challenges arose: how could we give the personal data (like contact details and addresses) of people in need of help to volunteers without breaching their privacy?

Measures were taken to ensure that personal data was only given to volunteers after they’d been assigned a volunteering role, such as shopping for someone else or a simple phone conversation. If someone is not assigned to a task, they do not see the data and therefore ensuring the security of all involved. 

First of all, ‘Private Data’ can only be seen by site admins. This can be used to easily sort tasks in your own way.

‘Data Shown to Assigned Volunteers’ does exactly what it says in the title! However, it is important to note that this data is only shown to volunteers after they’ve been accepted on a task. This ensures that no private data is given to the public unnecessarily.

Finally, ‘Public Data’ is shown to all registered volunteers looking at the community task dashboard. It shows everything prospective volunteers will need to know, e.g. the time, date, and task. Furthermore, you can add boosted security measures here too, such as requiring criminal checks and approved ID.

How TeamKinetic Can Help

We will always try and provide you with relevant news through our social media channels, especially in situations like this. You can find us on TwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and YouTube.

If you want to help your community and require a safe, online method of volunteer management, you can use our system completely free of charge for the duration of the pandemic by going to our website and starting a free trial

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us via phone: 0161 914 5757 or email: info@teamkinetic.co.uk

We also have a few other blogs about volunteer management during COVID-19, you can read them by clicking the titles below.

How to effectively promote COVID-19 volunteering

TeamKinetic have added an entirely new set of roles and functions we call COMMUNITY TASKS to help our customers get volunteers to those people that need it most in the community. There is also an associated app for mobile!

https://teamkinetic.co.uk/blog/2020/04/08/faq-new-covid-features/

Communities across the country are already starting to rally in support of each other during this pandemic.

We’ve put together a video and step-by-step instructions below showing how to promote your COVID-19 related opportunities.

1 – Add tags and descriptions to your COVID-19 related opportunities.

In order for volunteers to find COVID-19 related opportunities you will need to have a way of identifying those opportunities in the system. You can do this by either making sure the opportunity title includes a key words like; covid, virus, corona, or pandemic, or add the words as TAGS to the opportunity. 

Either of these solutions will allow the system and volunteers to be able to search and find the related opportunities via the normal search bar.

When you login you’ll find your custom search link in the COVID-19 notification bar. You can distribute this link via email and on your social media posts and when clicked will go straight to the COVID-19 search results.

2 – Add An Event Called COVID-19

An event is just a group of opportunities which have something in common.  By adding a specific event name, that event will show at the top of the volunteers search results.

To use this method you will need to create an event called ‘COVID-19’ and EDIT your opportunities and mark them as PART OF A LARGER EVENT

3 – Email all volunteers about COVID-19 related opportunities

We have added a button at the top the dashboard when you login as admin:

This button will automatically email your volunteers a list of all virus related opportunities (email shown below).

If you would like to only email specific volunteers then you can email the special link shown when you login as administrator.

When clicked this link will go to the COVID-19 search results.

Further help

If you have trouble setting any of this up, please open a support ticket and we’ll try to help.

Stay safe.

How organisations are adapting to the COVID-19 outbreak

Here at TeamKinetic, we are happy to support a range of clients, from NHS services to charities and volunteer centres. During the current coronavirus pandemic, volunteers may be needed more than ever, but it is also important for everyone to stay safe. 

The recent coronavirus outbreak may mean that volunteers are needed for a different selection of tasks. Due to the potentially delicate states of some patients, exposure to the virus could be fatal and should be limited as much as possible. Furthermore, the virus could mean a much higher number of patients in hospitals across the country, increasing demand for NHS volunteers both during and after treatment.

Business as usual?

The newest government advice suggests not. With volunteering often involving activities that involve a lot of face-to-face contact, the risk of spreading the virus is increased. For example, our client the NHS Northern Care Alliance usually advertise opportunities such as:

  • Offering companionship during meal times.
  • Wayfinding for outpatients and visitors.
  • Taking outpatients to appointments using wheelchairs if needed.

These activities involve high levels of social contact, a lot of which will include contact with high risk groups. Moving to focus more on digital or non-contact forms of volunteering may be the best move for everyone right now.

Volunteers adapting to the outbreak

It could be said that one of our clients, Humanity Road, is already prepared for a situation like this. They advertise a lot of volunteering opportunities that can be completed from home. This looks to be the safest bet for anyone with volunteers in the at-risk groups who still want to help however they can.

However, if you have volunteers who are not at-risk and want to help in other ways, here are some examples of volunteers adapting to the coronavirus outbreak…

  • Creating and delivering ‘care packages’ to those in isolation.
    pub in Liverpool started sending out packages containing toilet roll, food items and soap to pensioners in the community. 
  • Offering general help for those in self-isolation.
    A 17 year-old boy from London called Josh St John James set up a group of young volunteers to offer support in any way.
  • Cleaning.
    Frequently cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces that are often touched by a variety of people in an environment can be an effective way to prevent the virus spreading. Although simple, it may be a task that a lot of hospital paid staff are too busy to do.
  • Preventing ‘bed-blocking’.
    Teams of volunteers can ensure that patients can be discharged when they are ready, rather than block beds due to a lack of support at home. Becoming a carer can help take strain off our NHS services, helping a greater number of people recover in the long-term. As long as there are carers available, more beds will be freed up to take new patients in. It is important to note that if a volunteer believes they could have the virus, that they do not offer to care for someone who is in the at-risk group.
The care packages put together by The Bootle Arms, a pub in Liverpool.

TeamKinetic is always here to help

We will always try and provide you with relevant news through our social media channels, especially in situations like this. You can find us on TwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and YouTube.

If you’re finding it hard to recruit volunteers or advertise opportunities without a digital system in place, you can use our system completely free of charge for the duration of the pandemic by going to our website and starting a free trial

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us via phone: 0161 914 5757 or email: info@teamkinetic.co.uk

We also have a general guide about how to effectively manage your volunteers during the coronavirus outbreak, click here to read it.

Managing Volunteers During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Even if you haven’t seen the lastest news or attempted to buy hand sanitiser recently, you may have noticed a decline in volunteer participation, and that pasta and toilet roll are now worth more than GOLD!

Keeping your volunteers volunteering and coming to sessions can often be challenging. During a virus pandemic, it’s sure to make that job even harder. In this blog Teaminetic aims to give some practical advice to keep your volunteers volunteering.

Reassure

Reassurance will be key. The message to volunteers should be to not panic, that volunteering should be proceeded as normal unless specific advice is received. During this time you may need a higher level of communication between yourself and your volunteers. Clear communication will help to remove the anxiety that volunteers may be feeling, and help you restore confidence through reassurance that you are doing everything possible to reduce risk.

Prepare

Preparation is key, and following a few simple rules will help.

  • Assuring hand sanitizing stations are filled and available
  • Surfaces that are regularly used have been cleaned, countertops, doorknobs etc.
  • Asking politely that anyone who isn’t feeling well to not attend sessions.
  • Provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces like keyboards, remote controls, desks etc can be wiped down by volunteers before each use.
  • Enable micro-volunteering or volunteering from home.

Notifications

Keep volunteers up to date with the latest news from your organisation, via newsletters, emails, texts and social media channels. A lot can happen in 24 hours as we’ve previously seen. The fluid situation could mean that sessions or events might need to be cancelled at short notice, so try to keep your volunteers informed.

Volunteering from home

There is a high probability that people could be asked to work from home. If, or when, the government issues these measures, perhaps your organisation could adopt virtual or micro-volunteering in order to maintain volunteer involvement.

Micro volunteering involves low commitment action towards a cause. Micro-volunteers can choose how and when they volunteer, providing they have access to the internet via a laptop, tablet smartphone etc.

Micro-volunteering opportunities could involve.

  • Signing online petitions
  • Writing blogs
  • Re-tweeting and posting relevant content on Facebook and Twitter.
  • Providing feedback on marketing materials.
  • Creating Facebook Live meetings or Google Hangouts meetings.
  • Getting creative by generating material for upcoming events.

Micro-volunteering and virtual volunteering will not replace traditional volunteering. However, during COVID-19 it maybe your best option in order to maintain engagement and stay tuned with your volunteers.

In the meantime

What can we all do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19?

  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
  • Put used tissues in the bin.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available. Remember to wash your hands for 20 seconds, whilst singing God save the Queen (Other songs are available).
  • Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
  • Refrain from touching your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.

Stay positive, remain calm and don’t worry, there’s enough toilet roll for everyone…

Further reading sources

TeamKinetic Volunteer Management

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