Category: News & Views Page 29 of 42

TeamKinetic’s 4th annual volunteer conference Day 2 – A success!

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On 18th September 2018

In Events and Conferences, News & Views

#TKvol

On the 12th September 2018, TeamKinetic hosted their 4th annual sports volunteering conference at the Manchester metropolitan university. The aim of the second day of the conference was to make people aware of what TeamKinetic offered as a brand and what the world of volunteering has in store for the future, as well as what issues we are facing today. To give an overall better experience for the volunteer.

The attendees on the day were from a wide range of sectors which we feel helped when debating. We had the likes of the Liverpool football club foundation and Sport England from the sports industry as well as MMU and the University of Manchester from the education sector. Finally, we as also had many charities/Volunteer centres in attendance such as the Youth hostel association and The volunteers association Wales.

The day had a clear structure in terms of what was going to be to be involved. This included: Breakout sessions, Panel talks with both volunteers and industry leaders and also a lunch break which gave TeamKinetic a great chance to interview attendees and get some personal feedback on their experiences.

OPENING TALKS

After being welcomed by the TeamKinetic receptionist’s all guests were given an introduction speech and welcomed by our sales director Chris Martin who explained who was talking and what was going to happen over the course of the conference in order for the day to run smoothly.

The first speaker of the day was BBC unsung hero Denise Larrad who gave her talk on what volunteering meant to her and her good and bad volunteering experiences. Denise also very kindly brought along her award which many guests had the privilege of getting their pictures taken with. 

Another ‘Big name’ for the day was Kirsten Stephenson who is head of volunteering at Sport England a national organisation with a good reputation for governing sports all over the country. She gave a very insightful talk about how cross-sector collaboration can unlock the potential of volunteering in sport and physical activity. You could sense within the audience that everything she said was getting high levels of engagement. We saw this through how much interaction we were getting through twitter whilst her session was on.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

We then led all attendees to different breakout sessions in which they got the option of which ones they wanted to attend. The three sessions available were hosted by Chantel Scherer who spoke about using behavioural sciences to retain volunteers more effectively. This particular talk proved to be very successful as it drew the biggest crowds on the day. Claire Jones, Head of volunteering at St.Helens volunteering centre also spoke during this breakout session regarding the benefits of good support to volunteers. Again this was another one of the sessions that made for good social media traffic as many people were interested in what she had to say.

A further speaker was Mike Howlett who touched on the importance of diversifying volunteers in order to engage the wider community. I attended this session myself and all in the room were very impressed with both Mike’s industry knowledge and the points he was raising. People from the industry said after his talk: “I am definitely now more well informed about the voluntary sector than I was before”. This was very promising to hear from a TeamKinetic point of view as it is exactly what we wanted to get out of the conference.

LUNCH AND NETWORKING

Lunch followed the first breakout session of the day. It was provided by the catering staff of MMU and everyone seemed to enjoy it. During this interval, it gave people the chance to network with each other which also proved to be a good part of the day as many people from the different sectors were able to merge their ideas together and discuss the issues they faced every day to see if others could possibly have the solution.

TeamKinetic also used the break to optimise what we got out of the day. Marketing coordinator Ash interviewed many of the guests to get their thoughts on the volunteer management service that we provide and also volunteering in general. This will be good for us from a marketing perspective so we can get a greater understanding of our customers.

Speaker on the day Nick Lowden from Greater Sport said that “One thing I liked was the networking at lunch, it was good to have time to speak to other people in the industry”. Comments such as this are very positive as it also gives us things to build on for the next conference.

Potentially the most insightful part of the day was the Panel session which was led by Chris Martin with panellists; Fiona Liddell, Kristen Stephenson, Nick Lowden and Denise Larrad.

During this particular session, we allowed the floor of industry members to ask about the current pressing issues of the day and what the future holds for the volunteering. Once again the social media engagement for this part of the day was brilliant with many people using the #TKvol. Despite this perhaps the best part of the panel session was the number of questions that were being asked by the floor, it was very promising to see so many people taking a genuine interest in the answers of the panellists.

CLOSING SESSIONS

The day ended with one final breakout session, again split between three speakers; Fiona Liddell, Laura Hamilton and Chris Martin. The attendees got the choice of what session they wanted to go to and it was nice to see a good number spread out evenly across all of the sessions which just highlighted the calibre of speakers on the day. We hope that at least one of the speakers

Overall the 4th annual volunteering conference by TeamKinetic will go down as a success. We would like to thank everyone that contributed to the day as everyone played a role and we look for to seeing more people next year!

If you would like to know more about volunteer management software please do not hesitate to visit the TeamKinetic website https://teamkinetic.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

The importance of providing volunteers with a disability equal opportunities and access to volunteering

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On 10th September 2018

In Community, News & Views

TeamKinetic got to sit down and interview Steve and Dylan, two amazingly enthusiastic volunteers from Liverpool FC Foundation. We discussed their experiences as volunteers with a disability and the impact volunteering has had on them. It was amazing to see all the work they put into the local community as well as the Foundation.  Both men volunteer regularly, at least three times, throughout the week.

Dylan, Steve, Ash and Jerome at Respect 4 All inclusive session at LFC Academy

Heres what they had to say…

How long have you volunteered for and what do you enjoy the most about volunteering?

Steve: “It was in 2008 in September with Mark. He was the disability officer who invited me to join the Respect 4 All program, which allowed me to get into volunteering. I enjoy getting the disabled children involved in sports, especially football. I am very passionate about getting boys, girls, women, everyone into playing football.”

Dylan: “I have volunteered for 2 months now. I like to get involved with the kids and help them with playing different sports.”

Do you feel that younger children look up to you for help and inspiration?

Steve: “Very much so, it’s hard for disabled people to break into sports. I’ve really enjoyed helping the children become better players and better individuals. Before the LFC Foundation, I volunteered for the Liverpool council and I used to go to a special school in Liverpool, so I have always felt passionate about sport for disabled people.”

What does the LFC Foundation mean to you?

Steve: “It means everything to me! I’ve been a supporter for the Liverpool Football club since I was 3 years old. The work that they do, not just in disability but all kinds of projects through the city. They’re a leading light. They impact so many peoples lives. Out of sports, I am generally a quiet person. The Foundation has developed my confidence in coaching. Being around the more experienced coaches and learning from them really helps with my volunteering.”

Dylan: “Everything! I play for the team and I’ve been there for ten years. I’ve improved my people skills and working with others. I want the foundation to keep growing.”

It was clear to see how much being involved with Liverpool FC Foundation meant to Steve and Dylan, Volunteering in football clearly meant a lot to them and their engagement with the young people in the sessions was fantastic.

One of the sessions regular attendee’s was Reiss, He has been inspired not just to keep coming to the sessions by these two great coaches, but also to go one step further, and to register as a volunteer on the LFC Foundation portal powered by TeamKinetic.

Reiss is a 16-year-old Liverpool FC fan and who’s enthusiastic for his club is limitless.  He regularly attends the Respect 4 All sessions and we to know what had made Reiss so keen to do more?

Reiss playing Football at the Respect 4 All session at Liverpool Academy

Do you enjoy the activities at the LFC Foundation?

Reiss: “Yes, I do! It’s really good to get kids with disabilities together and getting them involved in football and learning new skills.”

What would it mean to you to become a volunteer for the LFC Foundation?

Reiss: “It would mean a lot to me to volunteer. I want to help younger children like I have in the past. I hope to be volunteering for the future with the LFC Foundation. Volunteering will allow me to gain more experience and work with others, to better my CV.”

It was a fantastic day at the Respect 4 All event, and all the young people getting involved. The impact the staff and volunteers had on these young peoples lives can be difficult sometimes to effectively explain, but it should never be underestimated. The Liverpool FC Foundation put in tremendous amounts of effort to create a strong community. TeamKinetic is proud to play its role in supporting this work.

 

 

3 Reasons why you must have volunteer management software

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On 3rd September 2018

In News & Views

Expensive, confusing and unnecessary. These are all words that can come to mind when thinking about volunteer management software. However, what people don’t think about is the benefits that volunteer management software can bring them. Here are 3 reasons as to why these systems will actually improve your work as opposed to hinder it.

1. It makes opportunities viral

By purchasing volunteer management software it enables you to make your opportunities viral for your volunteers. The reason this is so important is that your opportunities will get far more traffic the more people you share it with. By sharing it with multiple groups of people you are also able to give yourself a wider scope of volunteers. This is one of the major benefits to volunteer management software. The more people you can get to on your opportunities, the better reputation you will have as a provider.

2. Your time will become more productive

If you are using volunteer management software within your job of managing people you will not have to worry about anyone because of the software. This will now give you more time to think about and do the other jobs that are associated with your occupation rather than worrying about what people are where and if they’re doing the correct thing. Good volunteer management software will allow you to see what everyone has done and how long they have done it for, it will also allow both volunteers and providers to leave reviews on opportunities. This will help ensure that you do not send good volunteers to bad places but also that you don’t send bad volunteers to good places as they will no longer want volunteers from you.

3. Build relationships

By using volunteer management software you could essentially turn it into or even replace a CRM system. If you are able to keep track of what opportunities people are interested in then you will be able who is best suited to what opportunities, by doing this you’ll get more enthusiastic employees because they will be passionate about what they’re doing meaning they are more likely to put in maximum effort into the opportunity. This will give you as a volunteer manager/organisation a good reputation as your volunteers will become more desirable than others.

Overall volunteer management software will make your job more efficient and manageable as well as allowing you to gain a good reputation within the industry.

If you are looking to get volunteer management software then look no further than TeamKinetic. We offer volunteer management software that works. Give us a call on 0161 914 5757, or drop us an email at info@teamkinetic.co.uk.

Understanding the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the internet for volunteer managers

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On 30th August 2018

In Community, Policy and Operations, Security and GDPR, Volunteer Management

TeamKinetic believes that the internet has the potential for transformation in our world comparable to the Gutenberg’s printing press , but if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the internet reflects both the very best and very worst of human nature. What do volunteer managers need to know about the internet to keep their volunteers safe?

I’ll provide some useful resources to give some context and understanding of the darker side of the internet and how we have used this to try and inform our policies and procedures as an organisation and what we think you should consider as an organisation as you become more reliant on digital platforms.

The internet provides almost limitless opportunity for grassroots social action, citizen journalism, voluntary engagement and so many other potentially positive outcomes, but we are naive if we do not recognise and consider the risks.

Jon Ronson, journalist and author recently wrote “So you’ve been publicly shamed” on how the networked effect of the internet can lead to individuals being ostracised.  His entertaining and occasionally dark work examined some of the difficult issues around user-generated content and how people’s mistakes are amplified and stored for eternity in the memory of cyber-space. Ronson’s storytelling introduces the reader to the inherent risk for normal people to get caught up in exceptional events and how little control they have over these events once a post goes viral.

Sarah Jeong, now of the New York Times Editorial Board, Vice and The Verge has written extensively on the internet’s inherent problems and her book, “The Internet of Garbage” gives informed insights on the risks and unintended consequences of poor policy and practice and how that can impact organisations and their users.   Jeong discusses at length some of the nuanced problems the modern internet has created for itself and how copyright law is being misused as a method of content suppression and removal, due in part to lack of other recourse to individuals who find themselves at the centre of a viral internet storm.

I mention these two texts as they are accessible and informed, and for those who are looking to understand the internet, they will help non-technology people appreciate the inherent risks of a highly networked world, the very real risks that can affect everyday users and voluntry organisations alike.

TeamKinetic is aware that our volunteer management platform has the potential to recruit volunteers in almost any situation. It is effective and easy to use and can be administered remotely with high efficiency to deploy individuals or teams of volunteers at short notice.  These characteristics are great if you run a charity, an event or a university internship program, but they are equally great if you are recruiting individuals to partake in less positive endeavours.   The creators of any platform which allows users to create content and communicate with each other must be aware of the risks as well as the benefits.

Recent legislation such as GDPR, goes some way to help individuals protect their privacy and increase their control over websites and platforms they engage with. It also gives businesses and organisations the chance to audit exactly what information they collect, why they collect it, and what they are going to do with it. This was a revealing process for us and was very worthwhile. All legislation, however well intentioned, runs the risk of “unintended consequence“. As responsible curators of TeamKinetic we have to embrace some basic values by which to manage our site.

What are our ideals and values?

As an organisation, we have put honesty at the centre of our company values. This is a type of statement that is easy to say, but much harder to live by. We aspire to offer honesty in our pricing, in our customer service and our product.

Our role in supporting the organisations that use TeamKinetic to manage their volunteers goes beyond the provision of software. We want to build a community of volunteers and volunteer managers that can share practice and policy, develop professional connections and work to strengthen the sector as a whole through the development of consistent standards in the wider information technology infrastructure of volunteering.

We want to be able to share expert knowledge and insight based on our user data and experience to help the sector become better at recruiting, deploying and recognising their volunteer’s hard work. We commit to making our data available to researchers, and the resulting insights and findings will be freely available to all who have a valid interest in the voluntary sector.

Finally, we want to create an amazing experience for all our users, that means the best technology, built in a way that is easy to use and importantly every user is protected by good policies and excellent support. Our volunteer-centric approach to development will remain the centre of our business operation.

We hope you will join us on our continued mission to be part of the ‘good’ internet and we look forward to your thoughts on how we can do this.

Top 5 Ways to conquer volunteer management

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On 28th August 2018

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

One of the hardest things many people encounter when running events of a large scale is volunteer management. How many people do you need? What time will they have to be there? What will they all be doing? These are all questions that will stress the mind of both event organisers and volunteer managers. By having efficient volunteer management this can mean that other jobs that are involved in everyday work can be focused on rather than worrying about what people will be doing on the day. Whether you’re a volunteer manager, event organiser or even a volunteer there is most certainly something in this blog that could be of interest to you.

BE IMFORMATIVE

It is vitally important that as a volunteer manager you make it your utmost priority to ensure that all volunteers are fully aware of what they are doing and when they have to be doing it. This will minimize the number of times you’re asked questions such as the ones seen above, it will also mean that the volunteers will be more knowledgeable about what they’re doing meaning they will be more likely to do a better job which in turn will make your event better! From a personal perspective of the volunteer managers, they will now be able to focus on other key aspects of their jobs because they will have less to worry about, meaning less stress! Which, of course, is an aim of any job.

MOTIVATE THEM

In most cases, the volunteers are the first thing that people will see. If these people are smiling and happy this will give out positive energy across the day and will lead to those vital positive reviews that will make future events more successful which overall is what you want from in the volunteer management industry. In reference to volunteer motivation, there is a host of ways that this can be achieved, for example, although many volunteers are happy to give up their time for nothing a way to even further motivate them would be to offer some form of incentive e.g: free lunch. Furthermore, in the lead up to an event you could maybe send them messages like “can’t wait to see you” or “hope you’re looking forward to it”.

MAKE THEM FEEL IMPORTANT

Again, from a reputation standpoint, volunteers are the people that can massively help with word of mouth marketing (which is very cost effective because it’s totally free!) The way to make them feel important will heavily vary depending on what type of event you’re running, the amount of volunteers you have and also demographics of the volunteers. The reason for this being is that different people are interested in different things and respond to being spoken to in different ways. For example, if a team of volunteers were to be older people (50+) they are way more likely to feel important about having their name mentioned in a speech rather than a LinkedIn endorsement which would be more appealing to younger adults.

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

In today’s world, almost everything can be made more simple with the help of technology. Volunteer management is no exception. A volunteer management system can help you work out who is volunteering for you as well as what they did at what time and how long for. By using volunteer management systems you will be better equipt to work out who you can match to particular opportunities with the use of the database as by using this you will be able to see what certain volunteers enjoy. By using volunteer management software this should alleviate stress for you as a volunteer manager because of how much more efficient it will make your work. In relation to where to get a volunteer management system look no further than TeamKinetic who provide a software that WORKS.

MASTER THE ART OF RECRUITMENT

There is one thing that is a simply must have for volunteer managers and this is volunteers! Often what volunteer managers have trouble with is how to get these volunteers to sign up for opportunities, however, this issue is not the volunteer’s willingness to participate but it is reaching out to volunteers and recruiting new ones. The potential way around this is possibly to look for volunteers in areas that the opportunity is centred around. For example, if an event is associated with a charity then you are most likely to find quality volunteers in places such as hospices as they will already have some sort of emotional attachment to the cause.

From this article, we hope that you have been informed about volunteer management and how to be successful in doing so. If you do wish to find an easier way of managing your volunteers by using software, please visit https://teamkinetic.co.uk/

Why Liverpool FC Foundation are using TeamKinetic volunteer software

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On 28th August 2018

In Case Study, Sport, Volunteer Management

We get to understand the Liverpool FC Foundation and what they do for the community and how TeamKinetic Volunteer software is allowing them to make a bigger impact around the city, through our interview with Katie Ellis and Dawn Georgeson

LFC Foundation

LFC Foundation

About the Liverpool FC Foundation

Liverpool Football Club has long served its local community and it has been a part of their history to support the people of Liverpool. More recently, in 2010 this commitment was furthered with the launch of the Liverpool FC Foundation, developed as a financially independent organisation.

The Liverpool FC Foundation’s mission!

“is to bring together the LFC family to create life-changing opportunities for children and young people.”

The Foundation is all about providing opportunities for children and young people. They run a number of projects throughout the week for different groups :

  • Girls and Women.
  • People with disabilities.
  • Disadvantaged communities.
  • Children and families.

It is a goal of the Foundation to provide activities that are fully inclusive. The Liverpool FC Foundation is also in partnership with a number of other organisations, like Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and many others.

They work with partners to raise awareness and to tackle issues around the city. Volunteering for the Foundation allowed me to see first hand how inclusive and welcoming they are, as well as the impact they have had on younger people of Liverpool and beyond.

The Foundation has a strong team of community coaches and project leaders that deliver sessions to young people in the community working directly with schools, sports venues and youth organisations. Their six-step plan shows how they achieve these goals.

The impact Liverpool FC Foundation has made to the community

The foundation has made a significant impact on the community, aiming to offer all young people in Liverpool access to sport. Liverpool FC Foundation run over 100 tournaments each year, working with over 5,000 children. The charity also runs a number of projects such as Kicks, Primary stars, and Open Goals. Open goals is a new project which is aimed at engaging young people and families to take part in the regular physical activity.

Liverpool FC Foundation focuses on more than just sport. The organisation also run an employability program which aims at young people aged between 18-25. The project helps young people with CV building and interview skills to prepare them for the future. The impact of the project has helped people with their confidence, interaction skills, and preparation for work.

Fundraising is another way the foundation has made a difference to the community. Liverpool FC Foundation works to help those in need around the community, including their partnership programmes. The Foundation runs a variety of fundraising events such as:

  • VIP Gala Dinner with Jürgen Klopp.
  • LFC Supporters Club Fundraising Challenge.
  • Newly launched LFC Foundation lottery.

The Foundation looks at improving the life of the community and helping each other. The Foundation engages with over 21,000 people a year, which shows their impact as a foundation.

How Liverpool FC Foundation has benefited from using the TeamKinetic volunteer software

Having spoken to Dawn (Volunteer lead) and Katie (Project lead) it was important to get an understanding of what difficulties they previously had in terms of recruiting volunteers. As the Volunteer lead, Dawn has the responsibility of recruiting volunteers for the opportunities on their volunteer software website which is powered by TeamKinetic.

Katie, Dawn and I discussed how they have adjusted to using the TeamKinetic volunteer management software, and the benefits it has provided them and the Liverpool FC Foundation.

This is what they had to say…

Dawn: “We have gone from using a paper trail to now having something that is digitally quite far ahead of the game. It simplifies everything. From the minute someone registers, I get informed via email and they also get notified with immediate contact. Which I think is really important to volunteers as its making them feel valued”

Katie: ” I think the thing that is good, is when we discussed at the start how we were going to place the website, where people were going to find out about how to volunteer. We were able to share the foundation URL so that it was really easy to find. With a button on the Foundation website were volunteers could find it.”

Dawn: ” I think as well, even for someone who isn’t particularly good at IT, the volunteer software is very simple to follow. The forms are really easy to fill out and are pretty self-explanatory”

Katie: “Volunteers like to feel valued, so the incentive program and how we can track that on the TeamKinetic system is something we will be looking to do next. I think that will be very powerful, especially in a football club. To have incentives that link back to the reasons people volunteer and one of them is for the fans to feel closer to the club”

Dawn: “Yeah, also it isn’t just closed off to fans of the club, its people who just want to help the local community. That is quite clear in the opportunities we provide, showing that it’s not just about the club but the community in general”

Volunteer experience of using TeamKinetic’s volunteer software

I wanted to find out what the volunteers thought of the volunteer system as they are also an integral part of the Foundation’s development. I spoke with Rinchen who had gained a paid role as a digital analyst from his volunteering efforts. This is what he had to say about the volunteer software.

” Using the TeamKinetic volunteer system has been pretty easy. I have signed up to a few opportunities already using the website. It’s user-friendly and you’ve got all the options there. You’ve got all the opportunities allowing you to sign up to what you want and has a lovely map of where it is making it very easy to find. ”

Understanding our customers want and needs are at the heart of TeamKinetic. This allows the team to develop innovative ways to make our customers lives easier.  To find out more about TeamKinetic and our work and how we can help you recruit, deploy and retain more volunteers, please get in touch with our team.

Reminder! 

Tickets are still available for our annual volunteer conference. The link for the ticket can be found HERE

 

How Volunteering Has Made Great Sporting Events

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On 22nd August 2018

In News & Views, Sport

Over the years there has been a host of the world’s greatest sporting events that have only been made possible by the volunteers who give up their time to make the events what they are. Volunteering at sports events is extra special because, more often than not, events that require volunteers are of a mass scale, this adds atmosphere to the whole volunteering experience.

The first event this blog will go into is the London 2012 Olympics which involved a massive cohort of events which in total required 70,000 volunteers. There was no shortage of thanks from the stars of the games for the volunteers that helped organise the events and you could tell that they were genuinely appreciative of them and the efforts they put in. Not only the Olympians but others also were massive fans of the way the nation had volunteered. For example, the Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron stated: “To see tens of thousands of people giving up their time to support London 2012 has been truly inspiring.” Others such as Tom Daley and Sir Chris Hoy have said the sheer number of people that came to the event made it what it was.

Furthermore, the 2018 World Cup in Russia was also heavily successful not only because of the stars of the show but the number of people who were willing to give up their time to make sure the tournament ran smoothly. There were an estimated 17,000 volunteers at the tournament with roles such as car park marshall and media assistant. “The volunteers’ faces are the first thing the fans see when they arrive,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, hailing the significance of the Volunteer Programme. “Their smiles are what visitors pick up on”. Statements like this from such powerful people really give significance to volunteering and makes everyone aware of just how important they are.

A further event that was made successful by the volunteers of the sport was the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The tournament had a total of around 6,000 volunteers with roles that varied from meeting and greeting to transport. The Rugby World Cup staff members collectively called their volunteers ‘The Pack’ this was presumably to make them feel as though they were more a part of the games and also important.

As shown by the prestigiousness of the events above volunteers and volunteering are both vital parts of what makes these occasions successful and enjoyable to watch. This is recognised by many which include the stars of the sports to the business minded individuals who run the events.

With the 2019 Rugby world cup fast approaching they’re looking for volunteers to help make that event great once again! If you’re interested please click the link below:

https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/volunteers

Events these days require mass volunteers and a need for precise volunteer management. Here’s how TeamKinetic have helped these events run smoothly in the past with the use of our software.

Introducing TeamKinetic: Jerome Pannell – Ready for the challenge!

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On 27th July 2018

In News & Views

Over the past few years, I have found myself volunteering for a number of things for lots of different reasons. Whether it be for my own professional development in my future career, for my passions outside of my academic life or even just for a new challenge I am always prepared to embark on new experiences.

The first time I volunteered was in 2013 for my local golf club as a youth golf coach. With golf being my main passion and playing to county level myself I always felt that I would never have got to the standard I did without my own youth golf coach. Over the years I saw youth participation in golf go downhill with only a fraction of juniors wanting to play due to the game being ‘boring’. From this, I decided to more than just coach the game but also give talks and tours around my local golf club to people of all ages in order show them that there’s much more to golf than just the sport itself.

 

Two years later I took on another voluntary role, becoming junior captain of South beds golf club. In this role, I regularly took part in committee meetings where discussions took place as to how it was best to create awareness for the club. I came up with a host of ideas such as; presenting at assembly’s, regular deals for new members and traditional word of mouth marketing.

Moreover, in 2015, I joined the organisation original volunteers. From this I went out to Morocco to help underprivileged children in orphanages across the capital or Marrakech, this was a very fulfilling experience that I would recommend to anyone who is looking to do something good for the world in a less conventional way.

In relation to my professional career over the last two years have consisted of two main voluntary projects/jobs that I have been working on. For instance, in the summer of 2017, I took on an unpaid role in a television production company where I was a TV researcher.  I worked alongside the paid TV researchers and operations manager to help find new leads for the business which would have the aim of making them into a profit after successful meetings. I came along way personally from this experience as I was able to develop my telephone skills as well as my e-mail literacy which I view to be vital for a role in marketing and in many other professions.

Lastly, I realised very quickly from learning on my degree that marketing never stands still and trends are always changing. One form of marketing that I saw to be growing rapidly was that of social media. Therefore, I decided to set up my own Instagram page (@witb_golf) which is now closing in on 1,000 followers. I was able to learn about the tools of Instagram and what is vital in order to attract engagement.

In order to take my professional skills to the next level I decided to undertake a work placement in my penultimate year of university to enhance my employability. The opportunity arose to join TeamKinetic after a successful interview with Chris, Steve and James. I believe that from joining TeamKinetic my skills can only be enhanced as I strive to do the best possible job I can for the business which will, in turn, allow them to continue in growth. I am very eagar and excited to get started as a member of TeamKinetic as I work with their large catalogue of clients to provide them with a service that will benefit myself as much as them.

Thank you for reading.

Jerome Pannell – Marketing Co-ordinator

Jerome@teamkinetic.co.uk

 

The Integrated Communities Innovation Fund: A New Funding Opportunity and What You Need to Know

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On 24th July 2018

In News & Views

For those managing volunteers, community engagement or sports development, there was good news to be found this week. A £7 million fund to support building more integrated communities was announced by the Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. TeamKinetic has identified a shared interest between the sectors we serve, ICIF’s purpose, and the potential role of our volunteer management software could have.

What is the ICIF?

The Integrated Communities Strategy Fund (ICIF) green paper, was launched in early 2018 and invited views on the government’s vision for building strong integrated communities. The new fund was announced on the 9th July, and aims to stimulate new thinking, build new partnerships and test innovative approaches to bringing integrating communities. A press release, available on Gov.uk, summarises the ICIF:

“We are inviting applications to support approaches which help build integrated communities. This includes projects that use sport and physical activity to encourage integration. The government will be working in partnership with Sport England, which is contributing to the new Integrated Communities Innovation Fund, to support projects of this type.”

ICIF logo

Read the full article here

The fund aims to support projects which meet the following criteria:

  • Offer sound reasoning as to why they will be likely to achieve positive integration outcomes and, where available, have a clear evidence base to support this.
  • Have a clear understanding of how outcomes will be measured and how the success of the project can be evaluated.
  • Demonstrate how they have, or will secure, buy-in to the proposal from delivery partners and from the local communities in which they will be tested.
  • Show potential for growth, both in terms of the number of people reached and effectiveness in different local contexts.
  • Demonstrate clear deliverability, good value for money and are financially sustainable
  • Are led by organisations that are willing to share their experiences and learning, both honestly and widely.

How could this funding be used to support your voluntary organisation?

From our research, we believe voluntary organisations could successfully apply to the fund to support the costs of a volunteer management system. TeamKinetic believes our experience and market-leading volunteer management software would help to position the application with the support, integration and potential to scale, desired by ICIF.

r volunteer management software could be a  perfect fit for such funding.

  • With ten years of experience supporting the development of volunteer programmes, TeamKinetic’s software is designed specifically to encourage frequent and meaningful interactions resulting in volunteering
  • Working alongside hundreds of organisations in the UK and around the world we can provide evidence for the positive impact our software has had on communities
  • Our software enables organisations or project leaders to track and measure the impact of their work. The reporting features capture the level of engagement, which can be analysed based upon ethnicity, age, sexes, location, socioeconomics, and more.
  • As a delivery partner to the project, we can offer our full support and experience through our advice and suggestions to help you to use the funding in an efficient way
  • We can also use our extensive network to introduce new delivery partners who can support your cause
  • We have an extensive portfolio of clients who have seen an incremental change to the size and scalability of their operations due to our software
  • We already work in partnership with a selection of sector groups, including the Join-in Consortium and the Sport Volunteer Research Network
  • Each year we invite hundreds of organisation to join us at our annual volunteering conference, held in Manchester, to discuss the latest trends and topics of volunteer and community development

If you would like to read a case study on how TeamKinetic has helped to build a community for Seashell Trust please take a moment to read this:

https://teamkinetic.co.uk/blog/2018/05/08/teamkinetic-case-study-seashell-trust-find-a-functional-solution/

To discuss this funding opportunity further, please get in touch:

0161 914 5757

james@teamkinetic.co.uk

 

TeamKinetic Go Mobile: TeamKinetic Volunteering App

By

On 9th July 2018

In Application Features and Tutorials, News & Views, Technical Updates

Please note: This post is outdated, you can take a look at our new and improved mobile app here.

TeamKinetic are proud to announce we are now mobile! With the release of an iOS and Android App, volunteering has never been more accessible and easier.

Following our last annual volunteering conference, the demand to create a mobile app for volunteers has been high and at the forefront of our road map for development. Following some careful consideration TeamKinetic have developed the App and we are pleased to announce it is now available in the iTunes Store and Google Play.

To use the app, volunteers need to have previously registered online with an organisation’s volunteer website portal before being able to sign on. Registered volunteers are then able to search for opportunities from all providers that advertise on or use a TeamKinetic System via the app.

In a simple four step process volunteers can search for opportunities, log hours, leave feedback and edit personal details and much more:

  1. Register online via provider website (i.e MCRVIP)
  2. Download TeamKinetic App
  3. Sign In using login credentials
  4. Search and join volunteer opportunities

For those of you interested, we continue to explain the process and factors considered for designing the app below.

Why is the app not specific to an organisation?

It is technically very difficult to brand an application. It is not possible for us to upload a variant of the native application for every organisation. We have settled for a system wide app that will include branding details of the volunteers home organisation once they have logged in.

What is the best feature/s on the app?

Both the Android and iOS apps contain super convenient notification systems that alert a volunteer to any upcoming sessions right in their phones notification panel. These work whether the device as internet connectivity or not.

TeamKinetic App

Why do volunteers need to have previously registered online before using the system?

Our existing customers were nervous that users that find the app before registering with their local volunteering organisation would never realise the full potential of their local volunteer network, only being exposed to shared opportunities. For this reason, we decided that the application would be a companion app for existing users.

TeamKinetic App Screenshot

Any additional questions and answers you think may be relevant?

The app will be advertised to all users logging in through their home organisation when using a mobile device. In addition, we will be using regular notifications to let users know there is a mobile app available and adding a footnote to the weekly emails with download links.

We think that volunteers will find more opportunities and log more hours when they can search for opportunities whenever and wherever they are.

If you have any further questions or would like to find our more on TeamKinetic’s app or volunteer management software, please get in touch with one of our team.

 

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

Twitter       Facebook       LinkedIn       YouTube       Instagram       Podcast

 

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

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