Volunteer Management Archives - Page 2 of 12

On 19th July 2023

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Harnessing volunteer feedback is a cornerstone of successful volunteer management. When using TeamKinetic, it is a requirement for volunteers and providers to leave feedback before logging hours. Collecting or offering feedback needn’t be viewed as a chore or an unnecessary formality. By prioritising volunteer feedback, your organisation can improve its opportunities and reach.

The Value

Volunteer feedback is valuable for the following aspects of your volunteer engagement process:

Recruitment – Once volunteers have been onboarded, the opportunity for feedback enables your organisation to improve the recruitment experience for subsequent volunteers. In doing so, your organisation’s volunteer base will widen.
Recognition – Giving your volunteers feedback is an essential aspect of any volunteer engagement strategy. Volunteers who are freely giving their time deserve to feel valued and appreciated.
Reassurance – To avoid volunteers beginning opportunities and leaving, visible feedback before onboarding provides clarity. In being transparent, your volunteers can be reassured that they will feel comfortable and capable during an opportunity.
Retention – If they are unsatisfied with one opportunity experience, a volunteer is less likely to volunteer with your organisation under different opportunities. Addressing feedback so that opportunities can be improved upon aids volunteer retention.

Collecting Feedback

A systematic collection of feedback is essential if data is to be successfully interpreted and implemented. Some effective methods for feedback collection include:

Satisfaction scales
Suggestion boxes
Recommendation likelihood
Surveys

On the TeamKinetic system, Thumbs Up feedback works for volunteers and providers. Thumbs Up feedback makes saying thank you or reporting any issues that have occurred during volunteering quick and easy. Your organisation can also create unique digital rewards and recognition OpenBadges for your volunteers. Feedback can be sent to specific volunteers or volunteer groups via TeamKinetic’s inbuilt email function and mobile messaging.

Take Time to Survey

Volunteer surveys are a thorough method for collecting feedback. Receiving written as well as numerical data makes feedback more personal and specific. This may take more time to record and analyse, however, as a result, there is more scope for meaningful feedback implementation. Survey questions often aim to understand volunteers’ perception of your organisation, how likely volunteers are to continue volunteering with your organisation, and particular likes and dislikes. Due to the customisable nature of surveys, your organisation can ask whatever questions you feel will be beneficial for your organisation. With TeamKinetic, your organisation can link external surveys to opportunities. For example, a SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics survey.

Implementation

Feedback is only useful if it is put into practice. Equally, volunteers will be motivated to provide constructive feedback when they know their feedback will be prioritised. Implementing feedback makes your volunteers feel heard, and improves your organisation’s reputation and overall productivity.

TeamKinetic’s feedback features including Thumbs Up feedback, external surveys and integrated messaging make collecting and circulating feedback simple. Your TeamKinetic site can be regularly updated to reflect any changes that have been made in response to feedback.

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

Inclusivity is a Necessity: Enabling Volunteers with Disabilities

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On 5th July 2023

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

Having a learning or physical disability should not be a barrier to volunteering. However, the 2023 NCVO Time Well Spent report found that due to both practical and attitudinal challenges, volunteers with disabilities are less satisfied than volunteers without disabilities. In reality, it is often those who would receive the greatest benefit from volunteering who are least likely to be able to take part. Through increased understanding and inclusivity, this can change.

Understanding your volunteers

Make your volunteers welcome by providing opportunities that showcase their strengths. Many skills, such as befriending, do not rely on being physically capable.

Like understands like. Utilising volunteers who can empathise with those going through similar experiences is invaluable for both your organisation and your volunteers.

In a world that is often inaccessible and unpredictable for people with a disability, building the confidence and trust of volunteers with a disability is vital. Your organisation can be a safe space for those who feel excluded elsewhere.

Active opportunities

For those with a disability, leading a healthy lifestyle is still a priority. Sport England cites low confidence and a lack of appropriate opportunities as contributors to high levels of inactivity among the disabled community. However, TeamKinetic users British Blind Sport and UK Deaf Sport exemplify the growing possibilities for sportspeople with disabilities. As bid for by British Blind Sport, the upcoming International Blind Sports Federation World Games is set to be an inspiring occasion. If carried out in a way that is accessible, volunteering is a brilliant way for people with disabilities to be active both physically and within their community.

Online opportunities

For those who are less able to take part in physical activity, online volunteering is the perfect way to get involved. Since Covid, the amount of organisations offering online volunteering opportunities has risen, and it looks like online opportunities are here to stay. Alongside a low satisfaction rate amongst volunteers with disabilities, the Time Well Spent report concluded that there is no reduction in online volunteer satisfaction as opposed to in-person. This is great news for organisations with a tighter budget, reduced staff, and, importantly, volunteers with additional needs.

TeamKinetic for inclusivity

We have developed a keen understanding of the need for any solution to be inclusive and accessible. All TeamKinetic’s work adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA), and we have undertaken real-world user testing with the Glasgow Disability Partnership and British Blind Sport. There are several features on our volunteer management system that accommodate volunteers with disabilities:

TeamKinetic is compatible with Screen Reading software.

All volunteers can disclose their disability when registering and can update this at any time.

Volunteer managers can manually add volunteers to an opportunity if volunteers are unable to do so themselves.

As this post has highlighted, inclusivity must be prioritised. If you have any suggestions as to how TeamKinetic can become more inclusive, please comment below or get in touch with alex@teamkinetic.co.uk

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

How You Can Measure Volunteer Impact

On 14th June 2023

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It’s important to measure your volunteer impact so you can see the difference your volunteers are making to your organisation. You can also look for any improvements that might need to be made to your volunteer programme. Below we have shared some ways you can measure volunteer impact!

Hours Logged

One of the most straightforward metrics is tracking the number of volunteer hours. This metric provides a baseline understanding of the time invested by volunteers.

With TeamKinetic, volunteers are able to log their hours. They may also be able to use them in exchange for HourTrade vouchers, and they’ll receive a new Achievement Badge for every milestone of hours! By logging hours, volunteers are able to keep a record of their volunteer journey and volunteer coordinators can see the progress each volunteer has made.

Surveys and feedback forms

Collecting feedback from volunteers through surveys or feedback forms allows you to gain insights into the volunteer experience. By using our volunteer management system, volunteers are able to leave feedback on opportunities. This can help you understand what needs to improve within your volunteer programme and make any adjustments to your opportunities.

Case Studies and Success Stories

Share inspiring stories of how your volunteers have made a difference in communities. These stories could be shared on your website, newsletters or social media. By sharing these it provides evidence of the impact created.

Volunteer exit interviews

When volunteers decide to end their engagement with your organisation, you can conduct exit interviews to understand their reasons and gather feedback on their experience. This information can help identify areas for improvement and enhance volunteer retention. This can also help you improve your volunteer programme because you can help avoid these problems in the future.

Volunteer self-assessment

Create surveys specifically designed for volunteers to assess their personal growth, skill development, and satisfaction levels. These surveys can provide valuable feedback on how the volunteer experience contributes to their own lives.

To measure your volunteer’s impact effectively you could opt for using a volunteer management system. With TeamKinetic you can see real-time and detailed analysis of your volunteer programme with easy-to-read graphs and tables, view feedback from your volunteers to help you make improvements and use custom reporting tools to get the specific data you need!

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

4 Reasons Why Celebrating Your Volunteers Is Important

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On 7th June 2023

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

We hope everyone had a great Volunteers Week 2023! We’d like to remind everyone that celebrating your volunteers is just as important all year round and not just during the annual week of Volunteers Week. In this post, we’ve shared 4 crucial reasons why celebrating and recognising your volunteer’s hard work and contributions is vital to do all year round.

It inspires others

When the public witness the celebration of volunteers’ hard work it can encourage, inspire and motivate them to also volunteer. Publicly acknowledging volunteers through social media platforms or newsletters, not only highlights their achievements but also acts as a powerful recruitment tool.

Acknowledging their efforts

By recognising their commitment, you validate their contributions and make your volunteers feel valued. This recognition not only boosts their self-esteem but also inspires them to continue their work with even greater enthusiasm.

Increases retainment

Celebrating volunteers’ hard work is a crucial factor in volunteer retention. When volunteers feel appreciated, they are more likely to be more engaged and continue to volunteer for your organisation. Motivated volunteers are also more likely to help achieve the organisation’s goals.

Personal development

Celebrating your volunteers can provide an opportunity for personal and professional growth. By praising your volunteer’s efforts they can gain confidence, see how their skills have developed and the contribution they’ve made to their community. These experiences can contribute to their personal growth and supply them with more experience which may be their motive for volunteering.

If you struggle to remember to recognise and celebrate your volunteer’s effort, opting for a volunteer management system may help! Within the TeamKinetic system, there are various tools to reward your volunteers such as customisable Achievement Badges or our unique HourTrade vouchers which allow volunteers to exchange logged hours for rewards. You can start a FREE trial today over on our website or book a demo today!

If you need some ideas for how to celebrate your volunteers we have some ideas here!

Ensure you follow us on our social media pages to receive regular updates about the voluntary sector and learn more about the TeamKinetic system.

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

Helpful Hints For Volunteer Retention

On 24th May 2023

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It can be challenging to retain volunteers, as they may have other commitments or lose interest over time. In this blog post, we will share some top tips for volunteer retainment, which can help you keep your volunteers engaged and committed.

1. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Be responsive and easy to get hold of if a volunteer needs you. If it’s hard for them to communicate with you online or in person, it won’t keep volunteers engaged and might put them off from volunteering for your organisation in the future.

If consistent communication with your volunteers is currently something you struggle with then why not opt for a volunteer management system like ours? With our volunteer management system, you can keep in close contact with your volunteers at all times. Within our system, there are a range of customisable automatic emails and you can use system notifications, and SMS texts to remind volunteers about their shifts.

2. Show your appreciation

Volunteers want to feel that their work is making a difference. Recognise their contributions publicly, and show appreciation for their efforts. This could be as simple as a thank-you email, a shoutout on social media, or a small party. It’s important to celebrate your volunteers all year round but with Volunteers Week just around the corner, this would be the perfect time to show them some appreciation. We have some ideas for how to celebrate your volunteers here.

3. Always ask for feedback

Seek feedback from volunteers about their experiences and use this feedback to continuously improve your volunteer program. This could include making changes to the volunteer onboarding process, offering new opportunities or roles, or addressing any concerns.

Within our volunteer management system, you can receive volunteer and opportunity feedback. This way you can regularly be informed if there are any problems with your volunteer programme and improve these issues.

4. Create a community

Create a community of volunteers. Volunteers are going to be more inclined to continue volunteering for your organisation if they have made new friends. Within our volunteer management system, we have opportunity chat rooms that help volunteers maintain strong relationships.

5. Provide opportunities for growth

Offering opportunities for growth and development can help retain volunteers in the long run. This could include external training courses or leadership roles within the organisation. Proposing these opportunities to volunteers will mean they will be more likely to continue to volunteer for your organisation as they are gaining new skills and experience which might be their motive for volunteering.

Interested in speeding up your volunteer registrations and reducing administrative burden? Why not start with a volunteer management system? With TeamKinetic you can start a FREE trial today over on our website or book a demo!

Ensure you follow us on our social media pages to receive regular updates about the voluntary sector and learn more about the TeamKinetic system.

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

How You Can Use ChatGPT To Celebrate Your Volunteers

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On 10th May 2023

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

Volunteers Week 2023 is just around the corner. If you’re struggling for new innovative ways to celebrate your volunteers this year, no need to worry. With the use of ChatGPT we’ve put together some ideas which you can use to recognise your volunteer’s hard work.

It’s important to recognise your volunteer’s hard work during this week of celebration. However, it’s understandable that not every volunteer manager has time to write each volunteer personalised thank you messages. As these responses are created with a chatbot, they aren’t personalised to individual volunteers. Yet it can be helpful to know that ChatGPT can produce some adequate ideas.

ChatGPT can create a good starting point for recognition messages if you enter accurate details from the work the volunteer did. If you are stuck for ideas on where to start, you can use these responses as a starting point and alter details to make them more specific to your volunteers. If you are very eager to show recognition to all of your volunteers but are struggling to manage your time this could be a potential option for you.

Create personalised messages

You can use ChatGPT to create personalised messages to recognise your volunteers for their hard work. Simply provide some basic information about the volunteer, such as their name and what they did for your organisation, and ChatGPT can generate a message that expresses your appreciation. As you can see from the response below, ChatGPT has created an impressive thank-you letter.

We asked ChatGPT: ‘Can you create a personalised thank you message for a volunteer called Olivia who worked hard to make creative window displays and was very helpful to customers in a charity shop’

Response generated:

“Dear Olivia,

I just wanted to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation for all of the hard work and dedication you’ve shown as a volunteer at our charity shop. Your creativity and attention to detail in designing our window displays have truly made a difference in attracting customers and raising awareness for our cause.

Additionally, your helpfulness and kindness towards customers have not gone unnoticed. You always go above and beyond to ensure that our visitors have a positive experience in the shop, and your warm demeanour has left a lasting impression on many.

Thank you so much for all that you’ve done for our organization. Your contributions have been invaluable, and we are incredibly grateful to have you as a member of our team.

Best regards,

[Your Name]”

Create social media posts

ChatGPT can help you create engaging social media posts to celebrate your volunteers. You can provide some details about the volunteer and their contribution, and ChatGPT can help you create a post that highlights their efforts and encourages others to get involved. As you can see in the response generated below, ChatGPT has created an adequate social media caption that you could post to social media channels such as Facebook or Instagram with a photo of the volunteer.

Here’s what I asked ChatGPT: ‘Can you create a social media post thanking a volunteer called Jenny for her hard work volunteering at a food bank’

Response generated:

“Today we want to give a big shoutout to one of our amazing volunteers, Jenny! 🎉

Jenny has been working at our food bank to help us serve our community. She has been instrumental in everything from sorting donations to assisting clients and ensuring that our operations run smoothly.

Jenny’s hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed. She brings a positive attitude and a willingness to help with whatever needs to be done. Her warm and friendly personality makes her a favourite among our clients.

We couldn’t do what we do without the support of volunteers like Jenny. Thank you so much for all that you do for our food bank and our community. You truly make a difference, and we are grateful to have you on our team. 🙏”

Interested in speeding up your volunteer registrations and reducing administrative burden? Get started with our volunteer management software today! With TeamKinetic you can start a FREE trial today over on our website or book a demo!

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

Managing Museum Volunteers: Essential Tips For Volunteer Managers

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On 3rd May 2023

In Heritage & Culture, Volunteer Management

As a volunteer manager in a museum, you have the responsibility to ensure that your volunteers feel supported and engaged, while also helping the museum achieve its mission. We’ve put together some tips to help you manage museum volunteers effectively.

Set clear expectations

Before volunteers begin their role, make sure they understand their responsibilities and the expectations for their performance. This could include the expected volunteer hours, their duties and the rules and regulations they should follow. By setting clear expectations, you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Ensure you provide suitable training and resources

Volunteers will perform their best when they feel confident and knowledgeable about their role. Provide them with training that covers everything from the history of the museum to the specific duties of each volunteer position. Consider developing training materials, such as videos or handouts, to help volunteers learn more about the museum.

Communication is key

Regularly check in with volunteers to assure they’re satisfied with their volunteering role and answer any questions they may have. If you opt for a volunteer management system such as TeamKinetic, you can ensure you are communicating with your volunteers efficiently at all times.

Within our system, there are a variety of customisable automatic emails and other ways you can contact your volunteers using system notifications, SMS texts and opportunity chat rooms to help you maintain strong relationships with your volunteers. With these communication tools you can keep volunteers informed about upcoming events, news, and changes at the museum.

Learn more about sufficient volunteer management using TeamKinetic here.

Show appreciation and reward your volunteers

Volunteers dedicate their time and energy to helping the museum succeed, so it’s vital to recognise their contributions. Consider offering small tokens of appreciation, such as certificates, thank you letters or awards. You could also organise volunteer appreciation events or offer perks such as free admission or discounts in the museum shop.

You can easily reward your volunteers using system. We have a few ways you can reward volunteers including achievement badges and even our Unique HourTrades feature which allows volunteers to swap their logged hours for special rewards.

Use volunteer management software

Using a volunteer management system can ensure your volunteers are managed efficiently. Volunteer management software can automate many time-consuming tasks such as volunteer registration, communication, and scheduling. This can save a significant amount of time for volunteer coordinators, allowing them to focus on other important tasks.

By following these tips, you can create positive and productive management for your museum volunteers. With clear expectations, effective communication, and a supportive environment, volunteers will feel valued and engaged, and the museum will thrive.

Ensure you follow us on our social media pages to receive regular updates about the voluntary sector and learn more about the TeamKinetic system.

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

How To Manage Volunteers Effectively: Top Tips For Success

On 26th April 2023

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Managing volunteers can be challenging, especially if you want to maximise their engagement and impact. Opting for a volunteer management system can help you manage your volunteers successfully. Here at TeamKinetic, we’ve put together our top tips for managing volunteers effectively to help you lead a fantastic team of volunteers.

Clearly define roles and opportunities

One of the essential elements of effective volunteer management is to clearly define the roles and expectations of each volunteer. This includes what tasks they will perform, how much time they are expected to commit, and what skills or experience are required. Having a clear understanding of expectations and roles helps to minimise confusion, reduce misunderstandings, and ensure everyone is working towards a common goal is a key starting point for managing your volunteers effectively. By using a volunteer management system such as TeamKinetic, you can write detailed role descriptions when creating opportunities.

We have a blog post all about how you can get the best out of your opportunity descriptions which you can read here.

Recruit volunteers strategically

To build an effective volunteer team, it’s important to recruit strategically. This involves recognising the skills, knowledge, and experience needed for each role and targeting specific demographics or groups. You can use social media, community events, and word-of-mouth referrals to attract potential volunteers. We have a blog post about what qualities to look for when recruiting volunteers which is useful to read.

Consistent communication

Effective communication is key to managing volunteers successfully. Establishing clear communication channels is essential, including regular team meetings, email updates, or newsletters.

With our volunteer management system, you can keep in close contact with your volunteers at all times. Within our system, there are a range of customisable automatic emails and other ways you can contact them using system notifications, SMS texts and opportunity chat rooms to help you maintain strong relationships with your volunteers.

Read our guide to effective communication with volunteers here.

*Opportunity chat rooms within the TeamKinetic system*

Provide sufficient training

Volunteers may need suitable training to perform their roles effectively. Therefore, it’s crucial to provide adequate training to ensure that volunteers have the knowledge and skills they need to complete their tasks. Training can include onboarding sessions, mentoring, and ongoing coaching to help volunteers develop their skills and stay motivated.

Offer flexible schedules

Volunteers often have other commitments, such as work or family, so offering flexible schedules can help with retention. At the end of adding an opportunity within the TeamKinetic system, you are given a choice to list your opportunity as a flexible or individual session. A flexible opportunity is when you need a volunteer for a certain role but it’s not always on the same date when it’s needed. Meaning you have the date you want the volunteering role to be completed but you are flexible about when the volunteer attends.

*Option to choose individual or flexible sessions on the TeamKinetic system*

Reward your volunteers

Volunteers dedicate their time and energy to support your organisation, so showing appreciation is crucial to keeping them engaged and motivated.

You can easily reward your volunteers with our system. We have a few ways you can reward volunteers including achievement badges and even our Unique HourTrades feature which allows volunteers to swap their logged hours for special rewards. TeamKinetic will also send automated messages to your volunteers on milestones, such as their birthdays or when they reach a new achievement level.

Provide feedback

A positive culture can help volunteers feel valued and included, increasing engagement and retention. You can create a positive culture by encouraging a sense of community, providing opportunities for volunteers to socialise, and promoting a shared mission. Within the TeamKinetic system, you can have two-way feedback on every opportunity, which ensures your volunteers are kept happy and fulfilled.

Track performance and progress

Monitoring performance and progress is essential to ensure that volunteers are meeting their goals and making an impact within the organisation.

Real-time, detailed, and effective analysis of all aspects of your volunteer programme helps you tell a clear story of your organisation’s social value. With TeamKinetic you can receive two-way feedback on every opportunity, so you can ensure volunteers are kept content and fulfilled.

*Example of the Reports & Analysis Quick Stats page within the TeamKinetic system*

Key Takeaways

In conclusion, effective volunteer management is crucial to maximising engagement and impact. With these top tips, you can build a successful team of volunteers that make a meaningful contribution to your organisation’s mission.

Make sure you follow us to receive regular updates about the voluntary sector and learn more about the TeamKinetic system.

You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our 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.

Get Ready For Volunteers Week 2023!