Not only is communication crucial to enable you to build relationships with your volunteers but it also helps with retention. Contact with volunteers is vital for boosting their engagement, satisfaction, and overall effectiveness in supporting the organisation’s mission.
Why is communication important?
Maintaining motivation: Keeping in contact regularly helps volunteers feel valued and appreciated, which can increase their motivation and commitment to the organisation.
Building trust: Effective communication builds trust between the organisation and its volunteers, creating a positive and supportive environment.
Understanding expectations: Regular contact helps ensure that volunteers understand their roles and responsibilities, which can prevent confusion and mistakes.
Improving performance: Regular feedback and coaching through communication can help volunteers improve their skills and performance.
Resolving conflicts: Keeping in touch with volunteers provides an opportunity to address and resolve any conflicts or misunderstandings that may arise.
Promoting collaboration: Communication helps encourage community and collaboration among volunteers, encouraging them to work together towards common goals.
How can we help you to communicate with your volunteers?
Using technology to communicate with volunteers makes it easier and more convenient for both parties to connect, exchange information, and coordinate activities. This can save time and effort compared to traditional methods of communication, such as phone calls or in-person meetings.
With TeamKinetic you can keep in close contact with your volunteers at all times. There are a range of customisable automatic emails and other ways you can contact them using system notifications, or SMS texts.
By using SMS texts you can remind your volunteers if they have a session coming up, or other important reminders such as letting them know if their criminal check is due for renewal. There is also a higher chance of your volunteers seeing your text messages over email as not everyone checks their emails regularly. Using TeamKinetic to send SMS texts makes your life and the volunteer’s life a whole lot easier. It is also important that when contacting a volunteer it comes from a person rather than an anonymous call or message. That person could be a volunteer manager, who volunteers can trust and view as an expert.
Check out this video below for more information about using TeamKinetic to communicate with your volunteers.
Key Takeaways…
It is not always manageable to keep in close contact with your volunteers. With TeamKinetic you can automate your emails or texts so that you never forget to keep in close contact, this enables you to build relationships and trust with every one of your volunteers.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Just a small release with some bug fixes but still a couple of new features for added value!
Bulk Actions on Sessions
Great time saver here for those that deal with many sessions on an opportunity. Similarly to when you are using the volunteer or opp search, you can check individual, or all sessions, and perform some actions on them.
Currently, you can email all the volunteers on that session, update the session’s time and duration, download the volunteer details for everyone on the selected sessions, and delete the selected sessions. There is also the potential to add further actions if anyone has any great ideas.
Admin Chat Rooms
We hope you’ll get on board and make use of this new feature where you’ll be able to ask advice and give advice to your fellow volunteer coordinators.
We’ve currently got three fixed rooms and you can add new posts and reply in much the same way as you do now for the opportunity chat rooms. You can also subscribe to each room and get email alerts when new posts are added.
You’ll find the chat rooms in the Help and Support menu. We are quite excited about this and hope you can use it to good effect.
As always, we are ready to take your feedback and questions in all the normal channels.
This year, the annual TeamKinetic conference theme was Volunteering to 2030: What might the future look like? We had a variety of incredible speakers discuss their thoughts on the future of volunteering.
Day One
Day One of the TeamKinetic Conference involved sharing some exciting new updates to the TeamKinetic system, sessions on how to onboard volunteers and providers, available reporting tools on the system, how to create and use roles and other topics covered in a series of breakout sessions.
New To TeamKinetic
Rolf started off by taking us through the next major release. New opportunity creation system, better sharing options when sharing your opportunities, scheduling bulk emails, reporting improvements, and more! You can learn more about the 2.20 version here.
Watch Rolf’s session to get to grips with our exciting new update. If you’re a TeamKinetic Admin user, youcan even test it for yourself over at https://beta.teamkinetic.co.uk/vk/admin (Just use your usual admin login details!)
Reporting With TeamKinetic
Steve gave his session on reporting with TeamKinetic and later spoke to us about onboarding volunteers and providers and opportunity restrictions. He touched on the different types of reports, maintenance, general awareness of activity, how you can measure the success of your volunteer programme and other areas of how to report with the TeamKinetic system.
Watch the session below to find out how reports can help you uncover various things about your volunteers and opportunities.
Onboarding Providers and Volunteers
In Rolf’s breakout session he spoke to us about onboarding volunteers and providers. He started off by talking about the new onboarding/help screens that will be available to new volunteers when they register. These will be available for admins to customise in the upcoming 2.2 release. Rolf then discussed how to find and customise the emails that are sent to new volunteers and providers. These emails are the first communications your new volunteers and providers get from your organisation and they are a great place to set out your stall and set the tone for your programme. Finally, we took a look at how to keep your recently onboarded users engaged using the weekly newsletters, bulk emails and search filters to extract those users that are not interacted since registering.
Super Admin Options and Customising Emails
Another breakout session was run by Steve. This was a fun and busy session with lots of questions regarding customised emails and custom areas. Steve also touched on which functions are limited to organisations with providers who work for them, and what functionality can be used by all organisations including volunteer centres. Lots of interesting points and suggestions from attendees, and overall it was a very useful session. In case you missed it or would like to re-watch Steve’s session, it can be found here.
Why use Roles? And How to Create Them
Roles are still a relatively new addition to TeamKinetic. We know they could help a lot of customers but appear to be significantly underused. This is why Chris decided to base his breakout session on this feature. He talked us through how to create roles within your system, how they can be used effectively on your opportunities, and the differences between roles and restrictions.
Are You Taking Advantage Of Opportunity Restrictions?
In our final session of day one, Steve took everyone through the different opportunity restrictions available within TeamKinetic. These restrictions are important to ensure you get the right volunteers for your opportunities every time!
There are a number of ways to restrict your opportunities in TeamKinetic to ensure you get the right volunteer for the job, but are you using them correctly? Watch the session to find out:
Day Two
Day Two of the TeamKinetic conference saw some impactful guest speakers join us. They all covered a range of topics such as expenses, volunteer retention/impact, criminal checks, and more.
Guest speakers included Rob Jackson, Ruth Leonard from AVM, Randa Bennett from vHelp, Simon Dickinson from Digital Gaps, Dan McManus from Time Tempo Credits, Felicity Adrian from General Practise Alliance, Scott Jones from 123 Internet, and Allan Merrifield from First Advantage.
Rob Jackson
Rob Jacksonwas the keynote speaker at the 2022 TeamKinetic Conference. He shared ideas of what the future might hold for volunteering. Rob had some powerful points which we think are worth sharing.
Since the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis, people’s mental health has worsened. The pandemic has caused people to be burnout and have a lack of motivation. According to a brief by the World Health Organization, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25% in the first year of the pandemic. This could imply that in the future, volunteers may need increased support from volunteer managers due to poor mental health and lack of energy to put their time into volunteering.
The cost of living crisis could also cause an increase in stress and anxiety in people’s lives. Individuals may not have the spare time to volunteer as they have to work multiple jobs to support themselves through the cost of living crisis. The cost of living crisis also means the reimbursement of expenses needs to be prioritised. People may be reluctant to volunteer as they worry that it might leave them out of pocket as expenses are taking too long to be reimbursed.
After Rob Jackson, we then had a session choice between Simon Dickinson from Digital Gaps and Dan McManus from Time Tempo Credits discussing volunteer retention and impact in 2030.
Digital Gaps
Simon delivered a great session on providing verified volunteers for digital services. Digital Gaps’ mission is to help the public and third sector realise the financial, customer experience and improved well-being outcomes that data solutions deliver.
He talked about the work they have done with us to put in place a digital passport. Simon showed us the process that would verify a volunteer, using Yoti to verify your identity which then allows you to have a digital identity wallet which can be used when recruiting volunteers.
Tempo Time Credits
Dan McManus from Tempo Time Credits then took us through how to build and sustain a volunteer workforce in his session. Tempo Time Credits allows you to earn a time credit for each hour of volunteering.
Dan talked through some future plans for Tempo including an improved facility to donate to groups. Some thoughts Dan had on the future of volunteering was that the pandemic has had a large impact on older and vulnerable volunteers which has made it difficult for organisations to recruit volunteers.
vHelp
Randa Bennett from vHelp gave her session on how we should be handling expenses in the future. Randa has been in the technology sector for over 20 years and came across this problem around reimbursing volunteers and that’s where vHelp was born.
One key point she touched on in her session was the importance of inclusivity. If organisations aren’t reimbursing volunteers quickly, it could be excluding the less fortunate people who can’t afford to be left out of pocket, leaving only wealthier people being able to volunteer. Transparency is also a key aspect for the future of volunteering. In the future, organisations need to ensure they inform their volunteers about expenses in the early stages of recruitment.
123 Internet and General Practice Alliance
In the next session, we were joined by Felicity Adrian from General Practice Alliance. Felicity is a project manager and she helps put together the volunteer passport online platform for Northamptonshire.
Scott Jones from 123 Internet talked us through how he made their volunteer passport homepage. They gave us an overview of the concept behind the volunteer passport and discussed why the re-design was needed. To decide why the re-design was needed they held a workshop to help them understand what their key vision was for volunteering across Northamptonshire and how it could be shared through the volunteer passport.
First Advantage
Allan Merrifield from First Advantage spoke to us about Digital ID DBS. First Advantage are a global technology background screening company delivering innovative solutions and insights that help their clients manage risk and hire the best talent quickly and efficiently.
Their aim is to automate DBS checks to make it as easy as possible. During Allan’s session, he spoke to us about what services are available through the partnership that is in place between TeamKinetic and First Advantage. Allan also took us through the journey of creating a digital ID and how to use one.
A Big Thank You!
We’d just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who attended the 2022 TeamKinetic Conference and all our great speakers for their informative sessions. We hope you had a good time with us.
If you have any suggestions of things you’d like to hear about – or people you’d like to hear from – please tell us by emailing alex@teamkinetic.co.uk
We look forward to next year’s conference!
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Pretty much on time, we are now entering the beta release phase for our next major release, bumping the version number up to 2.2.
So what’s coming in this release, read on to find out.
New Opportunity Creation System
We’ve been aware for a while of just how long and intimidating the opportunity creation forms were, especially for new users. There was also the issue of the ‘Quick’ opportunity type mixing together an opportunity that was quick to enter, with an opportunity that was only being used to advertise an opportunity for providers that have their own volunteer management systems.
So we have created a new system for creating opportunities that splits everything into smaller chunks, offers people an easier way to add new images, less complex location entry, and is a lot simpler to use.
For those providers that are managing their own volunteers, there is a very clear option selection card that explains what will happen. These types of opportunities will also have a much simplified management page that lets the provider know how many people have viewed the opp, clicked the more info buttons, and who those volunteers are if we know.
Better Sharing Options
If you share your opportunities via LinkWide or into the national Scottish system MILO, then you’ll notice some improvements.
Firstly you can now belong to multiple LinkWide groups, and have individual sharing settings for each group; so you can share into one group but only accept shares from another group for instance.
If you are sharing to MILO you can now add existing opportunities to MILO, previously you could only share at the point of opp creation. When an opp is shared you’ll also see all the details you need to find it in MILO
New Date Custom Question Type
We’ve added date as a custom question type for volunteers and providers, and updated the custom question search filters to match.
This opens the door for some very useful reporting and recording methods for volunteer or provider details that are not covered by our regular registration or profile details. By recording dates against volunteers and providers, you can use the filters to find out which people have dates that have expired or that are due soon by using the equals, before, after, and between date filters.
You can imagine the potential for recording and managing things like yearly training, qualifications, driving licenses and insurance etc.
Schedule Bulk Emails
Create an email and schedule it to be sent at specific times. This is a super useful addition and is great for running campaigns or for sending emails over the weekend when you don’t want to be working!
Reporting Improvements
We’ve added applicants for opportunities to the reporting page so you can see at a glance how many applicants are in each status.
We’ve audited all the reports and aligned provider, admin and summary reports so you see the same numbers everywhere!
We’ve added a new download report which has all volunteer opportunity data that can be aggregated by opportunity or session, including custom fields.
The day schedule report is now available for providers as well, of course, limited to just their opportunities.
The mapping features have been added for providers so they can locate all their opportunities and volunteers.
You can now filter and search providers based on their custom fields and also filter volunteers on their qualification names and lapse dates.
Any downloads from the volunteer or provider search page now include their custom field responses.
Opportunity Custom Badges in Search Page
If you’ve added custom badges to opportunities (and if not, why not!), your volunteers will now be able to see those badges in the search page and also filter on those badges.
Useful Hints and Tips
You’ll see when you log in that a small hints and tips area appears at the top of the page giving you some quick info about a feature. We’ll be adding to these tips continually as new features come online and you can choose to switch them off completely or hide them for 30 days if they are starting to bore you!
We hope this will introduce our customers to new features or techniques they might not be aware of.
Manage Your Account
We’ve added a new icon to the top right which allows you to manage your account, it also tells you who you are logged in as if you have multiple accounts.
From here you can also switch the hints and tips back on if you have changed your mind! There are a few other settings to help personalise your experience and we’ll be adding more, so suggestions are welcome.
New Automated Emails
We’ll now remind providers when their opportunities are close to finishing, along with a link to update the opportunity.
Volunteers will get a message wishing them all the best on their birthdays and thanking them for volunteering.
We have also added a reminder email for volunteers to log their hours for past opportunities and complete post-opp surveys and uploads if they are required.
Volunteer Inbox
A brand new message inbox for volunteers that shows all the emails and messages they have received and lets them reply directly to the sender. This should help volunteer questions about specific opportunities get through to the provider rather than using the general purpose contact us page.
Talking of the general purpose Get in Touch page; if the volunteer is logged in it will redirect them to the new inbox area above and they can select from the TO field either the organisation or any of the providers they are currently engaged with. This will reduce those misdirected messages even more.
Dashboard Improvements
We’ve added a panel for ‘Things happening today’ that shows sessions and meetings and things like that that are happening today.
Panels that are empty or not needed. For instance, if you auto-approve providers, are now hidden.
More and more tables throughout the app are now sortable in place using the icons at the top of the columns, with no page refresh required.
Improvements to Max Slot Numbers for Sessions
You can now alter the global maximum slot number per session from the sessions tab, rather than having to go to the restrictions tab.
For flexible opportunities it looks like this;
And for sessional opps, there is a little button to reveal the options, it could be quite a destructive process so we want to make sure, and it looks like this;
There are also over 120 smaller bug fixes and improvements in this release many as a direct result of support tickets and feature requests so keep them coming.
Steve also went through the new release in a few online sessions. If you missed them, you can catch up by clicking here.
Thanks everyone.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Volunteer management systems are beneficial to organisations- we think everyone knows this. But sometimes, organisations may find they’re struggling to convince others a software is what they need. And a lot of the time that’s down to cost and budget…
Leaders are likely to look straight at the price and make a decision straight away. Volunteer management software is an investment for your organisation and your leadership should understand this! Building a business case to go alongside the pricing will help massively in convincing the decision makers software is the way to go.
“Aren’t our volunteers free?”
At some point, we’ve all heard this phrase. The illusion that volunteers mean free is simply false. Putting time and effort into volunteer processes shows volunteers that you’re the real deal- that you’re investing in their benefits too. While volunteers may be helping for free, managing rotas, sessions and volunteer satisfaction comes at a cost.
Why don’t you take a look at the amount of time you’ll save once a volunteer management software has been implemented compared to the cost of said software. By knowing just how much time (and money) would be saved in the long run, you might find that your colleagues would be open to investing.
“We currently don’t have the budget for this…”
This might be disheartening, but it isn’t a straight no- it allows you the time to build up a stronger business case to come back to. Senior management may want to move forward, but just don’t have the budget at the moment. So in the meantime, strengthening your case for a VMS means it’s top of the list when there’s a budget available.
Is there anything in your current budget you could live without? If you think a volunteer management system is a high priority- is there anything lower in priorities you’re currently spending money on? It could be worth foregoing one thing (for now) to allow for a VMS that can transform your volunteer management.
It might also be worth pointing out any other software in use, say for expenses or donor management software. For many volunteer management systems, they have this software already embedded in their software. TeamKinetic offers expense features which means volunteers can claim their expenses after an opportunity, and managers can track it. It may be worth looking into what each system supports- you may find yourself saving money!
“Is it really needed?”
In today’s circumstances- volunteer management software is a must. For any organisation looking to organise, manage, plan and communicate with volunteers, a VMS is a no brainer. With a volunteer management system you can do everything from one webpage- from one site. And, your volunteers can do the same.
With volunteer management software you can combine multiple sectors of a volunteers journey, streamlining the process and making it faster for volunteers to start doing what they love. For example, volunteers might have to complete a DBS check. TeamKinetic allows DBS checks within our system, so everything stays in one place.
Along with streamlining, communicating with volunteers is easy. With profiles, you’ll always have access to the best (and preferred) ways a volunteer wants to be contacted. Need to check in? Want to ask them about a recent volunteering opportunity? Head to their profile and give them a ring, a call or a quick text.
You can also introduce volunteers to each other through groups. This way, a volunteer never feels they’re turning up an opportunity alone. With groups and opportunity chat, volunteers can feel included before they’ve even started volunteering.
Is that all for your business case?
That’s just a small number of ways volunteer management software can transform the way your organisation includes volunteers. Sometimes, people (both volunteers and volunteer managers) need just a little push to get onboard with a VMS; once implemented we find people rarely ever go back…
Here at TeamKinetic, we appreciate that new staff members aren’t going to be able to jump straight into using our system to manage their volunteers. They’re going to need a bit of help – but don’t worry, we’ve got that covered with our TeamKinetic guide for new users!
If you have a new starter, or you’re starting somewhere new yourself, this blog is for you.
Here are some ways we can get you up and running managing volunteers on TeamKinetic…
Quickstart Guide
Our ‘Getting Started with TeamKinetic’ Guide is usually for completely new customers with new systems. However, in this case, it can be a good way to help people get to grips with the system.
The workbook covers all the basics, such as:
Creating and Managing Opportunities
Inviting Volunteers
System Configuration
Logging Hours
Rewarding Volunteers
If you have a new staff member who will be acting as an admin on your system and would benefit from playing with an empty system, give us a shout and we can set them up on one of our demo sites. This way, they can explore without altering anything on your existing system!
You can contact us via the live chat on our website.
Training Sessions
If you’d like to get stuck in as soon as possible and need some direct help from us, we’ll get you booked for a training session with our Implementation Manager, Steve.
Steve is a great trainer and will go through everything you need to know to do your job effectively! Training takes place online and can even be recorded and saved for future reference. Training is always personalised to you and your needs. This makes it one of the quickest and most beneficial ways to get started with TeamKinetic.
Alternatively, you can join one of the open training sessions being held throughout the year. These are open to any TeamKinetic users and can be booked by going to ‘Help and Support’ –> ‘Extra Training’.
These sessions will take an in-depth look at how to use TeamKinetic on a day-to-day basis to manage your volunteer programme better.
After completing this training, you will have:
A good understanding of how each user type interacts with the system
How to communicate effectively,
Best practice for managing your volunteers and service providers.
Built-in Support
If you consider yourself tech-savvy and want to figure it all out yourself, our built-in support can help. Just click the (?) icon in the top right corner. You should be able to find tips on every part of the system.
This will open up our Help and Support menu. This menu is searchable and should cover all aspects of the system.
Most convenient, it will show you a list of help topics relevant to the page you’re currently on.
Need a bit more help than you first thought? You can also access the Quickstart Guide and Tutorial Videos from this menu.
Anything you’re still not sure of? Our Live Chat feature will get you in touch with one of us and we’ll help you out!
There is a TeamKinetic guide for any type of user – not just new starters!
Please note our operating hours are 9am – 5pm BST. Any contact outside of these hours may experience a delayed reply.
You can check the latest training dates from within your system. Just go to ‘Help & Support’ → ‘Extra Training’
It’s not unknown anymore that going digital is the future. We’ve seen first-hand the digital shift within the volunteering sector and the effect it has had on volunteers. Now, not everyone has adapted to the digital side of volunteer management. But don’t worry, we’re here to help you bring them into your digital plans.
When organisations move over to a digital platform, sometimes we find that their volunteers may be a little hesitant to indulge or be uncomfortable using a new system.
You’ve probably found yourself in a situation like this at some point. This is why at TeamKinetic, we make sure that volunteers can go at their own pace. That doesn’t mean you can’t give them a little push forward though…
Introducing digital to the reluctant…
Introducing a digital volunteer management system to reluctant volunteers works best when you focus on how it can make their lives easier. Talk about the benefits they’ll care about, like quick session sign-ups, easy communication, and less paperwork. Share examples of how other volunteers have found it helpful to show it’s a tool for them, not just for admin.
Keep the training simple and hands-on, offering guides and support to help everyone feel comfortable. Most importantly, listen to their concerns and take their feedback seriously. Showing how the system saves time and reduces hassle will help them see it as a win for everyone.
Developing a plan for action
To introduce a digital volunteer management system successfully, you could start by holding a casual meeting or drop-in session where you can demonstrate the system in action. Show volunteers how easy it is to use and focus on features they’ll find most helpful, like how to sign up for shifts in just a few clicks or receive instant updates. Keep the tone friendly and invite questions to ease any initial hesitation.
Offer personalised support by setting up one-on-one or small group tutorials for those who need extra guidance. Create simple, step-by-step guides or video walkthroughs they can refer to at any time. If possible, designate a “digital buddy”. This could be another volunteer or team member who’s confident with the system and can provide peer support.
During the rollout, ask for feedback regularly. Use surveys, informal check-ins, or suggestion boxes to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Adjust your approach based on their input, and celebrate their wins when they successfully engage with the system. For instance, share stories of how someone saved time or avoided mix-ups using the platform.
Finally, be patient. Not everyone will adapt at the same pace, so offer ongoing support and reassurance. By making the process collaborative and supportive, you’ll help even the most reluctant volunteers feel confident and included.
How can TeamKinetic help with this process?
Once started on TeamKinetic, admin users can invite volunteers to sign up via email or create volunteer accounts themselves. By emailing volunteers, they’ll instantly get to the sign-up page and can complete their registration in just a few short steps. Volunteers who complete the registration themselves are already one step into the digital journey – a small easy win!
Even though it’s a quick and easy registration process, there may be volunteers who refuse to, or can’t, engage digitally. For those cases, we’ve made it possible to create and manage volunteer profiles on their behalf. No email? No problem. Admins can create volunteer accounts without an email address.
When acting on behalf of a volunteer, you can update/change their personal information if/when needed. This includes uploading a photo and any relevant documents, joining opportunities and logging their hours.
You’ll also be able to signify whether the volunteer in question has completed any required induction and training.
Digitally inviting your volunteers
Once a volunteer is signed up, they may find themselves feeling like a deer in headlights. Lots to do but they might not be sure where to start.
At this point, we give them a welcome message, with clear instructions on how to get started. The best part is that it’s fully customisable so you can tell your volunteers exactly what they need to know.
At the beginning of their journey, it can be good to invite them to join an opportunity immediately. With TeamKinetic, you’ll be able to invite volunteers directly onto sessions that interest them so they can start their volunteering journey right away.
When volunteers are comfortable using the system, they can search for the opportunities they want themselves. Once they find an opportunity they like, they can join or apply depending on restrictions. (For some opportunities, organisations may ask for volunteers to apply, and jump through some hoops before getting onto a session.)
You’ll be able to keep volunteers in the loop through emails and texts – you can even set up calls with volunteers to keep in touch. Any changes on an opportunity are emailed to each volunteer so they’re always kept up-to-date on the latest changes.
Want to see more of our Digital Functions?
We’ve seen how our functions have helped hesitant volunteers embrace the digital side of volunteering and its benefits. TeamKinetic, like any good VMS, is straightforward to use once you’ve had a look around.
Why not get in touch over on our website to see how we can benefit your organisation?
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Opportunity descriptions can make or break whether someone decides to volunteer for you. If a potential volunteer can’t find an opportunity that excites them, then they probably aren’t going to join you on your organisations journey.
With your descriptions you can describe to your volunteers, and potential volunteers what’s possible for them within your organisation- let them know how they can use their skills, talents and drive to add to something bigger than themselves.
Descriptions can sometimes be a little boring, and packed full of information and language that can make a volunteer confused or disengaged with the opportunity within the first few seconds or so… When written correctly, you can inspire and motivate volunteers to sign up and jump onto the opportunity there and then. Your description also helps you find the right volunteer for the role.
Descriptions can also help when volunteers have joined an opportunity; it can give you a checklist of sorts when supervising volunteers on an opportunity- if a volunteer isn’t meeting expectations- has your description been too vague on what you’re looking for? An opportunity description should have done the leg work to get you in touch with a volunteer (or volunteers) who are the best fit.
Opportunity descriptions can be such an important communication tool towards your organisation. So how can you make sure your description is well-crafted?
What to include in your descriptions…
We’ve collated together a list of 10 sections to include on your opportunity description that can help your volunteers find the right role for them, and your organisation gets the best out of each and every volunteer.
Opportunity Title. Think about whittling down your entire description, in just a few words- that’s what your title should be. The title is one of the most important aspects of your opportunity, you want to entice your volunteer to know more.
Responsibilities. For a quick snapshot of the roles and responsibilities within the opportunity- include a quick bullet point round up. This will help give a volunteer a concrete process of what they’ll be doing day-to-day.
Time Requirements. Let volunteers know how much time would be required from them- a quick way to cut those volunteers out who may be looking for less hours (or have more hours to give!) Many opportunities will have a beginning and end date, so including that can help a volunteer decide too.
Location. This is pretty simple and self-explanatory. Adding a location attracts the volunteers in that area and stops any of those volunteers from joining if they can’t make the destination provided.
You could also include…
Working Environment. Add whether there’s a dress code, or any physical requirements needed for the job. Anything along these lines will work really well here.
Skills/Qualifications. It doesn’t have to be a massive list or paragraph, just the essentials that are needed to complete the opportunity. These will be skills that you feel are required for the role.
Training. If there is any training needed to be undertaken by the volunteer letting them know in the opportunity description means they can start to get prepared. You don’t have to go in depth about the training, but letting them know how to access it can help them get training completed before the opportunity starts.
Support. In what ways will your volunteers be supported on this opportunity?
Perks? Is there anything while on the opportunity that volunteers will receive? For example, will they have access to a free lunch or free parking? Adding perks onto your opportunity gives extra ‘bonuses’ to volunteers- what do you have to offer? Let potential volunteers know!
Once you’ve written your description, make sure you read it over! If you saw this opportunity advertised, would you want to join up? Think about if someone who doesn’t know much about your organisation was to stumble across the opportunity, what would they think?
And there you have it!
While our checklist of opportunity descriptions may be quite long, you don’t want to overwhelm your volunteers. Your description should give them all the helpful information they need straight away- any other information can come afterwards.
Potential volunteers should be able to scan the page and know the jist of the opportunity and what is being asked of them.
If you’re looking for a volunteer management system, don’t hesitate to get in touch! Give us a call on 0161 914 5757, or email us at info@teamkinetic.com. You can also start a FREE trial here!
For well over the past month, we’ve been updated by news outlets about the war in Ukraine. From Snake Island and “Ghost of Kyiv” to young Amelia, symbolising hope with Let It Go (who has since performed the Ukrainian national anthem in Lodz); we doubt there has been a single person who has felt unaffected by what’s happening.
But it’s what people across the world have chosen to do in these times that we would like to focus on – and how we, as a volunteer management system company, can help. We see day in, day out the work and dedication of volunteers and the impact they’ve made to the lives of those they help; it’s why we do what we do!
At the beginning of the month, nearly 20,000 foreign volunteers travelled to Ukraine. While it’s been advised not to travel to Ukraine, the number of volunteers looking to help within their own countries has only increased. Volunteering for Ukraine continues to cover healthcare, travel and refugee assistance (just to name a few). It lies with refugee assistance we believe our system can be of most benefit.
In recent weeks, the government has announced that Britons will be allowed to open up their homes to millions of Ukrainian refugees displaced by current events- this route will work for an initial 12-month period, matching refugees with those who have offered up free accommodation. From national organisations to the local charities around you, help is needed.
At TeamKinetic, we pride ourselves on the features in our system which allow for fast setup, recruitment and deployment of volunteers to help the set up of such schemes. Our tools help the rapid deployment of volunteers needed in situations such as the one facing Ukraine and its people.
Our instalment of DBS checks has only increased the pace at which volunteers can be approved and well on their way with helping those in need. While we may not know the ins and outs of every organisation’s recruitment needs, it’s been our promise from our very first day to continuously develop our system to accommodate as many organisations as possible. Our DBS checks are one of the many ways we employ important safeguarding within TeamKinetic while maintaining a swift recruitment.
To keep track of the thousands of homes opening their doors, reaching out a hand and the people they will be embracing, is a mammoth task. Our system’s functions can help with recording all information needed to ensure those refugees entering the UK for shelter know they are safe. Our personalisation means no matter what your organisation is looking to collect, or put out to volunteers, it is all accessible in TeamKinetic.
We have a number of organisations starting and developing programs to help Ukrainian refugees – something we are honoured to play a small part of. We want to ensure that anyone who needs a quick start, rapid deployment of volunteers and a platform to do so can find it at TeamKinetic.
It is easy to sit in a country, surrounded by our family members – the people we love – and think there is nothing we can do to help a country roughly 1,949 miles away. But it would be foolish to think such. We can help right where we are, helping those families who’ve travelled 1,949 miles to find safety; to find even a glimmer of hope that one day, they will be able to return to Ukraine. To return home.
Over the past few years, there’s been a real focus on walking away from stacks of papers, and investing in an online volunteer management system. While we may be biased, we have to agree! No matter where you are on your journey, keeping your volunteers in the loop will help volunteers start embracing your new system.
So how can you give those encouraging pushes to your volunteers, to help them start embracing your online system?
Embracing Your Vision.
Let your volunteers know what you’re planning! Your volunteers are vital to your success as a program, so let them in behind the curtain of your volunteer program. While you might not be up and running straight away, keeping your volunteers in the loop brings a sense of community. Every milestone you hit can be shared, and celebrated, with everyone who adds to the organisation.
It can also be a time where you can be transparent with your volunteers as you work on understanding your new platform. TeamKinetic’s implementation is as slow or as fast as you like; whenever you’d like to debut your new volunteer management system, we’ll be ready! If it’s going to take a little while longer- let your volunteers know! You’ll develop a stronger connection with your volunteers if you update them on how your organisation plans to move forward.
Remember, your volunteers don’t need to know everything that’s going on behind the scenes. Leaving them with a few updates along the way will excite them for what’s to come. Once you’re up and running, make sure to let them know the important ‘stuff’; how can you register? How to join an opportunity? Where can you reach us for support?
Volunteer Access.
For many organisations, some of their volunteers don’t have access to online devices like a computer or a smart-phone. So as you plan your transition to an online platform, think about the ways in which you can reach those volunteers who might not be online or internet ready.
Why not offer regular drop in sessions where volunteers can pop in, and register in-person. You can also support new volunteers who may need some training or a welcome chat! For volunteers who might not fully understand the system, show them the basics first! Build up from there and your volunteers will be embracing the system as they go.
It’s not something we really have to say, but make sure you have a team supporting your volunteers. You’ve been using the system in training, and everyday use. Your volunteers will be using the system for the first time- so expect a lot of questions from volunteers! Try encouraging your volunteers to spend time on the site getting to know where they can find everything and what the basic functions are…
Let your volunteers know about the features…
One way to indulge volunteers into a platform is to let them know about the features that suit them best. Some of the best features we’ve found that are loved by volunteers are…
Online registration. Volunteers have an easy-to-follow, easy to access registration process and profile that they can keep coming back to keep track of when they’re volunteering, the opportunities they like and what’s happening within the organisation. A volunteer site is a great place for all of this to sit!
Achievement badges. When a volunteer hits a certain number of volunteer hours, or has been awarded volunteer of the month at an organisation, an achievement badge popping up against their profile can be the biggest encouragement for a person to carry on volunteering. At TeamKinetic, we’ve seen first hand how achievement or participation badges have motivated volunteers to volunteer more. It also lets them know how much they’re valued at your organisation.
Communication. At TeamKinetic, we believe that two-way communication is a massive factor in keeping your volunteers coming back to volunteer time and time again. Not only can both pirates keep in touch with updates, but organisations can show that they’re around for their volunteers- check in with them and see how they’re doing! Where a volunteer feels valued and listened to, they’ll continue to return.
Time to start embracing volunteer management?
Hopefully this has helped you understand how to engage your volunteers on your new system or help them come round to the online space you’ve provided! If you’re looking for a volunteer management system, why not try a free trial with us at TeamKinetic over on our website.
Or book in a demo with us! Simply call or email on 0161 914 5757 or katie@teamkinetic.co.uk.
