Tag: flexible volunteering

Flexible Volunteering – Why Is It More Appealing To Volunteers?

By

On 22nd February 2023

In Volunteer Management

What is flexible volunteering?

Flexible volunteering allows individuals to give their time and skills in a way that fits around their existing commitments and schedules. Unlike traditional volunteering, which may require commitment at a set time or specific days of the week, flexible volunteering offers more freedom and adaptability. It allows individuals to make a difference in their community and support causes they care about, without having to make significant sacrifices or changes to their existing routine.

Offering flexible volunteering roles may be off-putting for some volunteer managers as it is a lot harder to manage because there aren’t set roles and times. However, using TeamKinetic can make managing these roles easier.

Giving both options of flexible and set volunteering opportunities is more attractive to volunteers. People want the option of being able to decide what and how much they want to do, based on their situation in that particular week.

Why is flexible volunteering more attractive to volunteers?

Flexible volunteering is often more attractive as it allows volunteers to fit their volunteer work around their existing commitments and schedules. In a recent blog post by Rob Jackson, he says that people today want more flexible volunteering that fits around their availabilities & interests. It connects them to a larger sense of purpose and makes an impact. Also due to the current cost of living crisis and post-pandemic, these adjustable options are more appealing, organisations are more likely to engage volunteers if the volunteering opportunities are flexible. Below there are six reasons why flexible volunteering can be more attractive at this time. 

  • Current circumstances: Due to the current cost of living crisis, flexible volunteering is more appealing. Volunteers can still complete voluntary work but will still have the spare time they need. This may be useful if volunteers need to do extra paid work in order to help them out during the rising cost of living.
  • Convenience: Many people have busy schedules and cannot commit to regular, fixed volunteering hours. Adaptable volunteering options allow them to contribute to a cause they care about in a way that works with their schedule and lifestyle.
  • Diverse opportunities: Adaptable volunteering often includes a wider range of activities, such as remote volunteering or micro-volunteering opportunities that can be completed in short periods of time.
  • Skill-based opportunities: Flexible volunteering often allows volunteers to use their specific skills and expertise in a way that fits with their interests and strengths.
  • Personal satisfaction: Volunteers who have the freedom to choose when and how they volunteer may feel more in control of their experience, leading to greater personal satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment.
  • Social impact: It allows organizations to tap into a wider pool of volunteers who may not be able to commit to traditional volunteering opportunities, leading to greater social impact and community engagement.

Overall, the flexibility of volunteering can be a win-win for both the volunteer and the organization, as it allows for a greater level of engagement and contribution from volunteers while meeting the needs of busy schedules and lifestyles. So if you are an organisation that is struggling to recruit and retain volunteers, maybe consider offering flexible opportunities to volunteers.

How to create flexible opportunities with TeamKinetic

At the end of adding an opportunity, you are given the 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.  

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.

Volunteers: The Backbone of Political Campaigns

By

On 25th November 2019

In News & Views

“You’re joking not ANOTHER one?!” The viral video from the last General Election still stands relevant today only two years later. In a time where Brexit has had more dates than most of the British public, we’re back awaiting yet another General Election.

There have been six elections in my 20 years on this Earth and four of them have happened since 2010.

That’s four elections in nine years.

If we were sticking to how often elections were actually supposed to take place we’d be waiting for our second election since 2010 right now… I think it’s fair to say our current government is quite unstable.

Anyway, I digress. The real reason for this blog is to highlight how these election campaigns would be nothing without the hard work of volunteers. Work that is probably made even harder with the rate we’re having these elections at.

  • labour volunteers, campaign volunteering, volunteer management software, volunteer management, volunteer management system
  • green party volunteers, campaign volunteering, volunteer management software, volunteer management, volunteer management system
  • snp volunteers, campaign volunteering, volunteer management software, volunteer management, volunteer management system
  • plaid cymru volunteers, campaign volunteering, volunteer management software, volunteer management, volunteer management system

Campaign volunteers for all parties work tirelessly to traverse through neighbourhoods, talking to residents and giving out leaflets that will probably just end up in the bin. (If you do bin them at least recycle… Especially if it’s a Green leaflet you’re binning.)

Without the work of these volunteers, politicians from all parties would not be able to get their messages out as quickly and reach as many people across the country. In some places, volunteers even offer services to help people get to their polling station, giving everyone as much chance as possible to vote.

What can volunteer managers learn from political campaign volunteering?

Flexibility

canvassing, campaign volunteering, general election, labour, volunteer management, volunteer management system, volunteer management software, TeamKinetic, political campaign volunteers

The flexible nature of campaign volunteering could inspire the structure of other volunteering opportunities. For many people, volunteering is too time-consuming and structured to fit around their busy schedules. What campaign volunteering does well is it allows the volunteer to choose when they give their time, with no real commitments. This opens up the opportunities to a wider range of people who are willing to help out.

Another thing is the range of activities volunteers can choose from. A quick visit to any party’s website shows you that you can do a range of activities. From knocking on local residents’ doors to inputting data and answering phone calls in offices. Flexibility like this is likely to encourage more people to sign up and volunteer.

If volunteer recruitment is what you’re after, maybe look to campaign volunteering for some tips.

Use of Technology

Technology is used massively in elections. Especially in today’s society where we seem to go no longer than five minutes without our phones. In particular, parties make use of social media to both rally supporters and attack the opposition.

Hopefully, more general examples of volunteer management don’t involve attacking anyone online. We can still learn a thing or two from the use of social media platforms to communicate with volunteers and get them enthusiastic about opportunities.

Making information about opportunities more accessible, i.e. posting about them on social media, will encourage volunteers to sign up. Posting about experiences of other opportunities – perhaps with pictures/video from the day – can also help new volunteers feel more comfortable deciding to work with your organisation.

Take a look at this tweet from the Labour Party. Here, they recognise and show the work of their volunteers. This would certainly make me more comfortable with the idea of doing some campaign volunteering!

How can TeamKinetic help?

We offer volunteer management software for organisations of all sizes. This includes tools to recruit, manage, and reward volunteers.
For more information on how we can help you, feel free to contact us on social media (Twitter/Facebook), visit our website, or give us a ring on 0161 914 5757.

Search

Subscribe to our blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to the TeamKinetic blog and receive notifications of new posts and stories.

Join 1,712 other subscribers.

Contact Details

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén