Tag: Teamkinetic volunteer management Page 9 of 14

Ethical and Sustainable Volunteering

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On 24th August 2022

In Community, News & Views, Volunteer Management

What is ethical and sustainable volunteering?

Sustainable volunteering is making a difference with long-lasting change without leaving a destructive footprint behind. Doing good by volunteering doesn’t always mean that you are having a positive impact on the environment around you. For example, many charities with shops could be working with suppliers who have not followed sustainable practices.

People who want to be ethical and sustainable when volunteering believe it is important to contribute to long-lasting change. You may think you are doing the right thing by volunteering but if your efforts and contributions are not making a long-term difference then it might not be worth volunteering for that specific organisation. It is crucial to do research into the charity or organisation as there are many that leave a community in worse conditions than they were when the organisation initially approached them.

The benefits of sustainable and ethical volunteering include becoming more aware of environmental issues and learning how to tackle them. By completing sustainable volunteer work, you are not only doing good for the environment but also doing good by helping others.

What makes a volunteer manager ethical? 

It is essential when wanting your volunteer work to be ethical and sustainable that your volunteer manager is also ethical when creating opportunities. Some ways a volunteer manager can achieve this is by: 

  • Ensuring criminal record checks have been completed for each volunteer. 
  • Making sure volunteers don’t replace paid employees.
  • Actively seek feedback from volunteers to be able to improve and maintain healthy relationships with them.
  • Giving up the time to train volunteers if necessary for the opportunity they are involved in, this also shows that the volunteers are valued.
  • Offer flexibility, so that if a volunteer wants to take time off they are able to. 

Sustainable and ethical volunteering opportunities 

There are so many charities and organisations with volunteering opportunities available in the UK that it can be hard to tell which organisations are influencing change and not leaving behind destructive footprints. Charities and organisations that work towards having a lasting impact on communities and the environment are just as important as having a primary goal of helping others.

There are many options for sustainable and ethical volunteering opportunities. An effective sustainable volunteering opportunity would be to get involved by helping out in your local charity shop. Research has shown the second-hand economy is more than just a means of achieving environmental sustainability. There are many accessible options for volunteering in local charity stores as they are in most UK towns. 

Other sustainable volunteering ideas are collecting and recycling rubbish or any other items that may pollute the environment. There are many litter-picking charities such as Cleanup UK and Keep Britain Tidy that have groups all over the UK with many available litter-picking volunteering opportunities.

Key takeaways…

If you are adapting to a sustainable lifestyle then it’s a good idea to also take part in volunteering that is sustainable and ethical too. You may think all volunteering must be ethical but that’s not always the case, many organisations leave behind a destructive footprint in communities they’re supposed to be helping. To confirm they are also ethical, ensure the volunteer manager is ethical in their actions and completes all the necessary measures before approving a volunteer.

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.

Disciplining A Volunteer And Dealing With Poor Behaviour

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On 17th August 2022

In Volunteer Management

Discipling a volunteer is never an easy task. As volunteers aren’t paid employees, some volunteer managers may feel as though they don’t have a right to discipline or even dismiss them. However, volunteer managers can’t put up with problematic behaviour just because they may feel guilty for having to discipline them. Keeping a volunteer on board with poor behaviour also might do more harm than good for your organisation and other volunteers around them.

Before deciding if you should dismiss a volunteer it is essential to step back and find the main cause of the problem. The volunteer may not understand their job role or are going through something in their personal life which could be affecting their behaviour. Getting another person’s perspective on the situation may also help you make a decision. 

How to deal with problematic behaviour

The problem could be that the volunteer simply lacks a strong work ethic or lacks skills for the role so it can’t be completed correctly or they aren’t the right fit for volunteering for a particular organisation.

Once the reason for the behaviour is pinpointed then it’s important that the conversation had with the volunteer is face to face and not done over email. The conversation can be warning them about their behaviour and simply giving them a chance to improve or to dismiss the volunteer if they have extremely poor behaviour and it is affecting other volunteers within the organisation.

It needs to be upfront and direct and you should ensure you are not tip-toeing around the subject just because you may feel bad. Including some affirmations in the conversation may help you feel better when dismissing the volunteer.

For example, thanking them for their positivity for volunteering but letting them know their behaviour isn’t acceptable. A follow-up conversation is also a good idea to have after you have either dismissed the volunteer or given them a warning. 

As a volunteer manager, you should always document your volunteer’s behaviour, this way you can note down any behaviour traits before and after the conversation to see if the volunteer’s behaviour has changed and improved.

How to avoid this in future

Be careful not to treat volunteers the same as you’d treat employees. Employees are getting paid to give up their time and have access to a lot of employment rights which volunteers don’t have access to.

Due to organisations not being obliged to have a formal agreement with their volunteers, it is still important to create one for your organisation so volunteers are aware of how to act and it can help establish expectations.

Ensure you have a policy that states how you treat disciplinary action with volunteers and your expectations for volunteers’ behaviour. Having a policy also shows your volunteers that they are important to you.

Key takeaways…

Communicating with your volunteers is crucial to ensure you have a comfortable relationship with them. This way if they start to show signs of bad behaviour, it can be discussed easily and put to a stop. 

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.

How The Cost Of Living Crisis Will Affect Volunteering

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On 10th August 2022

In Community, Local Authority, News & Views, Volunteer Management

The ‘cost of living crisis’ refers to the fall in disposable incomes that the UK has experienced since late 2021. Due to this, the rising cost of living is already starting to have a big impact on volunteering and will continue to do so. The crisis makes the reimbursement of expenses for volunteers a more demanding issue. As fuel prices are rising, in some places as much as £2 a litre, volunteers who don’t normally claim expenses are now starting to.

Research completed by vHelp on volunteer expenses shows that 88% of respondents from volunteer leadership roles and organisations were aware of volunteers choosing not to claim expenses. However, this figure of volunteers claiming expenses is expected to increase. The rising cost of fuel prices could also affect charities and organisations that now have to reimburse a larger amount than before which could leave them struggling. 

Expenses

8% of charities still don’t reimburse volunteer expenses. This could put off people from wanting to volunteer for these organisations due to higher travel expenses and the volunteers refusing to pay for these costs themselves. This is why it is extremely important to reimburse volunteers’ expenses otherwise it can lead to a loss of volunteers for your organisation.

Organisations with a complicated expense claiming process, where reimbursement takes a long time can also put volunteers off. 44% of respondents from vHelps research show that ensuring volunteers get paid was a concern of theirs.

Here at TeamKinetic, we provide a quick way for volunteers to claim expenses on our system so they get paid back straight away. We also have a masterclass session for TeamKinetic customers on the ‘Expenses Module’ which will be taking place on the 4th of October so make sure you sign up now to secure a place.

The effect the cost of living will have on charities

The increase in expenses may also be worrying to charities. But volunteers bring much more value to your organisation than the cost of expenses. According to vHelp, the increase in fuel price mostly impacts volunteers who support charities in rural areas due to the only mode of transport to get there for their shifts is by car, which can cost more for the charity to reimburse compared to a bus ticket or no cost for travel at all.

Not only will charities and organisations be affected by the cost of living crisis due to struggling to afford to reimburse volunteers, but charities will also be affected by the decrease in donations by the public. The cost of living crisis means that people’s disposable income will be greatly affected so they might not have the funds to donate as much to charities as they did previously.

According to an article by The Guardian, a fifth of UK households now have an average shortfall of £60 a week between what they earn and what they need to cover essentials. This leaves people with the lowest amount of extra money in 5 years. The expected value of £20 that people usually donate will also be expected to fall to £17.20 by 2026. ‘Chance Changing Lives’ charity that relies on ‘In Kind Directs’ consumer product donation services said they “may have to have a cut-off point very soon as donations have slowed down to such an extent that there may soon not be enough to go round”.

Charities need to start planning now to tackle the cost of living crisis which could massively affect their organisation and their volunteers. Support from funders and the government may be needed in order to help the charity sector during this crisis. 

More support on how charities should adapt to the cost of living crisis can be found here.

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.

How To Prevent Volunteer Burnout

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On 27th July 2022

In Volunteer Management

What is Burnout?

Burnout is typically associated with the workplace, however, it frequently happens to volunteers. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. WHO characterises it by three dimensions:

  • Feelings of exhaustion.
  • Increased mental distance from one’s job and/or feelings of negativism about one’s job.
  • Reduced professional efficacy. 
Volunteer Burnout

A negative impact may include your volunteers speaking negatively about the work your organisation does. This can discourage other volunteers from wanting to get involved with the organisation in the future. If burnt-out volunteers continue to show up for their shifts, their overall productivity will most likely decrease. 

Surprisingly, too much volunteering can be a bad thing. Burnout in volunteers can lead to people feeling unmotivated, which leaves volunteers resenting their work. Burnout can be recognised and managed. However, if left untreated, burnout can cause volunteers to become depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed, which can harm the organisation. 

Causes of Burnout

There are many causes of volunteer burnout. By identifying these causes, you can prevent burnout from happening to your volunteers. However, it is important to note that sometimes burnout can’t be avoided due to the volunteer’s mindset and lack of passion. Not every volunteer will be as passionate as the volunteer manager. Some people’s motivation levels for the organisation may differ. 

If volunteers are given too much to do, they may get overwhelmed by taking on too many tasks. A poor working environment can make the volunteers feel unwelcome. It’s important to provide your volunteers with a comfortable space. This can enable them to feel settled in. Supervisors of the volunteers can give support and guidance because a lack of this can lead to the volunteers feeling lost. Volunteers may also have little knowledge of the tasks they are completing, meaning they can’t do the tasks efficiently. 

Important signs to look for before burnout happens to your volunteers:

It’s key for a volunteer manager to look out for any warning signs so you can spot an unhappy volunteer before burnout occurs. The risk of burnout increases over time so it’s important to notice it before it becomes harmful.

Firstly, look out for any changes in your volunteer’s personality that could show signs of anxiousness or discomfort. For example, if a volunteer regularly spoke about their love for volunteering and had a lot of enthusiasm for your organisation’s missions, but then begins to complain and have a negative attitude, it may be an obvious sign they are no longer enjoying it.

Many volunteers are initially motivated at the beginning. Despite this, you should check up on volunteers who may feel like their work has no impact. Any motivated volunteer should believe all their hard work has a big impact on people’s lives. If your volunteers are doubting their contribution to the community, it could be a red flag to watch out for.

Checking in on a Volunteer with Burnout

If volunteers aren’t performing during shifts as well as they previously were, or they’re cancelling shifts without reason, these are very clear signs of volunteer burnout. Overall, if volunteers are showing very obvious signs of lack of motivation and enthusiasm about the organisation and display a negative view of volunteering, it usually means they are about to experience burnout.  

Tips to avoid burnout: 

For some volunteers, burnout is unavoidable. However, here are some useful tips you can take on board as a volunteer manager to overcome burnout. It is important to remember that volunteer burnout is normal and most long-term volunteers will go through a period of burnout.

  • Ensure the volunteers know what they are doing before the shift so they are fully prepared. This means there is a lower risk of a volunteer feeling lost and confused about what they are supposed to be doing. If the volunteer has a bad first shift then this could then lead to them not wanting to take part in future shifts.
  • It is key to create stable working relationships with your volunteers so that you can both feel comfortable and confident around each other. A welcoming environment also enables volunteers to feel more relaxed. Providing refreshments and general support is a good idea to achieve this.
  • To help build that stable working relationship, as a volunteer manager you should recognise your volunteer’s hard work and reward them. Rewards can be certificates or our rewards feature on the system which allows you to send badges to volunteers. However, it is not necessary to always hand out rewards. If volunteers are completing the work for the right reasons then a simple ‘thank you’ will be appreciated.
  • Communication is crucial between you and your volunteers. This is so both parties can give feedback to improve. There is also a feedback section available on our system where volunteers can also log their hours. 
  • Taking time to have regular check-ins with your volunteers can help to nurture your relationship. During this time you can ask your volunteers how they are feeling about the work and therefore notice any potential red flags that may lead to burnout. 

By completing these steps as a volunteer manager, you’ll have happy and healthy volunteers.

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.

How To Manage Large-Scale Event Volunteers

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On 15th June 2022

In News & Views, Sport

Managing event volunteers is no easy task, but they’re an essential piece of the puzzle that is creating a successful event. It helps that nowadays, we have a range of digital solutions that can speed up processes and cut down on stress.

With the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 coming up – less than a month away – we’d like to take a look into large-scale events and what it takes to keep them running smoothly.

EURO 2022

Yes, we are officially less than one month away from the start of the EUROs! This year it’s taking place in England – something I am personally very excited about.

I’ve seen first-hand the impact these competitions have on the local area and country as a whole. Attending the 2017 EURO in The Netherlands and 2019 World Cup in France are experiences I won’t forget in a hurry!

UEFA Women's EURO 2022 on Twitter: "🇳🇱 The 4th team to become Women's EURO winners! 🏆👏👏👏 #WEURO2017 #NEDDEN https://t.co/SfLexR4MyJ" / Twitter
The hosts won it in 2017… Can England repeat the achievement?

Aside from what happens on the pitch, it’s also clear how much hard work goes into each tournament. This year is no different. It is estimated that around 1500 event volunteers will help out across the host cities. These cities range from up north in Manchester and Sheffield, to down south in Brighton and Southampton. So how did volunteers get involved?

How are event volunteers recruited?

From recruitment to rewarding, digital makes everything easier. EURO 2022 is no different. Their entire volunteer recruitment process was online. Running from September 2021 to April 2022, prospective volunteers applied online and were then interviewed via video chat. All successful applicants could then use the official volunteering portal to find out more about their roles.

A group of EURO 2022 volunteers at Wembley Stadium – the venue for the final.

Each host city’s team of volunteers will aid the influx of football fans. This is likely to include guiding them around the city centre, stadiums, Fan Zones, and transport hubs.

Around 50% of the volunteer roles will be focused on spectator services. This includes building the crowd atmosphere, helping people find their way around the stadiums, and answering any questions visitors might have.

Getting your event volunteers ready

I think we’ve established that volunteers are vital to the smooth running of any and every event. The level of training they receive is also vital. Volunteers could be meeting people who have never visited the local area before. Seeing a friendly face is likely to make all the difference to their experience.

This is why it’s important to provide suitable training to all volunteers. While some training requires face-to-face delivery, it doesn’t mean digital can’t be involved. Being able to track whether volunteers have completed training and what steps they have to take next saves time and effort.

For instance, EURO 2022 began training their volunteers in April. Their training includes material specific to the role they signed up for as well as the stadium or host city they will be working in.

Accreditation

Alongside training, accreditation passes are another key thing to prepare. Volunteers that have completed all the necessary requirements and are authorised to be at the venue(s) will be given passes.

With TeamKinetic, you can automatically create Accreditation Badges for specific events or single opportunities. We also have a version specifically created for events – AccessKinetic.

Keeping them updated

Communication is the foundation of good volunteer management. Whether you’re building relationships with your volunteers or keeping them up-to-date on what’s going on in the run up to an event.

Nowadays, all good volunteer management systems will allow you to send emails, SMS text messages, notifications, and share to social media.

Furthermore, the ability to use chat rooms (like in TeamKinetic!) is an added bonus. WhatsApp is a popular medium for instant communications, yet it has its risks. Aside from the big issues like data protection, instant messaging services open the door for unfiltered communications and the potential sharing of misinformation.

With opportunity-specific chat rooms, volunteers can communicate with one another and the opportunity provider. This means they can post questions, build relationships with the people they’ll be working alongside, and offer their peers support. All this is possible before, during and after the event.

An example of an opportunity chat room within TeamKinetic

Rewarding all that hard work

While volunteering at such a prestigious event is a reward all on its own, the people giving their time still deserve appreciation.

For example, all EURO 2022 event volunteers will receive a uniform to keep as a momento after the tournament is over. They’ll also undoubtedly receive post-event communications thanking them for their contributions.

Providing these momentos and setting up automated communications after the event is a great way to show your appreciation and possibly convince your volunteers to apply for your future events. Other ways you can show appreciation are through paying expenses and sending them a thank you card. However, the possibilities are endless, just check out this blog on how else you can reward your volunteers.

Adopting your own system

Interested in speeding up your volunteer registrations and reducing administrative burden? Look into adopting a volunteer management system. You can start with TeamKinetic. We’d be happy to take you through a demo of our system, just reach out via the live chat on our website or email me at alex@teamkinetic.co.uk.

We’ve worked on a range of events, both in and out the world of sport. For example, the Rugby League chose us to deliver their accreditation needs for the Super League Grand Final. Meanwhile, we’ve also been providing our services to the Liverpool FC Foundation for a few years now.

Want a dedicated team with the experience to match? Look no further, choose TeamKinetic.

It’s time to recognise and celebrate your volunteers!

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On 26th May 2022

In Community, Volunteer Management

Today is the day! The beginning of Volunteers’ Week is here (in the UK). Are you ready to celebrate your volunteers and the impact they’ve made?

We know how important volunteers are to organisations across the UK – Volunteers’ Week is a time to show your gratitude. This year Volunteers’ Week crosses over with the #MonthofCommunity, have you thought about the ways you can incorporate your community in your celebrations?

Celebrate the achievements.

The main focus is to celebrate your volunteers and their hard work, but it can be a time to raise awareness of the benefits. This goes for those volunteering and those whose volunteering efforts have helped.

Benefits for volunteers include connecting with others, increasing a volunteer’s social skills and making new friends. Volunteering can also help a volunteer’s mind – mental health is important and becoming a volunteer can help this. For those looking to advance their career, volunteering is a brilliant way to gain develop skills to help with this.

There are a plethora of benefits to volunteering; Volunteers’ Week can show those on the fence that volunteering really is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

Celebrate your volunteers’ impact.

Show your volunteers just how much they have helped your organisation- show them the numbers (so to speak!) People are much more likely to start volunteering, or get up and volunteer again if they’re able to see first-hand the impact they can/are making.

Letting a volunteer know what they’re impact is can be the greatest way that volunteers are celebrated this week. While there are many ways you can measure the impact a volunteer has made, just by simply letting them know about the difference they’ve made can raise spirits.

We know for many organisations they rely solely on volunteers to run- without them, what are organisations supposed to do? Keeping volunteers onboard is crucial, and Volunteers’ Week can help you keep them closer than ever.

What are you waiting for?

Why don’t you combine Volunteers’ Week, the #MonthofCommunity and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee? Celebrate all three at the Big Jubilee lunch tomorrow – a day of milestones for many. Whichever way you decide to thank your volunteers over the next week- let us know! Tweet us over at @TeamKineticUK or find us on Facebook and Instagram under the same name- we want to hear from you!

TeamKinetic Awards!

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On 18th May 2022

In Awards and Prizes, News & Views

We don’t normally like to toot our own horn, but over the past few years we’ve been involved in some exciting projects and we’ve won some awards too! Much like with volunteers, we have to celebrate our hard work and give ourselves a little bit of a round of applause… 

iNetwork Awards

The iNetwork Awards celebrate and share innovation across the local public sector and its partner organisations. 

In 2021 we won two awards: 

  • The COVID-19 Response Recognition Award. A brand new category, which recognises the response and recovery to the unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • The Partner Excellence Award. This celebrates innovation, collaboration, efficiency and going the extra mile in partnership working.

Both awards were won alongside Halton and St Helens Voluntary and Community Action (HSHVCA) for our combined work on their Volunteer Portal. The programme had a significant impact on supporting local residents through the pandemic. Over 32,000 people were supported by volunteers who registered on the portal to support others. The portal and the app, displayed how volunteers and community tasks can be managed more efficiently through a collaborative, digital approach.

You can read our blog post about the awards or have some information about the work with Halton and St Helens. 

TechForce-19

In August 2020, NHSx (in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) asked the Health Innovation Network (HIN) to undertake an evaluation to better understand digitally supported micro-volunteering models operating in the field of health and social care. This report presents learning from the evaluation and is aimed at an audience of commissioners and policymakers to inform their strategies around micro-volunteering.

TeamKinetic was selected to be one of the products evaluated after being commissioned through Techforce 19 in direct response to the COVID crisis. The lessons from the last 2 years as identified in this evaluation are digitally supported voluntary action that is delivered right in the heart of local communities is essential to resilience and should be considered an essential part of commissioners and policymakers thinking when looking at developing stronger neighbourhoods and communities and social care support.

TeamKinetic is proud to be part of this work. We have seen micro-volunteering as one strand in a wide range of potential interventions that broaden accessibility and inclusion in volunteering as well as the wider voluntary sector. Meanwhile, they also provide a lower-cost solution to community-based social care. Local digital solutions like ours allow local stakeholders to take direct ownership and control, empowering communities to become more resilient with much greater levels of trust and agency.

You can read the evaluation and take a look at our thoughts for more information. 

LGC Awards

Council's climate response shortlisted for national award | News Centre - Official news site of Calderdale Council

The LGC Awards exist to identify, celebrate and help spread the finest example of innovation and quality delivered by councils on a daily basis. Winning an LGC Award has become the most sought-after accolade in local government.

In 2021 we made the shortlist for two LGC Awards: 

  • Campaign of the Year. For our #StHelensTogether community response to COVID-19 in collaboration with St Helens Borough Council.
  • Technology. For our work with Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action (HSHVCA) on their volunteering portal at the start of the pandemic.

Kindocoin SBRI Challenge

Launch of Health Innovation South East Scotland website - Edinburgh Bioquarter

This was a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by The Can Do Fund and hosted by Health Innovation South East Scotland Innovation. HISES is the East Region Test Bed in NHS Scotland. The aim was to develop a prototype solution to increase volunteering in the community to support delayed discharges. 

We were awarded a contract to work with five test beds across Scotland in 2020. Our task was to develop a feasible solution that will enable people awaiting discharge from hospital to be connected with a volunteer who, with their approval, will be available to support them in safely getting settled back in their home.

You can read more about the SBRI project on their website, in preparation for the launch of Phase 1 in August. 

How to develop an inclusive and accessible volunteer experience

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On 13th April 2022

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

Being inclusive and accessible are integral to modern society – particularly so in the third sector. Allowing as many people as possible to get involved is great for everyone. This is something that we aspire to at TeamKinetic – we’re constantly striving to be as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Inclusive vs Accessible – What’s the difference?

A variety of people are pictured, promoting an inclusive and accessible environment.

Accessibility focuses on designing a user experience that meets the needs of everyone in your audience. Ensuring something is accessible is likely to be the difference between a user being able to do something or not.

Accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. Everyone deserves the same levels of access and no one should feel excluded.

Inclusivity, on the other hand, involves creating an experience with a wide range and variety of users in mind. This includes thinking about their various abilities, environments, situations, and contexts.

While inclusivity doesn’t address a specific user need, it does ensure that there are a range of tools and features that help all users feel comfortable. Inclusive measures (or lack of), are likely to be the difference between someone wanting to do something or not.

What are TeamKinetic doing?

With regular system updates, we’re continually looking for ways to improve the inclusive and accessible nature of our features. In the past, we have integrated several key accessibility measures into our system.

Now, our system has in-built adaptive technologies to help open the door for everyone to volunteer, from screen-readers to WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Our inclusive design looks at how we broaden our appeal so all users have an equal opportunity. We have done this via:

  • Dual language interface for our work in Wales.
  • Introducing blind recruitment processes.
  • Add-ons such as Recite-Me provide tools such as multilingual screen reading.
  • Site size and colour contrast adjust.
  • Other site translation (integrating Google Translate).

Organisations must adhere to laws surrounding accessible design, you can read more on the UK law here.

How can my organisation be more inclusive and accessible?

  • Do you face problems with attracting volunteers from diverse backgrounds?
  • Does the thought of creating a fully inclusive and accessible onboarding process overwhelm you?
  • Have you experienced barriers to making changes?

If you find that your organisation is struggling with any of the things mentioned above, the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) hosted a great session on this.

Event: Making an inclusive and accessible recruitment and onboarding experience

During the event, we heard from Amy McGarvey (Research Manager) from NCVO who shed light on the effect of the pandemic on volunteering. The key findings were:

  • Volunteer numbers in general decreased from pre-pandemic numbers. It is estimated that there is around 1/5 fewer people volunteering now in comparison to figures from 2019.
  • The number of volunteers with a disability has decreased.
  • Digital solutions are seen as a barrier and an enabler. Some felt excluded by the move to digital methods, whereas it may have opened the door for a more inclusive pool of volunteers.

We also learned that organisations have various barriers to inclusion. These are:

  • Lack of resources, time, and capacity.
  • Recognising everyone is different and being unaware of how to cater to every individual need. 
  • Volunteers not being honest about extra support they may need. 
  • EDI not being valued as much as it should be and facing resistance from others in the organisation when trying to make changes.

We learned that the volunteer experience can be made more inclusive by seeing volunteer well-being as a the focus. Cost-effective actions that celebrate volunteers and their differences are seen to be effective, e.g. celebrating a variety of cultural events, using diverse imagery in promotional materials, and ensuring all language is inclusive. Overall, making sure volunteers feel supported is a foundational aspect of improving your inclusivity.

Find out more about the event by going to the AVM website. 

You can also read our Is Your Pool of Volunteers Diverse and Inclusive? blog. It includes the latest sector stats as well as advice on how you can improve your own diversity and inclusivity.

Interested in volunteer management tools?

Why not take a look at TeamKinetic? You can even start a 30-day free trial with absolutely no payment details required. Just head over to our website.

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.

TeamKinetic – 2.1.1 Interim Release

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On 14th February 2022

In Application Features and Tutorials, TeamKinetic Features, Technical Updates

Only a month since the last interim release and here we are again!

As you can tell from the version number bump this is a mostly minor release but there are a few goodies in there.

Email Failure Reports

Our Enterprise level customers can now see a report of the last month’s email failures. This includes hard bounces, where the email was returned for some reason and could not be delivered, rejects where the email address does not exist, and spam responses where the user has reported the email as spam.

In the case of rejects and hard bounces, the volunteer or provider email is marked as INVALID and in the case of spam reports they are marked as DO NOT SEND EMAILS. In both cases the email address will no longer be sent any bulk group, or weekly emails.

We are working on including the email content and subect so that you know which email raised the error and failed.

Event Area Updated

The event area has now been updated to match the look and functionality of the volunteer and opportunity search and manage pages. It looks a lot easier on the eye and for those of you that run a lot of events, you can now easily search them.

Storage Improvements

We’ve mow moved nearly all of the image and document storage to Amazon’s S3 which should improve load and caching times for images like the opportunity images, event images, downloadable documents etc.

There will not be any visible changes and it should be totally transparent to our customers.

Club Functionality Integrated

For those enterprise customers that use ClubKinetic, this has all been integrated into the main top menu bar under the, obvious heading, clubs!

The pages have also been updated to match the layout and functionality of the main areas.

New Qualifications Search Filter

For those customers that use volunteer qualifications you can now filter your volunteers on their uploaded qualifications.

Refreshed and Update News Area

For the administrators the news area has been refreshed and now looks and acts the same as the main areas of the application.

More Sortable Tables

We’ve added some simple sorting to tables that are not paged through many records, for instance the open opportunities table on the admin dashboard. Just click the column header to sort and each time you click the sort direction will be reversed.

There are also the normal smaller bug fixes and visual immprovements throughout the application. Many thanks to everyone that opens support tickets with ideas or lets us know if something isn’t working properly.

You’ll already be on the new release by the time you read this, so enjoy and get in touch if you have any comments.

Thanks, TeamKinetic

TeamKinetic – 2.10 Interim Release

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On 19th January 2022

In TeamKinetic Features, Technical Updates

Hot on the heels of 2.09 from December we have another interim release for you. This one focuses on improvements to the expenses functionality after feedback and suggestions from our fantastic users. As always though, there is plenty of stuff to talk about.

Volunteer Expenses Improvements

Volunteers now have a few more options; they can update their bank details at anytime, delete unprocessed expense claims, and quickly view any current claims. Additionally if the claim has not yet been processed the volunteer can also update any of the details. We’ve also adjusted the layout so it looks better on small and mobile screens.

Administrator Expense Improvements

Administrators can now create a new expense claim for any volunteer without impersonating them. Just tap in the name of the volunteer and complete the form, dead easy.

When exporting the expense details to a CSV, we now include a link to the uplaoded receipt file if it exists, which makes it easier to pass the details on to a different department.

The volunteer’s bank details are now also visible and editable on their management page. All processed claims when marked as paid, are stored along with the bank account details that were recorded at that time, so you will have a nice audit trail if accounts change.

New Custom Emails

We’ve added a couple of new custom email and also split the emails up into three tabs; sent to volunteers, providers and admins.

You can now edit the password reset email to add more information and instruciton if your volunteers are struggling. This email was previously sent but was not customisable.

We’ve also added a brand new process for when a volunteer removes themselves (see below) from the system and we’ve added a custom email to go along with that process.

New Restore Feature For Volunteers

Previously when a volunteer deleted their own account they were taken back to the homepage and their data and login details were immediately removed.

Now the new custom email (see above) is sent and the volunteer is given some information about what happens now; when their data is destroyed etc. Most importantly, the email contains a special link that the volunteer can use to restore their account if they change their mind, or in case of a mistake. The volunteer has 48 hours to restore the account before its removed.

More Customisable Registration Fields

We’ve added the data sharing confirmation questions to those that are customisable from the super admin pages. So you can now update the label and the tool tip for these fields.

We’ve also improved the tool tip recognition code for your customised registration fields so they show more effectively now.

Dual Language Support for Custom Questions

We did previously support dual language for custom questions but now super admins can edit and adjust all their own custom questions at anytime from the same interface as the main language questions.

Dual Language Support for Customised Registration Questions

Additionally super admins can now also adjust the text, labels and tool tips for all the required registration questions instead of relying on the fixed translations.

Provider Search Speed Improvements

You may have noticed the provider search page was slowing down and took a number of seconds to return the first set of providers. These slowdowns when using the same database query as previous are due to table size effects and data complexity. The same query works fine upto a tipping point, then its slows down precipitously. The query has been redesigned and is now nice and snappy again.

As this is an interim release, we dont have the beta test period we employ with our larger release. This means this release will be hitting your browsers this week. Get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.

Thank you.

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