Tag: Volunteer managers Page 1 of 2

TeamKinetic 2022 Round-Up

By

On 20th December 2022

In News & Views

The end of 2022 is fast approaching – what better time than now to look back at the past year with a TeamKinetic 2022 round-up?

It’s been another challenging year for everyone, but the amazing work done by volunteer-involving organisations continues.

We have had a year full of development, with regular updates and one major release. We also had a few staff highlights, like Rolf’s volunteering-filled trip to Borneo and Alex seeing England take home the Women’s EURO 2022 trophy.

January – March

In January we started our own podcast! Chris had been wanting to start one for a while, but at the start of the year we finally took the plunge and TeamTalk with TeamKinetic was born.

We kicked things off with Season 1, featuring Willowbrook Hospice, The Pankhurst Trust, Manchester City Council and the Association of Volunteer Managers.

Find and listen to all our current episodes below.


We also brought out a 2.1.1 Interim Release that included new features like email failure reports, more sortable tables, and a refresh to the news feature.

April & May

In April, the Kindocoin SBRI project officially launched Phase 2. TeamKinetic is one of two companies developing and evaluating our prototype solution in a real-world setting. You can read more about what we’ve been working on here, along with more information from Health Innovation South East Scotland.

In May, we attended Volunteer Expo – a fantastic event that connects communities and brings together many sectors under one roof to celebrate what it is that unites us. There were a range of interesting talks held at the event, but one that really caught our eye was the launch of the Vision for Volunteering.

There are five threads of the launch:
1. Awareness and Appreciation,
2. Equity and Inclusion,
3. Experimentation,
4. Collaboration
5. Power

For each of these themes, the Vision for Volunteering highlights their ambitions and what volunteering should be like 10 years from now.

June

In June we said hello to our new Marketing Coordinator, Isabella! You can read her introductory blog here.

However, that meant we had to say goodbye to Katie as she returned to her final year at university to finish her degree. We wish Katie the best of luck and hope to continue seeing her at occasional TeamKinetic socials!

As is always the case with new arrivals and staff members leaving, we had to go on a little work social. We made our way over to Roxy Ball Room to have a few games of shuffleboard and crazy pool – along with a few drinks of course!

@teamkineticuk

did we know the rules of shuffleboard before this? no. do we now? …still no.

♬ FEEL THE GROOVE – Queens Road, Fabian Graetz

July and August

In July, we restarted the TeamKinetic Masterclasses! These seem to have been well received and hopefully, we can continue them into the new year.

If you have any suggestions for topics you might like to see covered in the future, please let us know. Either reach out via email or through our website’s live chat.

You can see most of our Masterclasses over on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

In August, we announced our next major update, the TeamKinetic 2.20 Major Release. We invited our users to start beta testing to iron out any remaining bugs and received lots of helpful feedback.

September

September saw the return of the TeamKinetic annual conference! This year we brought a range of exciting speakers from across the third sector together, all tying into our main conference theme:

‘Volunteering to 2030: What might the future look like?’

Day One took a deeper look at the TeamKinetic system as it stands today and how it could change in the future. Day Two focused on the third sector as a whole. Our speakers shared their views on best volunteer management practices and how managers may need to adapt for the future.

If you couldn’t attend the conference, don’t worry, you can catch up on some of the sessions in this playlist.

 October

After the warm reception for Season 1, we decided to refresh the format of our TeamTalk Podcast. Season 2 saw the introduction of a co-host: Imogen Greatbatch! Chris and Imogen delved into the world of sport volunteering together, talking to a range of people from organisations such as Sport England, British Blind Sport, and Formula E.

Who knows what’s in store for season 3… If you have any suggestions or would like to be in an episode please do let us know by contacting either Chris or Alex.

November

In early November, after meticulous testing and taking in all user feedback, we rolled out the update across all sites. The new update included:
– A new system for creating opportunities.
– Better sharing options via LinkWide & the national Scottish system MILO.
– Bulk email scheduling.
– Reporting improvements
and much more!

We also headed out on a work social. We got some drinks, ate some pizza and headed over to the lovely Albert Hall to play some Bongo’s Bingo. I think it’s safe to say some of us played more bingo than others…

December

And here we are now, in December. We just rolled out two exciting new features: Admin Chat and Bulk Actions on Sessions.

The Admin Chat gives all our admin users a space to interact with each other. Whether it be a general chat or sharing your volunteer management hints and tips. The new Bulk Actions on Sessions allows you greater control over editing multiple opportunity sessions in one go.

It’s been an eventful year, one we can really build on in the future. We hope to continue to grow as a company and make the TeamKinetic system the best it can be.

Thank you for coming on this journey with us.

All that’s left to say is Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to those that celebrate. And, finally, have a Happy New Year – we’ll see you in 2022! 

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 G2, we’d really appreciate it! We’ll even send you a little thank you.

Our Round Up Of The Year 2021

By

On 22nd December 2021

In Christmas, Community, News & Views

With t-minus 3 days until Christmas Day, we wanted to look back at our 2021 with a round up! It’s been another tough year for everyone, but we’ve managed to find some light in moments this year. From award shows to blossoming partnerships, 2021 has been a year of developments for TeamKinetic.

Let’s have a look at our year in numbers.

January – March

The year started very much as this one is finishing, much to everyone’s frustration.

Volunteering was still very much on the agenda as we saw vaccination programs in full swing across the country. We were really proud to support a whole range of organisations mobilising an amazing army of volunteers.

People talk about the Anti-Vax brigade but we can tell you first-hand the Pro-Vax crowd are amazing and were out in force at the start of the year, and we take our hats off to each and every one of them!

March brought some wonderful news when we were honoured to be awarded ‘The Partner Excellence’ and the ‘COVID-19 Response Recognition’ awards for our work with Halton and St Helens Voluntary Community Action at the iNetwork awards. It was a huge achievement for TeamKinetic and our partners and a milestone we won’t be forgetting – especially for the recognition of our efforts throughout COVID.

March round up

The key achievements from our work with Halton and St Helens saw 1,744 volunteers registered and together they offered 8,688 volunteering hours. Our volunteer support economic value offered £80,796 during the first six months of the programme. For those feeling lonely or isolated, we were able to support 16,161 telephone calls to make those feel a little less lonely during repeated lockdowns and restrictions. Overall, we were able to support 32,993 in such a short amount of time and we can’t be more proud of the project.

We can’t thank Halton and St Helens VCA and St Helens Council enough; along with every single amazing volunteer for your commitment and drive, you make it all worthwhile. If you haven’t seen their short video on how important volunteers were during COVID, spend a couple of minutes and check it out.

May and June

Moving onto May, we held our first online conference, focusing on COVID-19, and what happens next. We’d like to say thank you to all our speakers and to those 140 people who attended. With talks from the likes of Gethyn Williams, Dr Jurgen Grotz, Kathryn Palmer-Skillings and our own Chris Martin, the conference was a success!

We do have a quick wrap-up video that you can check out here.

In June we said some hellos! We welcomed Alex back into the fold. Having already completed her placement year at TeamKinetic, we welcomed back a familiar face. You can read her (re)introduction to TeamKinetic life, here. 

Coming back to TeamKinetic has been great! I’m grateful to the team for offering me this position straight out of university and I’m looking forward to what we can achieve next.

Alex

We also welcomed a fresh face to the team: Katie. Along with Alex, Katie also wrote an introductory blog post which you can read here.

It’s been a whirlwind of a time since I joined in June and I can’t wait to see what comes next in the next six months.

Katie

With new welcomes, we said some goodbyes at the start of July. We said goodbye to Chloe and Sammy, who were our 2020/21 placement students. They took charge of the TeamKinetic conference and supplied you with dog pictures on our Twitter. Alex and Katie are more cat people, and so our pet content has changed significantly over the past couple of months (much to Chloe and Sammy’s dismay).

Both Chloe and Sammy are well underway with their final year at university. We’re wishing them the best of luck seeing out the rest of their degree.

July and August

Rolf, Steve and Chris on the Razzle

July saw us return to the office full-time as we thought the world was getting back to normal.  It also saw the return of the legendary TeamKinetic staff night out, I must apologise to Chloe, Sammy, Katie and Alex as the night was so messy this appears to be the only surviving picture of these 3 ugly mugs!

August saw the launch of TeamKinetic 2.0 the latest all-singing and dancing version of TeamKinetic. Unlike previous updates, this one was a monster with more new features and controls than anything we had done before. Not only that we had updated and replaced all the old legacy code with a new and improved code base.  Steve and Rolf worked day and night to get it ready and after it launched to find and fix those pesky bugs.

This new code base has set us up to be able to continue to improve the service quicker and hopefully will ensure you guys have the very best technology available for the next few years. 

September

In September, we were so proud to announce our partnership with the Association of Volunteer Managers. Founder, Chris Martin, detailed our hopes for the next 12 months, some of which we’ve started on already… 

Over the next 12 months, we will be working with the team at AVM to develop some accessible resources and materials that you might find useful if you are thinking about how you might use digital. We will be exploring what type of member offers and benefits you might like from us to make it easy and affordable for you to look at digital volunteer management and most importantly we hope to get to know you all a little bit better.

Chris

You can watch Chris and Ruth at AVM discuss the new partnership below. We’re excited to see what can become of this partnership with AVM heading into 2022.

We also worked with the guys in Scotland to help them launch their first ever cross-sector heritage volunteer campaign called Make your Mark. The ambition of the campaign was fantastic, how can they recruit a new generation of heritage volunteers and how can they broaden inclusion and accessibility to a whole group of new people. We were really happy to be part of the program and that TeamKinetic was to be used to drive the recruitment campaign. You can watch their launch video here, it’s pretty cool.

 October

October brought Halloween and our sponsorship of AVM’s annual conference. The two-day conference opened up insightful conversations with speakers that really got us thinking! It was our first time sponsoring the event and it was really nice to support something we have attended for so long.

It was also really lovely to catch up with people and see a number of faces we hadn’t seen in a while, even if it was just over Zoom, who knows what next year might look like but fingers crossed for catching up over the buffet or a glass of wine.

October also brought the first of our talks regarding digital volunteer management with the Charity Retail Association. We really wanted 2021 to be the year we looked at how we could better support the wider sector and working with both Charity Retail and AVM were key decisions that would enable us to share our knowledge and support the wider sector.

If you were there, I hope our 30/40 minute talk was insightful for those attending, and we hope we will be doing more of these in the new year.

November Talks:

November round up

We had a quick start to November with the Local Government Chronicle Awards. Once again, we were nominated in two categories, for our work over the past year with Halton and St Helens. The categories were Campaign of the Year and Technology. While we didn’t win, it was an honour to be nominated. We have to thank everyone at Halton and St Helens and the volunteers for creating such a successful project.
(Chris also enjoyed a night away in London maybe a little too much if his hangover was anything to go by!) 

We also were honoured to be asked to talk at COP26. The invitation came from the team running Make Your Mark in Scotland. We also heard from the likes of Chester Zoo, the National History Museum and Rob Jackson. It was another insightful day, which Katie personally enjoyed live tweeting her way through.

Volunteering, like every sphere of human life, needs to look at its role in climate change and it was really inspiring to hear what is happening and what you can do to make a change.

If you missed it why not check it out here:

The middle of November meant it was time to head down south for the day. Jumping on the train to London, we met up with the Charity Retail Association for their People Management Group – a successful hybrid event we spoke at. This was the first hybrid event we’ve attended, and we wanted to highlight the work put in by the team to make sure everything ran smoothly. While half of the attendees weren’t in the room, it never felt like they were anywhere else (apart from the leftover lunches!) We want to thank the CRA for including us in multiple of their events over 2021, and we hope to be continuing this into 2022.

Being back in person at an event was great and it felt like it was all going to be plain sailing moving into 2022, little did we know what was about to change everything!

December Celebrations:

In December, the Health Innovation Network (HIN) on behalf of NHSX released an evaluation into the value of micro-volunteering applications during the global pandemic. We were really excited to be a key contributor to the findings. The findings were also positive towards TeamKinetic and our approach to localised Micro-volunteering community response.

Through the use of these applications, over 100,000 individuals carried out 1.5 million tasks for the vulnerable during the global pandemic. Evidence suggests that micro-volunteering engages a willing volunteer force and addresses unmet community needs. It was also clear that the pandemic drove interest into the value of these platforms.

You can access the full evaluation summary report by clicking here.

We also managed to squeeze in our Christmas party and our annual Christmas jumper day which was fun.

December has not quite turned out as we would have liked. There are refreshed calls for Volunteers to support the booster campaign. It’s all starting to feel a little like Groundhog Day as we find ourselves back in a COVID-induced crisis.

It’s been an uncertain year at times. While we’re still waiting for the days we can ‘go back to normal’, we think we’ve managed to have another successful year and that we have helped to make volunteering that little bit easier and more accessible.

If we have learned anything from 2021, it’s that you can’t plan too far in advance. You should enjoy the simple things in life and take the small victories where you can find them. You just can’t be sure what’s around the corner.

All that’s left to say is Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to those that celebrate. And, finally, have a Happy New Year – we’ll see you in 2022! 

Why I’m over the moon to be partnering with the Association of Volunteer Managers

By

On 29th September 2021

In News & Views

A message from our Sales Director, Chris Martin, on what it means to be partnering with AVM.  

This month has seen the culmination of a conversation that started 5 years ago, and I’m absolutely delighted to finally announce that TeamKinetic will be the very first corporate partner of the Association of Volunteer Managers.  

Since starting TeamKinetic, I have been working away sharing the gospel of digital volunteer management. Having come from a sports and events background I was unaware of the richness and diversity of the wider volunteering world. I knew it existed, but I didn’t really appreciate the depth and breadth of it. 

As I became more enlightened about volunteering outside of my comfort zone, I was lucky enough to stumble upon the work of the Association of Volunteer Managers and their learning and development days.  

The first thing I felt when attending this event was the warmth of the welcome, and despite some of the volunteers and staff having changed over the years, the openness and welcoming atmosphere hasn’t changed one bit. It was a revelation to see this organisation run by volunteers doing what they were for the greater good of the sector. I think as early as that first session back in 2015 I was already thinking about how I could get involved.

It goes without saying that there is so much more than a warm welcome and a lovely group of people, the AVM’s work is essential and over the following 5 years we at TeamKinetic have been really proud to support their events where we could, but I always felt there was potential to do more.

Being the first at anything comes with its own set of challenges and this was no different.  As an organisation, the board at AVM needed to develop its own understanding of how a partnership might work and what it might like to offer a potential partner. They also wanted to make sure that any organisation they worked with share their values and beliefs about volunteer management. Over the last 5 years it’s been a real pleasure getting to know some of the people who make AVM what it is, working on the occasional project and talking about how we might support each other’s work. So although we are now announcing our official partnership, it feels like we have been unofficial partners for quite a while.  

So, here we are, the very first corporate partner and we are so excited to get started.  

It’s my hope that as TeamKinetic we can bring some real value to the AVM. TeamKinetic’s mission is to make volunteering easier and we want to share with you our experience and knowledge about digital transformation and how to use digital tools to manage your volunteers.

We also believe that every organisation, no matter how big or small can access and afford these digital tools without any fear of cost or growth. We appreciate not everyone will want to use TeamKinetic but I think what we have to say will have the potential to positively impact your work.

Over the next 12 months, we will be working with the team at AVM to develop some accessible resources and materials that you might find useful if you are thinking about how you might use digital. We will be exploring what type of member offers and benefits you might like from us to make it easy and affordable for you to look at digital volunteer management and most importantly we hope to get to know you all a little bit better.

We are sure this is just the start of a long and mutually beneficial partnership with the fantastic team at AVM and if you have any questions or suggestions of the type of content we can create for you then please do get in touch with me and let me know. 

I really look forward to seeing you all at the conference this year, please do say hello if you spot me.  

Chris Martin. 
Sales Director. 
Chris@teamkinetic.co.uk

TeamKinetic is officially the first partner of the Association of Volunteer Managers.

By

On 23rd September 2021

In News & Views, Press Releases

TeamKinetic are excited to announce that they will be the first official corporate partner of the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM.) Since discovering their work 5 years ago, they have been a passionate advocate for the importance of the AVM. TeamKinetic welcomes this formal partnership. 

Both organisations share the same passion and desire to progress the professionalism of those who involve volunteers. AVM’s goal as an independent membership body is one that supports, represents and champions people in volunteer management in the UK regardless of field, discipline or sector. As an organisation primarily run by volunteers TeamKinetic is proud to be able to directly support their work as a partner as they offer training, campaign on key issues and provide peer to peer support to volunteer managers. 

The partnership is hoping to offer the membership added value and over the next few months will be looking to announce a number of special offers only available to AVM members and supporters. TeamKinetic have spent the last 13 years on the edge of customer-led innovation surrounding digital volunteering and will be continuing to support the campaigns undertaken by AVM. They are looking forward to sharing their experience and knowledge with the AVM members. 

Sales Director, Chris Martin has expressed his gratitude towards Jo Gibney and Ruth Leonard “for all their hard work in helping to make this a reality and I sincerely hope we can continue to support the wonderful work and development of AVM for a long time to come.” 

Chair of AVM, Ruth Leonard says “this is a really exciting next step for the organisation and will enable us to think about how we can offer more to volunteer managers. AVM is proud of our heritage of being run by and for our members and want to be able to remain relevant into the future. TeamKinetic’s enthusiasm and support for AVM has been clear throughout our shared working and I’m looking forward to develop this further.”  

For any organisations or individuals who work with Volunteers, that are not already aware of the AVM and their work, you can visit their site to learn more on becoming a member. 

Get in Touch…

If you’d like to know more about AVM, you can access their website here. 

You can contact the team here at TeamKinetic through our website, or call on 0161 914 5757. 

How to get your volunteers to log hours

By

On 19th July 2021

In News & Views, TeamKinetic Features, Volunteer Management

Volunteering at its core is an entirely selfless activity completed by people with no expectation of acknowledgement. Despite this, we believe volunteers deserve to be rewarded for their hard work. But how do you do this without them logging hours? 

Why is logging hours so important?

In short, data. This data is key to your organisation to:

  • Measure success. Logged hours can represent the amount of work your volunteers are doing for their community or particular cause. 
  • Track your audience. Knowing which volunteers are continually volunteering and which ones aren’t could be incredibly insightful. Is there a particular demographic volunteering more than others? Is there a demographic that is hard to retain? This data could uncover aspects that need to change, leading onto our next point…
  • Make improvements. No volunteering programmes are perfect, but the best ones regularly review and make changes to improve. If there’s a particular demographic that isn’t returning, why?

So how do I persuade volunteers to log their hours?

  • Show them how easy it is. Showing volunteers how quickly they can log hours might help them 
  • Incentivise! Offering rewards can be a great way to get volunteers logging their hours. However, the best way to do this is to offer low-value rewards as often as possible. 
  • Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation. Imagine this: you offer one big prize (e.g. a hoodie), after a volunteer has logged 100 hours. They log hours as a way of reaching that prize, but once they reach those 100 hours they lose motivation to log future hours – or worse, return at all. (Extrinsic motivation)
    However, if you offer small rewards such as thank you messages they will be consistently motivated by the positive way the act makes them feel. (Intrinsic motivation)

Intrinsic motivation is all about making your volunteers continually feel good about the work they’re doing and the difference they’re making, rather than working towards one particular reward. 

So how do you keep up this motivation? Giving them nice feedback is a great place to start! This will show how much you value them and will mean more to them than you may think. 

Utilising TeamKinetic to Incentivise Volunteers

Leaving Feedback

TeamKinetic allows you to leave feedback when logging a volunteer’s hours. If you forget or don’t have time to personally thank your volunteer at the end of their session, this section gives you the chance to do so. It also lets the volunteer log their own hours and leave feedback about the opportunity they joined.

Ask anyone who has volunteered – receiving feedback is a great feeling and can push volunteers to return and continue volunteering for you.

Achievement Badges

This incentive is a great way to push your volunteers to log more hours. Once a volunteer logs their hours, they will add together to create their total volunteer hours. A small way to help increase volunteers’ hours is to have achievement badges when they reach certain hour milestones.

TeamKinetic has achievement badges automatically built into the system. The achievement badge pictures and names can be customised. These badges are a great way to incentivise volunteers and get them to keep on volunteering so they can reach the next milestone.

Custom Badges

Have you ever thought about starting a ‘volunteer of the month’ award? To give your volunteers an extra incentive to volunteer more or make them feel appreciated? Yes? Keep reading, you may like what you see…

TeamKinetic allows you to create custom award badges for your volunteers. These could be ‘volunteer of the month’ or ‘volunteer of the year’. They can be absolutely anything you want and look however you want, with the fully customisable option! Once you have assigned the award to a volunteer, they will receive an email with the award in it to congratulate them. Again, this recognises the efforts your volunteers put in, helping you to retain more volunteers and hopefully gain more.

Logging hours with TeamKinetic

Logging hours with TeamKinetic is easy – as it should be on any volunteer management system. See below for the full process laid out in less than 25 seconds!

And if that’s not clear enough you can check out our full tutorial videos on logging hours as an opportunity provider and logging hours as a volunteer! 

Think it’s time to invest in volunteer management software?

You can start a free trial of TeamKinetic on our website. This will let you check out all our features for 30 days. If you like what you see, contact us to book a demo and see how we can help your organisation manage your 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.

Should I Be Using SMS Text Messages?

By

On 18th March 2021

In TeamKinetic Features, Volunteer Management

Yes, yes and yes. That is the first thing you see when you Google ‘Should I be using SMS text messages when managing volunteers?’. And the research isn’t wrong, using texts as a form of communication to your volunteers is incredibly beneficial. Not only does it improve communication, but it can also increase engagement and volunteer return rates. And let’s not forget the speedy responses that come from sending text messages, perfect for those time-sensitive situations.
However, the one thing you don’t really see when you Google this question is how beneficial SMS texts are from someone who is currently using them.

This is where we come in. If you are considering using SMS text messages but are still a bit unsure, hear from Claire at Halton and St Helens Volunteer Centre about her personal experiences using them.

Halton and St Helen’s Volunteer Centre

First, a little bit of background. Halton and St Helens is an organisation that provides advice, information and development support to voluntary, community, non-for-profit, faith organisations and volunteers in the Boroughs of St Helens and Halton. Here, Claire spoke to us about her experiences using SMS text messages in her TeamKinetic system.

1) When did you start using the SMS text message feature?

So, we started to use the text message feature fairly early on into the first lockdown of the pandemic. It was also around the same time that we first launched our TeamKinetic portal. 

In addition to this, it was around March/April that we had quite a substantial funding grant come through, which allowed us to buy a great big text bundle. And I already knew of the texts and how they worked from the work we have done with TeamKinetic before.

2) How do you use your text messages?

Initially, we used text messages for our volunteers who were supporting local residents during the pandemic with the community tasks. We would use the function to send a text to show they are a verified volunteer for us, this was pre the ID cards. It was a quick and easy way for us to give them something that was mobile that they could show the person they were working for that they were a verified volunteer. 

When the ID cards came into play on the community task dashboard, we started to use the texts to message our ‘Street Champions’ about ongoing tasks that hadn’t been picked up that needed to be done. I’d say that is the main way we used them now.

3) Do you find the SMS text messaging feature helpful in communicating to and engaging volunteers?

Yes, definitely. Between that and emails, we can have more of an impact in terms of communicating straight away with volunteers. And it’s that instant impact that is important for us particularly when there is an urgency in terms of volunteer support.

Recently we have also used them with our vaccination volunteers. For example,  when volunteers have dropped shifts and we have then asked other volunteers to quickly log in and see if they can pick up a shift. So, that’s been really helpful as we’ve now had full commitment and maximum volunteers throughout our vaccination programme which is great.

4) How have you benefited from the SMS text message feature compared to a time when you didn’t use them?

For me, it’s just an added bonus in terms of being able to communicate quite directly with that we’re not always in connection with and we don’t see physically. It wouldn’t even matter that much when we’re back into the ‘new normal’ after COVID-19 and we do see people on a regular basis. This is because the text messages would still be a massive benefit in terms of that quick turn around and communication with volunteer around shift patterns etc.

For example, we have worked with the TeamKinetic portal for years at Warrington Hospital, and we have never used the text message feature with them. This is mainly because we have never had the funding to be able to do that. But, again with some added funds, we have been able to out a little bit of a bundle on there too. So, we have now used it for when we have needed to contact our away finders, when there’s been an urgent need for people to support the vaccination centre, or when we’ve needed a quick turnaround on support. I think we could probably do that again going forwards, even when we start to bring our volunteers back, it will be a great tool.

We also use them differently in the Hospital in terms of the communication that we do in Halton and St Helens through the Volunteer Centre. So, with the Hospital it’s linked directly to a phone number which helps that two-way communication. With the Volunteer Centre, we actually just link it to a name so they understand it’s just from us and there’s no response from that.

5) What would you say to another organisation that is considering using the SMS text message feature but is still unsure?

For me, it’s a great way of quickly communicating and getting action from volunteers very quickly too. Particularly if you have got an event on for example or you are providing urgent response support;  it’s a great way of supporting that quick action of volunteers to get engaged, get involved, and get moving.

Thinking About Buying SMS Texts

If after reading this, you realise SMS texts would benefit your organisation and your volunteers, then check out this video explaining how to take up the offer!

Happy International Day of Charity

By

On 4th September 2020

In Charity

Every year, charities all over the world are using their resources to help support and provide hope to people in need. Now, today is the day we show our appreciation to all charities out there for the amazing work they do on a day-to-day basis. That’s why today’s blog post is all about saying THANK YOU and showing our appreciation of our charity clients!

First up…

British Blind Sport

British Blind Sport prides itself on making a visible difference through sport as we know that taking the first step into participating in a sporting or recreational activity can change lives for the better

– Alaina MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer

British Blind Sport is an amazing charity that helps the blind and partially sighted people get active and play sports. They encourage adults and children to participate in activities of all levels, from grassroots to the Paralympic Games. They believe that sporting opportunities should be available to everybody. It has been proven that sport can enhance the lives of people with visual impairments by improving their health and increasing their social interaction.

And you can help today in so many different ways. Have a look today to see how you can make a real difference through British Blind Sport by clicking here.

Dreams Come True

Dreams Come True are the only dreams granting charity that fulfils the dreams of children and young adults with such a wide range of medical conditions, locations and ages.

Dreams Come True exist to make the dreams of children and young adults come true; everyone has a dream, but the unfortunate reality is that some have less time to realise their dream. This is why Dreams Come True believe that having one moment where children can forget about the troubles they are currently facing, is a moment that they and their families get to treasure forever.

However, they can’t make any of this happen without support of others. Find out how you can help Dreams Come True today by clicking here!

Groundwork London

Groundwork London have the vision of a city where all communities are vibrant, healthy and safe. Where londoners feel empowered to come together and overcome the challenges they face, wherever they live, and whatever the circumstances or background. However, London continues to face many serious challenges. When these challenges are combined with reductions in public funding and services, it’s usually those who are most disadvantaged that are affected the most. That is why Groundwork designs projects to support these individuals and communities.

Every year they make an incredible impact on people and places in London. Last year they worked with communities across London to create and improve close to 1.9 million square metres of public parks, playgrounds, housing estates, community gardens, nature reserves, roof gardens and many more of London’s valuable public open spaces. 

They offer amazing support and advice, which you can find out about now by clicking here.

Into Games

Into-games is a wonderful charity which supports people finding rewarding careers in the games industry. Their projects connect education and industry while providing guidance for learners from primary school upwards. They do this to ensure that a career in the games sector is more accessible to a wider range of young people.

With Into-games, you can find a career, build a game, go to an event, get a mentor, and find opportunities with just a click of a button! Find out for yourself here.

Pankhurst Trust

The Pankhurst Trust was formed in 2014 as a merger between The Pankhurst Trust, which ran The Pankhurst Museum, and Manchester Women’s Aid. 

They aim to promote the equality of women, to help women suffering or at risk from domestic abuse, and to secure The Pankhurst Museum for public benefit.

This incredible charity work to ensure the powerful story of the women who won the vote continues to inspire us all to challenge gender inequality, and to ensure that those suffering domestic violence and abuse get the confidential help they need.

You can get involved today with The Pankhurst Trust by volunteering, fundraising, or donating.

Seashell Trust

The Seashell Trust is a charity dedicated to providing a creative, happy and secure environment for children and young people with complex and severe learning disabilities which include little or no language abilities. they have expert specialist teachers, care staff, onsite therapy team, assistive technologists, swimming teachers and sports coaches. All to allow their students to learn to express themselves, engage with the world, become more independent and live safe, creative and fulfilling lives.

You can start to work or volunteer for The Seashell Trust today by clicking here!

Willowbrook Hospice

Willowbrook Hospice is an independent charity established by local people to build and raise a specialist palliative care unit. Since the hospice opened in 1997, they have cared for over 9000 patients. During this time their services have grown so much that they now receive approximately 1000 patient referrals a year.

The volunteers at Willowbrook Hospice are an essential part of their team. They have event been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. You can join their award winning team today by clicking here. Or read about upcoming fundraising events or how you can fundraise yourself by clicking here.

So, we wanted to say…

From everyone at TeamKinetic, we thank you for the amazing work you all do every day of the year. We love working with you and providing you with volunteer management software to make running your organisation and volunteers that bit easier!

On another note, some of you reading this may not be using TeamKinetic, and might want to know what the big deal is? 

From £19 per month, TeamKinetic can help you to:

  • Expand your volunteer force with no limit on the number of volunteers you can have.
  • Create individual volunteer profiles.
  • Provide instant real-time reports.
  • Create and manage multiple opportunities.
  • Expand your volunteer reach through Facebook and Twitter.
  • Keep your volunteer’s personal data safe

But don’t just take our word for it, start your FREE trial with us today or simple book in for a demo by emailing chris@teamkinetic.co.uk

International Friendship Day

By

On 30th July 2020

In Events and Conferences

Happy International Friendship Day! A day to reflect and appreciate the friends you have. But this is also a day to create new friendships, and a great way to achieve this is through volunteering. But as a volunteer manager, how can you help your volunteers create friendships?

Research shows that one of the most common motivations for volunteers is the desire to meet new people and to make new friends. Volunteering can strengthen ties to communities and expose people to others with common interests; making creating new friends easier than ever.

Similarly, 70% of employees say friends at work is the most crucial element to a happy working life. Whether your work is paid, or unpaid, it is proven that you are likely to perform better when working with friends. Research also shows that 50% of employees with a friend at work feel a stronger connection with their company. This makes your organisation better and stronger.

Therefore, for volunteer managers, it is suggested that your volunteers are working in a friendly environment where they have the opportunity to make friends. If your volunteers become friends, that helps volunteer retention and therefore creates a stronger volunteer workforce for your organisation.

My Volunteering Experiences…

Here I am, in my two most favorite volunteering experiences (i’m the one with short blonde hair). This was where I volunteered for Once Upon a Smile at a bucket collection, and created a fundraising event for the RNLI.

My volunteering journey only started last year, during my second year studying Events Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. We would always receive emails about new volunteering opportunities that could help us engage further with the course.

I was extremely nervous to start volunteering as I can be quite a shy person. Despite this, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and start volunteering. I only started to volunteer so I could start making industry contacts and gain experience. Over time it then became so much easier to make friends when volunteering! This was from developing upon my social skills from meeting people with similar interests. Never did I think it would lead to some of the amazing friendships I have since made.

Volunteering allowed me to meet many students from my course who I had previously never spoken to (we had a VERY big class). This made the experience even better as I was able to engage with other people from my course who I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. These people later ended up becoming some of my best friends at university.

From my personal experiences, I can definitely say my volunteering experiences were improved by making friendships. It made volunteering even more enjoyable and made so many volunteers happier to know they are working with their friends. Having friendships made me feel connected with the company I was volunteering for, making me feel more confident within my roles.

So What Could Volunteer Managers Do – and How Can We Help?

We all know it is standard practice for volunteer managers to introduce volunteers to one another before their duties begin. This allows volunteers to get a sense of who they are working with before moving on to starting their duties. Similarly, you may also want to consider using a platform where your volunteers can communicate. This then gives volunteers the opportunity to communicate with people they have met during an opportunity, allowing friendships to flourish.

You might now be thinking, what could we possibly do to help? With TeamKinetic, volunteers can use the chat room function to talk (or ask questions) to their friends from the same opportunities. This encourages communication between volunteers and increases the likelihood of volunteers signing up to the same opportunities together. As a result, this feature of communication therefore allows the creation of those vital, long-lasting friendships through one easy to use system. Volunteers can also share opportunities to other volunteers through TeamKinetic. This feature is then further increasing the likelihood of friendships between volunteers being made within your organisation.

Also, did I mention it is FREE?! If you now want to find a system that allows you to manage your volunteers effectively whilst also helping volunteers create those vital friendship, you can simply start a FREE trial today! For more information and to start your FREE trial today, visit our website or call 01619145747.

Volunteer Managers in the ‘New Normal’

By

On 27th July 2020

In News & Views, Volunteer Management

Four months on from when the pandemic’s first case started and how life has changed! Shops, pubs, restaurants, cinemas and some attractions are finally starting to reopen with COVID-19 safety measures in place. Although an end appears to be in sight (fingers crossed there is no second wave), we are going to have to adapt to what has become the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future. What does this mean for volunteer managers?

1. Expect fewer former volunteers

Previously, the volunteer community was largely depended on the older generation. These volunteers have since decreased due to COVID-19 and the urgency to self-isolate. Before COVID-19, an estimated 10 million volunteered at least once a month. Initial findings have suggested that this figure has now halved. This is because many of the former volunteers are now classified as high risk. Meaning they have suspending their volunteering duties to shield or because they no longer feel safe. The knock on effect of this will potentially put millions of older or vulnerable people at risk from the loss of their social relationships by giving up volunteering.

What should volunteer managers do? We think volunteer managers should ensure they are still communicating with all volunteers who are now self-isolating. This can be sending updates in engaging newsletters, or by setting up group video calls to ensure former volunteers still get some form of interaction with their friends. You could also start offering volunteering from home so volunteers can still get involved in helping others, and stay connected.

With TeamKinetic, you can stay in touch with your volunteers through email or text straight through our system. You can also create amazing newsletters using our built in email tools to keep volunteers who are shielding up to date.

2. Target Youths for Volunteering

Another impact of COVID-19 is more young people getting involved in volunteering. Many have wanted to help their local community in hope to reach a sense of normality in life and to help keep people safe. This has seen volunteer levels dramatically shift nationally for the first time since WW2. This change in patterns gives the volunteer sector hope that the number of young people will continue to increase in what had previously been an older volunteer community.

Volunteer managers should continue to try and engage younger volunteers in the ‘new normal’, especially students while schools and universities are closed or online. A key resource to engage younger volunteers is technology. Volunteer managers might consider technology that will allow young people to easily sign up for volunteering opportunities on their phone or laptop.

Here at TeamKinetic, you can take full control on engaging your younger volunteers. Our software is available as a native app from the app store and as a responsive design; meaning you can access the system on any device. This allows the younger generation the find new and exciting volunteering opportunities from one click. Also, did we mention we offer reward systems so you can continue to engage your volunteers?

3. Communication is Key

COVID-19 has undoubtedly caused confusion and uncertainty among the population. This includes volunteers, making the need for communication and transparency in the ‘new normal’ essential for volunteers to feel safe.

With volunteer rates increasing quickly, volunteer managers need to be on top of communication. This includes communicating important COVID-19 information. This is especially important when former volunteers are ready to return to their duties. Volunteer managers need to communicate with volunteers about how their roles might have changed, opportunities available, and ensure they are fully comfortable returning. This all needs to be communicated in an efficient and easy manor.

With TeamKinetic, we ensure you can communicate with your volunteers all from one software, allowing easy communication with volunteers instantly! Also, did we mention this can be done through email or text straight from your dashboard? And to make it even better, you can schedule any texts you want to send!

4. Training is Essential

To help new and returning volunteers feel safe and comfortable volunteering again, training is a must. Volunteer managers should communicate to volunteers the importance of the new way of working. This could be achieved through training or induction days, to help them understand new rules around hygiene and social distancing. These elements may also affect returning volunteers old volunteering roles, so training may be beneficial for volunteers to understand the changes around their roles. This is to ensure they feel safe and make an informed decision about the possibility of returning to volunteering.

When setting up training for volunteers, TeamKinetic allows effective communication. With our software you can easily update volunteers through email, text, or even newsletter to inform them of training and induction days.

For more information on volunteer management software visit our website or call 0161 914 5747

Understanding volunteer demographics to fill empty roles!

By

On 12th February 2019

In News & Views, TeamKinetic Features, Volunteer Management

Many roles go unfilled… why is that? Do volunteer managers need to have a deeper understanding of volunteer demographics? Can we continue to assume that empty roles will fill up because they’re helping a good cause?

Unfilled volunteering roles

Having a good understanding of your volunteers and the roles you offer is key. Unfilled roles can have a negative impact on your volunteer management and make it difficult for tasks to be carried out.

Volunteers want to volunteer! Don’t make it difficult for them.

In many cases, unfilled roles occur when the role is just not appealing to the volunteer. This issue usually begins with how you describe the role and the commitment levels that come with it.

Roles need to be attractive to the volunteer; with a detailed description of what is required of them and positive outcomes of the role. Many organisations we work with do this well and provide quality volunteer experiences that lead to higher retention levels! 

Example of an opportunity within TeamKinetic

All volunteer managers need to prioritise roles that are crucial to the organisation because they involve tasks that drive long-term goals to be met. By prioritizing the most important roles it allows you to focus the energy and time on the areas that are most likely to have a greater impact on the organisation and its development.

Knowing your volunteer capacity and demographic

The one-size-fits-all is approach has long past its expiration date. Knowing who volunteers for you is crucial for developing relationships, providing opportunities and understanding who to target when recruiting volunteers. Volunteer trends are always changing and adapting, with volunteers being much more diverse. Here are some demographics to consider :

Age

The idea that only older people volunteer is diminishing. Today students in higher education regularly volunteer and are part of the most likely groups to volunteer. Different age groups will have a variety of skills they can utilise in their volunteer work.

Gender

The gender gap has become almost even with more men getting involved in volunteering than ever before. Women consistently volunteer in all areas, whereas men are typically more likely to volunteer in sport. It’s important to consider how your operations could be improved to create a more gender-inclusive environment for your volunteers.

Location

There are countless organisations offering ways to volunteer. This has created a great spread of opportunities contributing to better communities across the country. Within your organisation, you might consider mapping your volunteers to understand your key areas. Then you can ensure your opportunities are easily accessed by these areas.

Socio-Economic Background

However, those from lower socio-economic groups are more likely to say they have never been involved in volunteering. And those who have volunteered in the past are less likely to be in leadership or representative roles.

Studies show higher levels of austerity among communities in the north of England and the local authority spending has fallen nationally by half since 2010. The lack of resources and inequalities mean many people are excluded from taking part in certain opportunities

Research conducted by our good friends at Jump highlight that a lower proportion of volunteers come from lower SEG (42%) compared to the representation of that group in the national population (50%).

Some of the barriers faced by lower SEG to volunteer include health barriers (illness or disability), caring responsibilities, and age constraints.

More information on Jump’s work and their report on “Why is volunteering biased towards higher socio-economic groups?” can be downloaded on their website.

So how can we help you fix these problems?

TeamKinetic is centralised around providing volunteer managers with resources to create accessible, easy-to-find opportunities for their volunteers.

Our volunteer management software works to eliminate issues such as filling roles and allows for a greater understanding of your volunteer base.

Advanced Search Functionality

Volunteers can search for opportunities with our search functionality which includes searching by location, opportunity name, and categories. This allows volunteers to find the nearest opportunities available to them without searching the whole internet.

Map Volunteers & Opportunities

Volunteer managers can view the number of opportunities and volunteers through a map format. This is useful in decision-making and creating opportunities according to your volunteer demographics.

Reports and Analysis

You can gain insight into the success of your volunteer programme by evaluating your volunteer sign-ups (including those who are active and repeating), the number of opportunities you have created and other demographic information.

These functions can help with providing suitable roles and ensure opportunities are filled.

Data is only recorded if your volunteers agree to provide you with the information. GDPR frequently asked questions for TeamKinetic’s volunteer management system can also be found here.

For more information on the Volunteer Management Software visit our website or contact one of our team members on 0161 914 5747

You could also start a free 30-day trial of our system to take a look around. If it’s not for you, no problem.

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.

Page 1 of 2

Next →

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