The Future of Volunteer Management

Jonathan Burns & Kevan Osmond KindnessConnect.com

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Jonathan Burns and Kevan Osmond

The Future of Volunteer Management

THANKS FOR BEING HERE!

Agenda

1 Who we are

Current state of volunteer management

Trends in technology and volunteerism

Strategies to maintain an engaged program

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Who We Are

Jon and KevanMet while volunteering at the University of Waterloo.

A little bit about us

We are avid volunteers with a strong grasp of the ecosystem from a volunteer perspective.

Our passion for volunteerism led us to help improve the ecosystem by answering one question: How can we make volunteering easier?

We worked closely with community organizations at a local and national levelAnd focused on the following questions:

1 What is your workflow?

What are your goals and needs?

What could be improved?

What are your pain points?

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An example

“Often the phone is ringing off the hook with people who want to volunteer and I panic, not knowing what to tell them. I don’t really have the time to repeatedly go through all of the

details and requirements. I often feel like I’m then serving the volunteer rather than the

organization and cause. It would be great if I had a way to automate this and easily manage

my volunteers.”

Here’s What We Found

There are barriers from both the volunteer and community organization perspective that directly and negatively affect the volunteer ecosystem.

The way we work and engage has changed and will continue to change.

Looking forward, the future of volunteer management must focus on the following:

1 Removing the barriers for both sides of the equation

Creating an engaged community

Making it easy

Keeping it accessible

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Current State

The volunteer program workflow

Attract• Promoting your organization and opportunities• Selecting the channels to reach potential volunteers• Reviewing applications and determining the right fit

Manage •Tracking volunteer information and activities• Organizing and executing opportunities for volunteers• Developing volunteers through training

Retain• Establishing volunteer recognition• Engaging and communicating with volunteers• Distilling analytics into actionable information

Attract

ManageRetain

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There are two sides to the equation

Community Organizations

Volunteers

Community Organizations

Attract• Difficult to present all of the necessary information up-front.

• A lengthy discovery and application process doesn’t always result in the right fit.

Manage• Prohibitively priced and challenging systems lead to makeshift and outdated

solutions.

• Difficulty keeping track of current and accurate volunteer activity. Time is spent “trying to keep up”.

• “Scheduling is a nightmare”.

Organization Challenges (1)

57% of community organizations report difficulty attracting volunteers(National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations)

Retain• Finding effective ways to communication with volunteers. Response rate

is low and can feel like a one way street.

• Over 80% of organizations indicate that they don’t have the time or resources to maintain a recognition and engagement program. (2013 Volunteer Recognition Study by Volunteer Canada)

• Crucial questions providing insight go unanswered: Why did a volunteer leave? Did they enjoy their time? Would they recommend it?

Organization Challenges (2)

49% of community organizations report difficulty retaining volunteers(National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations)

Volunteers

Volunteer Barriers (1)

Difficulty knowing where to get started

• 24% of non-volunteers don’t volunteer because they don’t know how to get started. (Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating)

Perceived barriers associated with volunteering

• Lack of information from the beginning can make a big difference in whether an individual volunteers or attempts to do so.

• Uncertainty with the time it takes to become a volunteer, financial costs associated with volunteering such as transportation, etc.

Complicated and disconnected Application processes

• Call a phone number, fill out a form, visit a website, attend a session. Each time the process is different and requires repeating the same information over and over again.

• The length and challenge of the application process from both sides can potentially encourage long-term requirements.

Difficulty Finding a fit with their schedule

Non-volunteers• 62% didn’t volunteer because they couldn’t make a long-term commitment.

• 68% didn’t volunteer because they didn’t feel like they had the time. (Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating)

Current volunteers• 52% didn’t volunteer more because they couldn’t make a long-term commitment.

• 75% didn’t volunteer more because they didn’t feel like they had the time. (Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating)

10% of volunteers do 53% of the volunteer work(Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating)

Volunteer Barriers (2)

Trends

1 Demographic

Social

Technological

Desired volunteering

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There are changing trends at play which affect the entire volunteer ecosystem

The number of people retiring is growing faster than any other group in Canada• There are nearly 10 million baby boomers in or planning for

retirement.• They are now in the position to contribute time and resources.

Millennials are eager to engage with the nonprofit world• This group is keen on finding a good fit, contributing, and seeing

tangible results.• They are working towards a professional career but are also

interested in connecting with a cause.

Demographic Trends1

Social networks are the communication channel of choice• Today’s generations now have a great variety of apps and services to

communicate with each other.

We are connected to a wider and more diverse audience• Our communities are no longer limited to the physical space around

us.

Engagement is changing• Individuals want to connect, engage in conversation, and share a

story with an organization or cause.

Social Trends2

Technology is becoming more accessible• From a cost, quantity, and user experience perspective.• Most applications run in the cloud, removing in-house hardware and

technical requirements.

Information can be shared across multiple sources• Data can easily be shared among popular applications.

Technological Trends (1)3

Automation & micro-personalization • Mass messaging can now be

personalized.• Personalized user experiences can

improve engagement.

Data is becoming more accessible and important• Organizations have the ability to collect

more data which, when analyzed, can help intelligently answer important questions.

Technological Trends (2)3

Trends in desired volunteering (1)4

Short term volunteer opportunities are increasing in demand

• Individuals are constrained by time, and often looking to volunteer intermittently within their schedule constraints.

Corporations are getting involved as well

• It is slowly becoming the norm for corporations to recognize and encourage volunteer work (even paid time off).

Trends in desired volunteering (2)4

Virtual volunteerism (or micro-volunteering)

• A large percentage of our time is spent in front of a screen (computer, laptop, smartphone, etc), and a large amount of work can be accomplished online.

• Volunteers are now looking for ways to complete volunteer work off-site for an organization.

• This is a great way to get access to skilled labour.

Strategies

The volunteer program workflow

With change comes new challenges and reasons to adapt.

How can you best utilize new strategies and affordable technology to maintain and effective an engaged volunteer program?

Attract

ManageRetain

Attract

ManageRetain

Try new approaches to get volunteers in the door• Leverage technology to help facilitate short term engagements so

volunteers can get their foot in the door before making a more meaningful commitment.

• i.e. Doodle

Strategies > Attract (1)

Make use of your volunteer’s social networks• Your volunteers are eager to share their stories of goodwill – help

give them an outlet to inspire their friends.• Follow them and they will follow you!

• i.e. Twitter and Facebook are social, Hootsuite helps you manage them all

Strategies > Attract (2)

Strategies > Attract (3)

• Can they get all the information they need online?

• Use online tools to save you and your volunteers time by exchanging all the necessities up front.

• i.e. Survey Monkey

Help improve the tedious application process

Strategies > Attract (4)

• This availability heuristic can help potential volunteers identify with your cause.

• Make sure your website is easy to manage so that you can easily include and update information.

• i.e. Virb, WordPress

Share and highlight volunteer stories and experiences

Attract

ManageRetain

Strategies > Manage (1)

• Integrate software to help keep your program organized and automate timely reminders.

• i.e. Evernote, Evernote Hello, Insightly

Stay up-to-date on program information and important volunteer milestones

Strategies > Manage (2)

Share calendars with your volunteers so they are reminded of important events• E-Calendars are a great way to raise awareness of upcoming events

at a macro level and useful for reminders at a micro level.• i.e. Google Calendar

• Standardized protocols will integrate with any modern platform.

Strategies > Manage (3)

Standardize activity tracking to facilitate future reporting• Get in the habit of proper book-keeping so that end of year reporting

can be achieved effectively.• i.e. Microsoft Excel (caution)

Attract

ManageRetain

Strategies > Retain (1)

Keep up communication• Make use of online forums and

groups where volunteers can connect with each other and your organization outside of ‘time-in-office’.

• i.e. Facebook Groups, Internal Web Forum

• Get feedback from your volunteers.• i.e. Survey Monkey

Strategies > Retain (2)

Turn your volunteers into leaders• Empower your volunteers to help share and recruit for your cause.

• They’ll be proud to share your story.• Propagates across their own personal networks.

• i.e. TIFF Example

Strategies > Retain (3)

Ensure volunteers feel personally appreciated and valuable to your cause• 80% stated that they would like to be recognized or thanked by the

organization they volunteer for by hearing about how their work has made a difference. (2013 Volunteer Recognition Study – Volunteer Canada)

• Close to 70% stated they would like to be recognized by being thanked on an ongoing, informal basis. (2013 Volunteer Recognition Study – Volunteer Canada)

• Automate your personalized correspondence.• i.e. MailChimp, GroupMail

For Consideration

As demonstrated, there are wealth of tools available for ‘niche’ areas, however, the disconnected processes can become a timely and unorganized endeavor.

Certain industries have enterprise software to aggregate all of the tools you need in one central location, achieving ‘data economies-of-scale’.

Solutions for the bigger picture

There are solutions available that can help manage some of the explored areas including Volunteer2, Volgistics, and Raiser’s Edge Volunteer Module.

Kindness Connect is the first platform of its kind, merging volunteer management and recruitment in one central location. Pay-What-You-Can pricing ensures it is accessible for all organizations in need.

We recommend reviewing each individually to determine the best fit for your needs.

Our goal is to provide the enterprise platform that automates and facilitates volunteer and organization needs.

Organizations Pay-what-you-can

Volunteers

Find your match Fit your schedule Apply directly Track your impact1 2 3 4

Volunteer Profiles

Simple Scheduling

NotificationsMessaging AnalyticsApplication Review

In Summary

In the current state of volunteerism there is much room for improvement – you are the gatekeepers.

There are changing trends at play which affect the entire volunteer ecosystem:

• Demographic• Social• Technological• Desired Volunteering

Make use of new strategies to ensure you stay on top of these trends and have an effective and engaged volunteer program.

Takeaways

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Thank-you!

kevan@kindnessconnect.comjon@kindnessconnect.com

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Jonathan Burnsjon@kindnessconnect.com

Kevan Osmondkevan@kindnessconnect.com

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