Volunteer management can engage, retain, and increase organizational supporters.
Volunteers are the backbone of most nonprofit organizations around the world. Many nonprofits would not be able to effectively conduct campaigns, or achieve their organizational missions without a team of volunteers assisting them to reach their goals. According to a recent study by “The Chronicle of Philanthropy,” 26% of Americans volunteer their time over a year. How your nonprofit is attracting and retaining volunteers can make a tremendous difference in the success of your organization. Volunteer management software can make the process of finding qualified volunteers easier for your nonprofit.
Volunteer management is the strategic process of reaching qualified volunteers, keeping track of volunteer data, and creating engagement. Volunteer management software enhances a nonprofit's ability to create, communicate, and fill opportunities within their organization. Volunteer management software establishes a process that a nonprofit can use quickly and efficiently on an ongoing basis. There are several key benefits of incorporating a volunteer management solution into your nonprofit process. Below are just a few.
The most notable feature of volunteer management software is the benefit of being able to attract and retain volunteers. Volunteer management solutions allow nonprofit organizations to easily create landing pages for volunteer opportunities. These opportunities can be shared across marketing platforms such as your nonprofit’s website, and social media accounts to increase visibility. Another benefit of being able to create landing pages with volunteer management software is the ability to segment your outreach initiatives. Volunteer coordinators can easily access and share multiple opportunity landing pages at the same time. This feature makes it easier for organizations to achieve their volunteer recruitment goals while focusing on time management.
There are several key administrative benefits of volunteer management software that can have an impact on your volunteer recruitment strategy. The first, as we mentioned earlier is the ability to free up more of your volunteer coordinator's time. Volunteer management software frees up a volunteer coordinator's time in a few key ways:
- Integration with your nonprofit's CRM system makes the process of assigning specific tasks easier from an organizational level.
- Organize, and access your nonprofit volunteer data easier, and from anywhere.
- Create automation, and process for your volunteer communications.
- Integrate with Google Analytics to give your nonprofit better insights into trends.
- Streamlined Volunteer Notifications
One of the benefits of volunteer management software that is often overlooked is the ability to send notifications to volunteers. Notifications can help your nonprofit keep volunteers up to date in regards to an opportunity they signed up for, notify their volunteer base of new opportunities, and thank volunteers for providing their time, and effort towards a cause. Volunteer notifications can make a big impact on a nonprofit's ability to retain volunteers, and increase opportunity turn-out.
One of the biggest opportunities for nonprofits is converting volunteers into donors. Volunteers have already shown an interest in a nonprofit's mission and values, making them the perfect candidate to make financial contributions. Did you know that 42% of volunteers also give? Your nonprofit needs to be tapping into your volunteer base in the quest for donors. Incorporating volunteer management software can assist in your conversion goals. Here are a few ways:
- Volunteer management software allows a nonprofit to track all volunteer activity.
- Acknowledgments through notifications go a long way in creating cheerleaders for your cause.
- Volunteer management helps to identify who to ask for donations based on their organizational involvement.
- Show that your volunteer program and nonprofit as a whole is organized.
There are many clear-cut benefits of volunteer management software that your nonprofit organization can utilize to improve volunteer relationships, optimize your organization’s internal process, free up your volunteer coordinator's time, and convert more volunteers to donors.
