Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad is using VolunteerHub to automate processes, prevent data-entry errors, save time, and create more engaging experiences for volunteers and the families they serve.
Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad is in the business of touching lives and helping families towards recovery. Their mission is to create a home away from home for families with children receiving medical care in the community. Operating under their (CRIS) value system, Ronald McDonald House provides services with compassion, respect, integrity, and support to all who come in contact with them. In 2017 alone, Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad provided support to 2900 families (8,148 individuals) between their house and family rooms (Brenner, Forsyth). The nonprofit’s capacity to serve has grown exponentially from 10 bedrooms in 1984 to 35 bedrooms today.
To provide services and care to community families, Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad utilizes the assistance of over 4,100 volunteers per year. Volunteers provide assistance organization-wide filling such roles as customer service, admin support, general support, and family support. The importance of volunteers and their contribution to Ronald McDonald House’s mission has compelled the Winston-Salem organization to focus on volunteer recognition, engagement programs, and the overall management process.
“Volunteers are making a sacrifice of time to give back to the community and the families we serve, and should be recognized for that commitment,” said Chuck Kraft, Executive Director for Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad
The Need for a Strategic Volunteer Management Process
Before implementing VolunteerHub’s volunteer management software, the Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad relied heavily on manual processes for outreach, hour tracking, and reporting. Reporting key data about supporters and their interaction with the organization took many hours. Hours that could be better invested in other capacities of the organization, such as relationship building and providing personalized experiences. The organization needed a better way of creating automation and data-driven metrics to push the program further.
“Manual hour tracking and reporting used to take our team five or six hours to analyze a month. We knew that there had to be a better way to save and utilize these hours,” said Rob Lemons, Director of Volunteer Services for Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad
In Search of the Best Volunteer Management Solution
Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad evaluated many of the top volunteer management solutions on the market in search of a partnership that could meet their specific needs. After vetting several solutions, the organization landed on VolunteerHub because of the provided feature set, customization capabilities, and implementation assistance from the VolunteerHub team.
"We saw the capabilities and offerings of several volunteer management software solutions. Some of which were the top solutions on the market. VolunteerHub made the most sense for us," said Rob
The Ronald McDonald House worked with VolunteerHub post-acquisition to set up the volunteer management solution to match their needs, goals, and desires for their unique volunteer program. They also trained with the VolunteerHub team to better understand the capabilities and automation benefits of the tool.
"The VolunteerHub team did a great job of coaching us through the set-up process and creating a solution that works for our specific needs and goals," said Heather Rompel, Manager of Family Support Services at Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad
Using VolunteerHub to Automate Process and Streamline Reporting
Today, Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad uses VolunteerHub to streamline and automate many components of its volunteer management process. The organization is now able to quickly communicate with volunteers by opportunity, create opportunity-specific landing pages for volunteer recruitment and retention, allow volunteers to sign in and out via VolunteerHub's OnSite kiosk, and run strategic reports quickly and efficiently. VolunteerHub’s volunteer management features are saving the organization hundreds of hours per year while helping the organization make strategic decisions based on data.
“VolunteerHub has saved our organization hundreds of hours a year by streamlining our volunteer management process,” said Rob
A Message to Other Nonprofits from Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad
Ronald McDonald House of the Piedmont Triad wants other houses and nonprofits who are using a manual volunteer management process to realize that there is a better way to manage volunteers. A volunteer management solution can help automate management, so hours can be saved and time can be allocated to other needs.
“VolunteerHub has been a huge asset for our organization. I would recommend it to any nonprofit in need of a better management process,” said Rob
