What would your daily workload be like if today’s technology had never been created?
Software has come a long way in the past two decades. At VolunteerHub, we’re proud to be the leader in this field. With over 5 billion volunteer hours managed, our mission has always been focused on developing technology that streamlines the volunteer management and engagement process.
This post takes a look back at the tremendous advancements we’ve made over the past twenty years.
Paper, Paper Everywhere
Step back in time twenty years to 1995, when manual processes ruled in most nonprofit offices. Social media wouldn’t be invented for another nine years. Fax machines were regularly used in communication, and calls took place on landline phones. Most record keeping was done on paper and filed manually. Texting had not been invented yet, and email communication was not yet a standard in the nonprofit world.
Sure, computers were available, but they were clunky and expensive. As a result, most nonprofits relied on manual record-keeping processes. Do you remember those days? Volunteer management was exclusively facilitated via paper forms and logbooks. This workflow created issues for both volunteers and the organization, bogging down the system and stifling service.
Software for Managing Volunteers
By 1996, the future of volunteer management was beginning to take shape. A new volunteer software, now known as VolunteerHub, was developed to assist a nonprofit chapter at one of America’s major universities. The first web-based version of the program was released a year later.
VolunteerHub provided nonprofits with a fresh new way to manage volunteer and event information. The process of tracking and reporting volunteer hours was now automated, saving nonprofits significant amounts of time and money. As customers began to use the tool, new features were also soon added, such as automatic emails, volunteer self-registration, and self-updating profiles.
Customer input has always been a vital part of VolunteerHub’s software development roadmap. Some of the most successful features have been attributed directly to customer requests.
Major Initiatives of the Past 5 Years
In 2011, VolunteerHub officially passed the 1,000,000 event registration mark. It’s no coincidence that the year also represented a new chapter in the product roadmap. Looking back over the past five years, we’ve deployed many major features, including:
- Event-specific landing pages
- Volunteer texting
- OnSite Event App
- Virtual Kiosk
- Mobile device compatibility
- CRM integration
- …and many other important features
Integrated Volunteer Management Delivers Unimagined Value to Nonprofits
Fast-forward to today, when both large and small nonprofits rely on VolunteerHub to streamline event and volunteer registration, tracking, reporting, and recruiting. What was the next practical step to take? You guessed it: CRM integration. Thanks to this integration, nonprofit organizations are now able to convert volunteers into donors and, simultaneously, deliver a greater impact to those they serve.
Go with the #1 Software for Managing Volunteers
Interested in learning more about VolunteerHub? Schedule a volunteer engagement review with one of our experts. In doing so, you’ll not only find out if VolunteerHub is right for your organization, but you’ll also get inside tips for streamlining your volunteer management processes. Request more information today.
