After implementing VolunteerHub, Special Olympics Missouri reduced event preparation by 4/5ths.
Special Olympics Missouri is passionate about bringing better fitness, nutrition, and healthier lifestyles to everyone involved with their organization. Nationwide, Special Olympics is one of the largest sports organizations, with 15,000 athletes in Missouri alone. With initiatives to engage children and adults with intellectual disabilities and shape communities, their organization is changing athletics for people of all ages.
While managing over 800 volunteers per state event, Special Olympics Missouri’s volunteer efforts were falling flat. They were tracking all volunteer information using Excel spreadsheets and online software with minimal capabilities. The preparation before an event consisted of about 36 hours of printing and editing all registration data.
“There was a lot of time spent sorting through Excel spreadsheets and reports for volunteer check-in before events. Also, a lot of hours went into printing paperwork before events,” said Austin Rippeto, Training Coordinator at Special Olympics Missouri.
Communication with volunteers was time-consuming and cumbersome. Email addresses had to be manually entered into the system to connect with any volunteer. With managing 800 volunteers per state event, communication could become overwhelming and impersonal. Special Olympics Missouri needed a solution to save time, create efficiency, and foster a personal relationship with their volunteers.
Inefficiency Encourages Change
“Since the transition to VolunteerHub we have been able to better communicate with our volunteers and provide time to focus on the customer service side of volunteerism,” said Austin
Transitioning to VolunteerHub gave Special Olympics Missouri flexibility, increased efficiency, and allowed them to effectively communicate with their volunteers while keeping a personal touch.
“VolunteerHub allowed us to streamline communication by emails with volunteers. It also allowed us a central location to communicate with volunteers and endless flexibility,” said Austin
Stress-Free Event Preparation and Check-in for Special Olympics Missouri Volunteers
Volunteer registration during events was chaotic before VolunteerHub. Now, with the Kiosk capabilities, they could streamline the procedure and speed up volunteer check-in.
“VolunteerHub’s Kiosk capabilities have allowed us to become paperless and eliminate volunteer wait time. We now do not have any lines when volunteers check in,” said Austin
Preparation for events now only consists of 5–6 hours of organizing and collecting data. “Our event preparation has been cut to 1/5th the time it used to take,” said Austin
Integration Yields A Bigger Impact
Special Olympics Missouri needed more than a volunteer management database. They needed a cloud-based integration for The Raiser’s Edge.
“With this integration, more of our volunteers are getting entered into The Raiser’s Edge in a quarter of the time it used to take. We no longer have to interpret volunteers’ handwriting and data is accurately entered,” said Kelly Tannehill, Database Director at Special Olympics Missouri.
VolunteerHub has allowed Special Olympics Missouri to focus more on its mission and build stronger relationships with its volunteers. They have freed up countless hours to devote to their cause and spend more time personalizing their message. Now, Special Olympics Missouri can impact even more children and adults with intellectual disabilities and inspire larger communities to focus on their health.
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