St. Matthew’s House has seen substantial growth in volunteer hours since implementing VolunteerHub.
A Full Circle Program to Change Lives
St. Matthew’s House is touching hearts and transforming lives for people in Southwest Florida. The nonprofit organization provides innovative solutions to fight homelessness, hunger, substance abuse, and poverty. In 2018, St. Matthew’s House shelter operations provided housing to 385 individuals, prevented 1,100 people from becoming homeless, gave workforce training to 180 people, and helped place 120 individuals in careers.
St. Matthew’s House wants to help people in the community gain independence through programs that rehabilitate and prepare them for real-life situations. 87% of people who have stayed at St. Matthew’s House have gained full or part-time employment after 30 days, a metric the organization is incredibly proud of. St. Matthew’s House also is working to feed the hungry in Southwest Florida. In 2018, the organization served over 513,000 hot meals and distributed 4658 bags of groceries.
Finally, St. Matthew’s House is working to provide support and solutions to people with drug and alcohol addictions. As of 2018, the organization’s yearlong rehabilitation program has had 400 graduates, and 85% of participants have stayed clean after two years, post-program.
“We started as a feeding ministry over 30 years ago. We learned that many of the hungry had other needs that needed to be fulfilled, such as homelessness and addiction. Because of these needs, we evolved,” said Ashlie Klopper, Director of Engagement for St. Matthew’s House
The Need for Volunteerism
Volunteers play a crucial role and allow St. Matthew’s House to reach its goal of helping people. In 2018, the organization was provided support by over 1,500 active volunteers. Volunteers fill a variety of roles within the organization’s programs and social enterprises. The most popular roles that volunteers serve are within St. Matthew’s House feeding ministry and thrift store operations. The organization also uses volunteers to fill administrative roles and call donors to thank them for their support.
“Our organization would not be able to achieve our goals or make the impact we do without the help of volunteers and the roles they fill,” said Ashlie Klopper, Director of Engagement for St. Matthew’s House
Growth Demanded a New Volunteer Management Process
St. Matthew’s House first realized that they needed a better way to manage volunteers when they began to evolve and add programs to better help the Southwest Florida community. Before implementing VolunteerHub, the nonprofit used a paper/semi-digital process for keeping track of volunteer hours and an email system for recruitment. The process was not keeping up with the organization’s growth and expectations of volunteers. Their previous system for volunteer management also required hours of data mining and recording. They needed a way to communicate with volunteers, allow supporters to self-register, and improve/streamline their reporting process. Before choosing VolunteerHub, St. Matthew’s house vetted several other management systems but found VolunteerHub to offer the best solution for their unique needs.
“Our previous volunteer management process was not as organized and involved translating data into electronic records. We needed a system that would grow with our organization. A manual process was no longer feasible,” said Ashlie Klopper, Director of Engagement for St. Matthew’s House
VolunteerHub is the Best Solution for St. Matthew’s House
Since implementing VolunteerHub in 2016, St. Matthew’s House has hit the ground running and is using VolunteerHub features to improve every component of their volunteer program. Volunteers are now able to self-register for opportunities, and the organization can send reminders/thank you messages, quickly and efficiently, creating a positive impact on recruitment and retention.
Since implementing VolunteerHub, the nonprofit has increased its yearly volunteer hours by 10,000 ($246,900 in volunteer value / per year). The organization is also saving a lot of time by using VolunteerHub. They can quickly communicate with volunteers and add volunteer opportunities to the calendar from wherever they are because VolunteerHub is a cloud-based solution.
“Implementing VolunteerHub has helped our organization increase our volunteer hours by almost 10,000 per year,” said Ashlie Klopper, Director of Engagement for St. Matthew’s House.
The Right Tools for the Future
St. Matthew’s House does not have any plans to slow down in the future. The Southwest Florida-based organization will continue to evolve and provide the community with much-needed programs to combat hunger, homelessness, and addiction. St. Matthew’s House can rest assured that VolunteerHub will help them manage their volunteer program for years to come.
