VolunteerHub is a valuable asset for organizations amid COVID-19. Here are 5 ways nonprofits are using the software to create an organized and impactful process amid the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way nonprofits can effectively fulfill mission, reach the community, provide support, and engage both volunteers and donors. Many organizations are adjusting strategies and processes in order to comply with new health regulations, reduced staff, and tight budgets.
According to a recent Independent Sector study, 71% of nonprofits have reduced services/operations and 51% have laid off staff. Because of these new barriers, organizations must look for new ways to provide community support and leverage volunteerism, safely and efficiently.
VolunteerHub is helping nonprofits, all over the world, adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic and find new strategic ways to recruit, engage, and manage volunteer constituents. VolunteerHub is a streamlined volunteer management platform that provides organizations with the feature set they need to create engaging experiences for volunteers and an automated process for staff.
Promoting Virtual Opportunities
With the reduction of staff and safety restrictions in place, many organizations are seeing increased value in virtual volunteer opportunities, during the pandemic. Virtual volunteer opportunities are important because they eliminate the need for in-person interaction and contact.
Many organizations have found VolunteerHub valuable as a medium for promoting and communicating virtual volunteer opportunities to their volunteer database, quickly. Some organizations have also created virtual orientations and are using VolunteerHub to provide volunteers with links to training.
Using VolunteerHub, organizations can create separate calendars for in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities. This feature makes it easy for volunteers to find and register for roles that they are most comfortable filling.
Finally, with VolunteerHub, volunteers can self-report hours and access their accounts whenever and wherever they want to.
Contactless Check-In
Another feature of VolunteerHub that nonprofits are finding increasingly valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic is contactless check-in. Contactless check-in allows volunteers to sign-in without having physical contact with organizational staff.
Using VolunteerHub, organizations can generate a single QR Code for the entire day. That code can be scanned when a volunteer arrives for their opportunity. When the QR code is scanned, the volunteer is checked in. This feature limits health risks, reduces liability, and protects a nonprofit’s greatest asset, its people.
Converting Volunteers to Donors
The importance of converting volunteers to financial donors has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many nonprofits are struggling to find new donors and keep programs afloat. Organizations that tap into their volunteer database and incorporate volunteers into fundraising initiatives can create new value streams and cross-pollinate giving. Studies have shown that volunteers are valuable donor prospects.
According to a donor engagement study, performed by The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), 75% of donors claim they have volunteered in the last 12 months. Another study, conducted by Fidelity Charitable, found that 87% of volunteers say there is a strong relationship between their volunteer activity and financial giving.
These studies and statistics demonstrate the clear relationship between volunteers and donors and the need for nonprofits to bridge the gap between time and financial giving.
VolunteerHub is helping organizations cross-pollinate volunteers and financial donors through seamless integration with today’s top donor management systems, including all Blackbaud CRM solutions and Salesforce.
The integration between VolunteerHub and donor management systems provides organizations with many benefits including a transparent view of donor and volunteer contributions, deduplication, synergy between volunteer and fundraising campaigns, and self-updating data.
VolunteerHub clients can see, analyze, and understand their volunteer program and fundraising campaigns holistically, and connect the dots between both initiatives.
Here are a few case studies that demonstrate the value of using VolunteerHub to convert volunteers to donors:
Girls Inc. Increases Donor Conversion Rate by Using VolunteerHub’s eTapestry Integration
MANNA Realizes a 3-Month ROI Using VolunteerHub
Communication
Communication is crucial to volunteer engagement amid COVID-19. VolunteerHub’s communication features have allowed organizations to stay in touch with volunteer constituents, provide regular COVID-19-related updates, promote in-person and virtual opportunities, and continue nurturing relationships.
VolunteerHub clients can communicate with volunteers via multiple channels including email, text, and social media.
Being able to relay information quickly and efficiently has helped many nonprofits adjust to program changes, due to COVID-19, and communicate them to volunteers, accordingly. VolunteerHub users can send communications to their entire volunteer database or to select user groups, making personalization a breeze.
A 2020 Trends in Personalization report, performed by Evergage, found that 98% of organizations say personalization advances relationships. VolunteerHub is helping organizations create a personalized experience for volunteers, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More About VolunteerHub’s Communication Features
Here are a few case studies that demonstrate the value of VolunteerHub communication features:
VolunteerHub is Invaluable to Upper Valley Haven Amid COVID-19
VolunteerHub is a Game Changer for Meals on Wheel People
Tracking Skills & Interests
Preparing for a strategic post-COVID-19 response is one of the most important steps an organization can take, about its volunteer program. Organizations are using VolunteerHub to prepare their response by organizing and optimizing volunteer data based on skills and interests.
By focusing on the skills and interests of volunteers, VolunteerHub users are able to match their most qualified supporters with opportunities, now and in the future, making the software ideal for COVID-19 response preparation.
More About VolunteerHub’s Volunteer Database Features
Takeaways
VolunteerHub continues to be a valuable asset for organizations, worldwide, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many nonprofits and other organizations are finding new and valuable ways to use the software to engage volunteers.
Some of these new, invaluable, use cases include promoting virtual volunteer opportunities, providing volunteers with contactless check-in, converting volunteers to financial donors, streamlining and organizing communications, and optimizing volunteer databases to focus on skills and interests, for personalization.
