Your volunteer management solution can make or break your volunteer program! Is your strategy & solution up-to-date in 2024?
Your organization’s volunteer management solution is a crucial component of your volunteer program. In order to be successful in 2024, your volunteer program needs to captivate, entice, and enrich the lives of volunteers and the community that benefits from your mission. The competitive nature of the nonprofit industry continues to rise, and many organizations are aiming to capture the attention of the same potential volunteers. To be more specific, there are over 1.5 million 501c tax-exempt charitable organizations in the United States alone, according to an Independent Sector study.
So many nonprofits providing support within the United States is a great thing! However, if your organization wants to stand out, remain sustainable, and meet the demands of your volunteer program, you need to be organized, optimize your staff’s time, and provide volunteers with a first-class experience (beginning to end).
There is a good chance that your volunteer management solution provides one of the first experiences for volunteers, and prospects considering volunteerism with your organization. Your volunteer management solution should provide volunteers and prospects with information about available and upcoming opportunities, create a personalized experience, and allow your team to quickly and efficiently communicate with constituents. Here are a few questions to consider when reviewing and analyzing your volunteer management solution for effectiveness in 2024.
Is Your Process a Barrier for Networking?
According to a recent Forbes nonprofit council discussion, there is a current push for networking technology in the nonprofit space. Is your volunteer management solution streamlining networking and making it easy to connect and interact with supporters? If your organization is still using a manual process for managing volunteer hours (spreadsheets, phone calls, etc.) there is a good chance you are missing the opportunity to engage supporters. Relying on a manual process requires a substantial time commitment, and time is one variable that your nonprofit can’t afford to waste. Just imagine the amount of time your team could devote to networking with volunteers if you did not have to worry about data entry.
A strategic volunteer management solution, like VolunteerHub, can provide your nonprofit with a streamlined process for managing volunteers and save your organization time that can be invested in building and nurturing relationships. Many VolunteerHub clients are saving hundreds of hours per year and are investing that time into other areas of their volunteer program that push it forward and make their mission attainable.
Is Your Strategy Utilizing Gamification?
Another focus for many nonprofits in 2021 is incorporating and leveraging gamification into their volunteer program. Gamification can provide your organization with an outlet to engage, excite, and challenge volunteers. Gamification has been shown to improve productivity, make work more fun, and create friendly competition amongst supporters.
A recent study, performed by Talent LMS, found that gamification improved productivity by over 87%. At VolunteerHub, we have seen clients substantially impact their volunteer programs through the use of our gamification features.
One VolunteerHub client, Open Hand Atlanta, is saving over $649,000 per year through a strategic gamification strategy, called LeaderTree, that challenges volunteers and provides them points, that can be exchanged for prizes, for each opportunity served.
Is Your Volunteer Management Solution Integrated with CRM?
Integrating your organization’s volunteer management solution with CRM can provide additional insights into your program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The integration can also help your nonprofit better understand the relationship between volunteers and financial donors. Are you taking advantage of value or missing opportunities to cross-pollinate donor types? VolunteerHub provides integration with the industry’s top CRM’s, including all Blackbaud CRM products and Salesforce.
Takeaways
Deploying a strategic volunteer management solution should help your nonprofit engage volunteers, free up time, and optimize your process. If your volunteer management process has become a barrier to engagement, it may be time to consider investing in a volunteer management solution that can provide a quick ROI. VolunteerHub is the leading volunteer management provider in the nonprofit space and has helped thousands of organizations support more than 2.5 million volunteers.
