Is your volunteer management process on autopilot?
If you said “no,” stop and think about all the tasks involved with acquiring and retaining volunteers. What comes to mind? If you’re not using a volunteer management software like VolunteerHub, you’re probably thinking about all the incoming and outgoing calls, various spreadsheets, emails, and last-minute unexpected cancellations. Sounds like a far cry from “autopilot.”
When you’re doing everything manually, you’re barely able to keep up. This leaves very little time for actually engaging your volunteers. How much in contributed time and donations are you leaving on the table?
In this article, we’ll look at three ways a volunteer automation tool such as VolunteerHub can help you do more, worry less, and engage more volunteers.
3 Steps Closer to Autopilot
Smart nonprofits know that automation is the future. Many organizations make large investments to automate the donor acquisition and nurturing process. Why should volunteer engagement be any different from donor relations?
A tool like VolunteerHub can help you make the transition to an engagement-driven organization. Here are three specific ways, among many others, that volunteer management software can help:
Automate Your Volunteer “Conversion” Process
VolunteerHub makes it easy to get new recruits. Simply place a “Volunteer Now” button in a visible spot on your website, and VolunteerHub does the rest.
Each person who visits your site will see this call to action and quickly understand how to get involved. As online volunteer registrations occur, you’re able to capture important contact information in one secure, cloud-based system.
Simplify the Event Registration Process
Once registered with your hub, supporters can easily browse all of your available volunteer opportunities. VolunteerHub makes it simple for volunteers to self-register for the events that fit into their schedules. This can significantly reduce the administrative burden traditionally placed on your team for making calls, answering emails, and tracking registrations in spreadsheets.
Since maximum limits and wait lists can be set up, you’ll never have to over-recruit for a specific event. Best of all, with just a few mouse clicks, your hub administrators can monitor all event sign-ups to date.
Implement a Volunteer Nurturing Campaign
With a tool like VolunteerHub, you’re also able to improve relations with your volunteers. VolunteerHub allows you to set up automatic event confirmations, reminders, and thank-you emails.
Your hub can even be configured to send text messages to volunteers, so you’re always in contact when it matters most.
Don’t Just Manage, Engage
When nonprofits rely on spreadsheets and handwritten notes, both the organization and volunteers miss out. Implementing a volunteer management system like VolunteerHub can free up staff to spend more time engaging volunteers. This helps you build more meaningful relationships, and it allows volunteers to feel a deeper connection to your organization. That tie, in turn, can lead to more committed volunteers who keep coming back to help.
