Volunteer Management

Improve Event Registration: 4 Tips for Volunteer Managers

Guest Blogger

Your volunteers keep your nonprofit running, but events often showcase just how vital volunteers can be. At virtual, in-person, and hybrid events, volunteers handle responsibilities that often go overlooked but can make all the difference in how your nonprofit’s supporters view your organization. 

Event registration is one of those key components of effective event management that often goes unnoticed when done well but can leave a bad impression when done poorly. Guests who get caught in long lines or experience extensive waiting times likely start your event with negative feelings that can affect their entire experience. 

Thankfully, with proper volunteer management, you can avoid this situation almost entirely. When armed with the right event registration software technology, your volunteers can improve your event registration process for your guests. The information collected from your registrations can also be used to inform how you manage your volunteers, creating a better experience that will encourage them to help out at your next event. To help your nonprofit make the most of both your registration software and your volunteers, this article will explore how to:

  1. Streamline Online Registration Processes 
  2. Staff Volunteers at Registration Tables
  3. Volunteer Check-in 
  4. Use Registrations to Organize Your Volunteer Approach 

How you implement these tips will depend on your event’s size, your volunteers’ specific needs and skill sets, and whether your event is virtual, hybrid, or in-person. Consider your upcoming events and adapt these practices to meet challenges and rise to opportunities relevant to your situation. Let’s get started. 

1. Streamline Online Registration Processes 

Online registration for virtual events is often a two-step process. Guests first sign up on your website, then are formally checked in at the beginning of the event to gain access to your event. Both steps of this process can be streamlined to improve guest experience, and your volunteers can help.  

Your registration software can carry over key information from your guests’ initial sign-ups on your website to your event software. Software that automatically syncs information from the initial sign-up stage to check-in at your event reduces data entry and allows volunteers to quickly access everything they need to get attendees registered quickly and efficiently. 

For example, if you’re hosting an event at a campsite, National Park, or other location that requires a waiver, your volunteers will need to find specific waivers to confirm each guest has correctly signed the appropriate documents. With hundreds of guests (or even just large parties arriving at the same time), online waivers that require an online search dramatically outpace the speed of sorting through piles of paper waivers by hand. 

Practices like the example above help guests get to your event faster, and they place less of a burden on your volunteers. Remember, while you’re trying to create a positive experience for your guests, you also need to create a positive experience for your volunteers. 

Events that have unnecessary busywork or result in guests venting their frustrations to volunteers reduce the chances that your volunteers will want to come back for your next event. 

2. Staff Volunteers at Registration Tables

No one likes long lines, especially at registration and check-in tables. If you’re hosting in a small event space, long lines not only frustrate guests trapped in them, but they also cause other guests to have to walk around them to reach other parts of your event. 

Fortunately, you can prevent this problem with a simple solution: staff more volunteers at your registration tables. For smaller teams, consider staffing more of your volunteers at your registration tables during the beginning of your event when you’re likely to have the longest lines, then transition them away to other responsibilities once lines become more manageable. 

However, it’s not enough to just sit your volunteers down at a table and tell them to start helping guests. You can create a more professional experience for your guests and help your volunteers feel prepared by: 

  • Holding a volunteer orientation. No matter what they’re doing at your event, all of your volunteers should attend an orientation before joining into your nonprofit’s activities. Orientations allow you to set expectations and outline basic responsibilities and practices that all volunteers should know when interacting with donors. If volunteers have questions, this is also an opportunity to answer those inquiries, identify potential holes in your volunteers’ knowledge, and find solutions before the event begins.
  • Training volunteers how to use your software. If you need your volunteers to use your registration software, teach them how to use it. To streamline the process, you can create virtual training materials and check in with them afterwards to answer questions. Remember to explain both normal processes and warn them in advance of any technical issues that might occur to prevent potential panic later on. 
  • Stationing a supervisor nearby. Visible volunteer managers let your volunteers know that your nonprofit cares about their contributions, while also providing a lifeline if anything does go wrong. This is especially important when interacting with donors because any problems that arise need to be addressed both quickly and professionally. For example, if a volunteer can’t locate a guest’s information in your system, calling in a supervisor to smooth over the situation is always better than leaving a volunteer to struggle. 

Remember to thank your volunteers for all of their hard work throughout your event. Retaining volunteers can lead to a sustainable base of reliable supporters you can call on in the future. Volunteers who have worked at multiple events will also be more familiar with your nonprofit and can help lend new volunteers a hand if your volunteer manager is preoccupied. 

3. Volunteer Check-in 

Like your guests, your volunteers need to be accounted for, too. Checking in your volunteers is more than just taking a headcount as it gives your volunteer managers an opportunity to review and keep track of everyone working with during the event. 

As Regpack’s guide to virtual event registration explains, virtual registration software isn’t just for your attendees, but for your team as well, especially during virtual events. Volunteer managers need to have a way to stay in close contact with volunteers. The challenges presented by remote, virtual events can be overcome by starting your event with a personal check-in of every volunteer to make sure they’re ready and can easily get in touch with their supervisor. 

Oftentimes, volunteers also need certain information tracked, such as their hours. Some volunteers need hours tracked in order to earn tax breaks or for other responsibilities that require a certain amount of volunteer time. However, your organization can also benefit from logging volunteer hours if your volunteers are eligible for volunteer grants. 

Volunteer grants are donations made by your volunteers’ employers in response to their charitable work, making these grants essentially free money your organization can earn after your events. 

While some corporations require volunteers to work a certain number of hours before becoming eligible for a volunteer grant, according to Double the Donation other companies offer grants per hour worked, meaning you can earn grants from all of your eligible volunteers after a single event. Record your volunteers’ hours, help them discover if they qualify, and provide any assistance they need for to fill out their grant applications. 

4. Use Registrations to Organize Your Volunteer Approach 

While some guests may first register when they arrive at your event, the majority will register ahead of time. Some events are even pre-registration only, requiring guests to sign-up by a certain date. 

Collecting this information ahead of time allows your event planners to distribute and organize resources based on your expected number of attendees. Volunteer managers should also use this data to help determine how they’ll organize and prepare volunteers by considering:

  • How many volunteers are needed. If you have more guests, you’ll need more volunteers to help run your event. This may seem rather obvious, but it becomes more complicated when hosting virtual and hybrid events. For example, at a hybrid event, registration data will inform you how many guests are attending virtually and in-person, requiring your volunteer manager to divide volunteers to adequately assist both groups. 
  • What training volunteers need to receive. While many details of your event should be decided before opening up registrations, headcounts can give your nonprofit a clearer understanding of your event’s scope. From there, volunteer managers can determine how many volunteers need to be trained on which tasks and plan accordingly. 
  • How volunteers want to contribute. Volunteers want to give, but they also want to help in a way that’s meaningful to them. Registration data can inform your nonprofit if you have the freedom to let volunteers pick and choose what activities they want to help with, or if you’ll need to take a more structured approach to ensure all aspects of the event are covered. 

If your nonprofit or association has a membership program, you can collect even more specific data about your guests to help organize your volunteer approach. Some membership software allows organizations to send surveys to their members, meaning you can directly ask guests if they prefer a hands-on or hands-off approach for various activities. This will help inform your training strategies for volunteers. Guides like this one can help provide a starting point for understanding how to make the most of your membership software to support both your events and volunteer managers. 

Your volunteers are one of your nonprofit’s most valuable support bases, and with proper management they can improve nearly every aspect of your events, starting with your registrations. Keep in touch with volunteers from check-in to check-out at your events, and always remember to say thank you afterwards!

About the Author: Asaf Darash

Asaf Darash, Founder and CEO of Regpack, has extensive experience as an entrepreneur and investor. Asaf has built 3 successful companies to date, all with an exit plan or that have stayed in profitability and are still functional. Asaf specializes in product development for the web, team building and in bringing a company from concept to an actualized unit that is profitable.

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Integration Announcement: VolunteerLocal Chooses Double the Donation for Integrated Volunteer Grant Solution

Guest Blogger

A warm thanks to Julia Beltran and our integration partners at Double The Donation for this guest post!

Double the Donation is proud to debut its integrated partnership with VolunteerLocal, one of the most powerful volunteer management platforms. This duo has come together to offer 360MatchPro to nonprofits, event planners and volunteer coordinators of all types through its seamless integration.

“Our volunteer grant integration with 360MatchPro will take the mystery out of volunteer grant submissions,” said Brian Hemesath, Founder of VolunteerLocal. “Volunteer coordinators can expect a simple way to contact eligible supporters and encourage them to submit their grants – leading to more funds for qualifying organizations.”

Through this new and innovative solution, organizations can now use 360MatchPro to identify volunteer grant-eligible supporters and guide them to their employer’s volunteer grant guidelines and submission steps directly after a volunteer shift. This technology helps organizations take advantage of corporate volunteer grant programs, which are offered by 40% of Fortune 500 companies.

“VolunteerLocal offers a range of features that are essential to an effective volunteer management strategy, and we are so excited to add volunteer grant outreach to their platform.” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “This robust solution will help organizations everywhere take advantage of corporate volunteer grant opportunities.”

While volunteer grant opportunities are significant, many organizations miss out on these funds because of a lack of donor awareness and outreach. This solution can now educate supporters and help organizations take advantage of this revenue stream.

“Our organization is so excited to integrate 360MatchPro with our VolunteerLocal account,” said Lin Lu, Web Developer at AnitaB.org. “We now have a simple way to tailor volunteer grant outreach to eligible supporters. This valuable integration will help us raise more without any extra effort.”

With around 63 million Americans volunteering each year, the value of volunteerism is worth an estimated $175 billion annually. Using 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal, organizations can educate their supporters and guide them to submit a volunteer grant application.

Start raising more from volunteer grants!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Volunteer Grants!

The 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal integration process is simple, allowing your organization to quickly enhance your volunteer grant fundraising initiatives. To get started, just enter your API keys within your VolunteerLocal account to activate the integration, and then add the 360MatchPro search field to your event or application forms.

This process allows your volunteers to enter their employer information as they sign up for a volunteer shift. The search tool provides suggestions as the user types, ensuring the volunteer enters their correct employer. This tool even takes spelling errors, parent companies, and subsidiary companies into account. 360MatchPro then automatically checks to see if this volunteer could be eligible for a volunteer grant through their employer’s corporate philanthropy program. This means your supporters can identify themselves as volunteer grant-eligible simply by entering employment information during their natural sign up process.

VolunteerLocal sign up form

Your organization can then sync this information into 360MatchPro to kickoff automated outreach streams. These messages are completely customizable, and they allow your supporters to learn more about their volunteer grant programs alongside actionable instructions to submit a volunteer grant request. Using 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal, you can learn valuable volunteer insights and encourage your supporters to submit volunteer grant requests, leading to greater revenue for your organization without any unnecessary effort!

Drive More Volunteer Grant Submissions to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Drive More Volunteer Grant Submissions to Completion with 360MatchPro!

360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal use their innovative solution to fuel support for your organization.

With these features, you can:

  • Identify more volunteer grant revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro enables you to automatically collect volunteer grant eligibility from supporters using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more volunteer grant opportunities 360MatchPro discovers and shares with donors, the more volunteer grant requests your donors will successfully submit.
  • Drive more grant requests to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct supporters to their volunteer grant submission process after their volunteer shift is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right supporters at the right time with custom emails based on eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more volunteer grant checks from companies through your door.
  • Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing volunteer grants? Let 360MatchPro automate your volunteer grant outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable volunteer grant-eligible supporters. Rest easy knowing that 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to learn more or get started? Schedule a personalized demo to see how 360MatchPro can fit your organization’s needs and drive donations through company gift matching.

About VolunteerLocal: VolunteerLocal is a user-friendly volunteer management platform used by nonprofits, event planners and volunteer coordinators of all types. This powerful software is designed to help your organization schedule volunteers, recruit groups, collect supporter data and more to ensure your volunteer management system is both efficient and effective. Interested in learning more? Check out their website.

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift and volunteer grant fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The 360MatchPro platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. 360MatchPro integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts.

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3 Strategies for Nonprofit Volunteer Retention in a Virtual World

Steven Shattuck

Donor retention gets a lot of attention, and with good reason. Generally, the average nonprofit retention rate has hovered around 40% for years. However, when you increase that rate by simply 10% (or hopefully more), you can raise tens of thousands of dollars more at your organization. 

Similarly, when you engage and retain volunteers, you’ll save money on recruitment and training activities for the future, helping you focus more intently on your mission. 

The first step to increasing your volunteer retention rate is showing your appreciation appropriately to those who engage with your organization and contribute to your success. 

This will help you develop effective and beneficial relationships between your organization and your valuable supporters. Luckily, there is a lot of overlap between the strategies that help retain donors and the strategies that help retain volunteers. At the end of the day, supporters of every kind want to be recognized, appreciated and engaged.

Here at Bloomerang, we designed our nonprofit software solution with retention in mind. We help thousands of nonprofits improve their retention rates by developing strong relationships with supporters every day. From our ample experience, we’ve developed a list of appreciation strategies that your organization can employ to cultivate your relationship among volunteers. 

Without further ado, let’s dive into some volunteer appreciation and stewardship ideas that can help you develop relationships and improve your retention rates. 

1. Provide Non-Traditional Volunteer Activities

Social distancing may have limited your ability to host in-person volunteers. But beyond the pandemic, you may have supporters who love you but don’t live near your office or service area, or who are unable to help in-person due to a disability. In any case, it’s a good idea to have virtual volunteer opportunities so that all of that passion doesn’t go under-leveraged.

There are many ways for volunteers to help out from the comfort and safety of their own home. Consider, for instance, the following merchandise ideas: 

  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising. Encouraging supporters to leverage their networks to create new donor opportunities is a high-value activity with a low cost of donor acquisition. For example, if you have birthday data on your volunteers, suggest they host a Facebook birthday fundraiser that benefits your nonprofit.
  • Letter Writing. Volunteers are great people to say thank you to donors; even more so that staff members. Thank you phone calls to donors are also a great use of volunteer time and energy. It doesn’t just have to be donor-facing. Consider asking volunteers to write letters of advocacy to local politicians, or sign petitions for change that benefits your organization. 
  • Social Media. Sharing is caring! If you have a campaign that is being promoted on social media, don’t be afraid to ask volunteers to go out and engage with those posts. It will help drive engagement and show the network algorithms that it’s content worth promoting to a higher percentage of the newsfeed.

When you make volunteerism more accessible and the opportunities more diverse, you can go beyond just pulling weeds or painting walls and really begin to engage your volunteers in unique ways that pay dividends!

2. Foster Community Among Supporters

Now more than ever, society craves the comforts of a tight-knit community. We’re more physically separated from one another than we have ever been. When you’re able to foster community among your supporters, you can satisfy this need for social interaction and connection, even while everyone remains socially distant. 

Using some of the remote opportunities and technologies that have become available this year, nonprofits like yours are able to create virtual opportunities for community gatherings amongst their supporters. While it does present a bit of a challenge, your nonprofit can still engage your supporters remotely; all it takes is some additional planning and prep work. 

The first step to create community among your remote supporters is to start with excellent virtual event opportunity ideas. As you begin, we recommend analyzing past successful virtual fundraising ideas. Make sure to rework them so that the event can be free for donors and volunteers to attend—after all, this event is to show appreciation rather than ask for funding. 

For instance, consider some of the ideas listed on Bloomerang’s virtual fundraising ideas guide: 

  • Online cooking night. Do you know a local chef in the community? Is there one on your team? Ask them to lead your supporters through a mouth-watering home-cooked meal. Send out the list of ingredients ahead of time. Then, you can video tape (or live stream!) the instructional video so that your supporters can follow along. 
  • TED Talk events. Offer TED Talk or other educational event opportunities so that your organization can present valuable information about your cause to your supporters. Create an engaging and informative presentation during which you can present new trends and research information about your mission. 
  • Virtual happy hour. Spark discussion by encouraging all of your valued supporters to gather together via virtual conferencing platform and enjoy their favorite beverages. Plan out discussion questions ahead of time to make sure everyone gets involved in the conversation.
  • Virtual book discussions. Book clubs are a great way to encourage people to come together for an engaging discussion. Look for a book that highlights the importance of your mission, then offer virtual book club opportunities so that your supporters can “gather” together regularly. 
  • Send physical gifts. Never underestimate the power of a small token of gratitude and the immense impact it can have on relationships with your supporters. Try branding these items to your organization so that you can spread awareness of your brand while showing your appreciation. Facemasks, stickers and t-shirts are low-cost and functional ways to let volunteers show off their pride for you, while getting your name and brand out in the community. Include a section in your budgeted expenses for volunteer appreciation gifts and try not to exceed that limit. 

When you design your organization’s strategic plan for the year, be sure to factor in both your fundraising events and your stewardship/appreciation events. There should be a good mix of both in your prospective calendar, creating a balance so that you can present involvement opportunities and show appreciation opportunities to supporters. 

This balance is what creates the best communities. Your supporters should neither feel like you’re pestering them for funding nor like they’re not helping the cause. 

3. Recognize and Encourage

There was a study conducted at Harvard discussing how praise and positive feedback results in increased “self-activation.” The study states,

“People whose best-self concepts were activated felt better and were more resilient to stress, more resistant to disease and burnout, better at creative problem solving and performance under pressure, and formed stronger long-term relationships with their employer.”

In terms of your volunteers, this means that recognizing and encouraging their work not only means that they feel appreciated, but that their quality of work will also likely increase in the future! 

Meanwhile, when donors give, the brain releases “feel-good” chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. These are the same types of chemicals that are released when we receive recognition and positive feedback. Increasing these feel-good chemicals for your donors makes it more likely that they’ll continue giving in the future. 

The first half of this strategy is to recognize your supporters for the work that they’re doing with your organization. There are several ways that you can do this: 

  • Feature volunteers in your monthly email newsletter. This is a great place to dedicate content in your email newsletter, taking some of the burden off of you for what needs to be created every month to populate the newsletter. Plus, you can brag about volunteers to a large group of recipients.You can also do the same in your annual report! Be sure to acknowledge the impact that some of your volunteers have had on your mission. 
  • Spotlight volunteers on social media. Try creating a Volunteer of the Month program where you give a social media shout out to different volunteers each month. Share a little bit about them and explain how they’ve been helping your organization. Volunteers will look forward to seeing who is featured and will love seeing their own name appear! 
  • Give shout-outs during get-togethers and meetings. If one of your volunteers does something especially caring or goes out of their way to help your organization in unexpected ways, tell the team about it! Giving bravos to your team about the wonderful work individuals are doing shows that you care about their hard work and encourages others to also go the extra mile. 

The second important part of this strategy is that your nonprofit should encourage volunteers to continue doing good work in the future. Don’t simply recognize, but be sure to also give a next action item for supporters. For example, if you spotlight Janine on social media, you might end the post by saying, “Keep it up, Janine!” This takes a recognition opportunity to the next level and encourages future action. 

When you use the recognize and encourage strategy to show your appreciation, make sure to include these four key elements in your shout-out to supporters: who they are, what they did, how it helped, and what they can continue doing. This gives people both the specifics of the support as well as the big picture impact. 

Showing appreciation for your valuable supporters is an important part of nonprofit stewardship strategies. Be sure to create your own stewardship program in order to show your supporters that you care and to encourage them to continue engaging with your organization. 

Look back over this guide and see if there are opportunities where you can combine multiple ideas into one strategy. For instance, start a Volunteer of the Month program and send a goodie bag of branded merchandise to the winner! Or, start a happy hour book club with your supporters so that they can enjoy a beverage while discussing their most recent read! 

There are infinite ways that you could show your supporters that you care about their contributions to your mission. Get creative! 

About the Author: Steven Shattuck

Steven Shattuck is Chief Engagement Officer at Bloomerang and Executive Director of Launch Cause. A prolific writer and speaker, Steven is a contributor to “Fundraising Principles and Practice: Second Edition” and volunteers his time on the Project Work Group of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project and is an AFP Center for Fundraising Innovation (CFI) committee member.

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Rebuilding and Reframing for Volunteer Management – Post COVID

Stephanie Canfield

As we begin to consider what our new normal will look like, remembering the roots of volunteerism and adapting them the new world is crucial. This evolution is not just essential for the good of our agencies, but for our profession as well.

We must be forward thinking. WE have to be the leaders to promote our programs and prove the value of engaging the support of volunteers.

Our fundamentals are rooted in recruiting, screening, training and the placement of volunteers. Many volunteer managers haven’t stopped their work through COVID-19 but many must reinvent and recreate their programs. Listed below are some tips to getting back to basics as you begin welcoming your volunteers back!

Needs Assessment

The first step is to conduct a needs assessment. There are four points to consider. What are the community needs, the organizational needs, the needs of the volunteer services program and the needs of the volunteers? Where is the sweet spot where those four aspects intersect? Can your volunteers serve these needs virtually or within social distancing guidelines? If not, can you consider an out of the box solution to move your program forward?

Recruiting

Once completing your needs assessment, plan to reassess current volunteer placements. Collaborate with your organization’s staff and leadership to consider all aspects of your organization’s needs and how volunteers can help serve those needs.

Screening and Training

Through this pandemic, we have learned that screening and training can be completed virtually. It isn’t our first choice, but it can be done well. There are great resources to help support the implementation of virtual screening and training, many are free or inexpensive. One such example is the free online webinars offered by the Texas Volunteer Management Conference (https://texasvmc.org).

Placement

Consider the need for facemasks, gloves and social distancing for volunteer placements. Also consider your own agency’s requirement, local and state requirements. Many organizations have successfully created opportunities to continue volunteer involvement while maintaining healthy social distancing practices. Consider current legal requirements, taking temperatures, updating the volunteer handbook and creating a COVID questionnaire and waiver. Solicit support from HR and your peers in the volunteer management community.

Leadership

Create your plan and present the post COVID-19 volunteer management plan to your organization’s leadership team. It is imperative to have buy in from leadership. Now, more than ever, volunteer professionals must insist on having a seat at the table.

As professional volunteer managers, the last thing that we want to see is the decline or elimination of opportunities to serve, opportunities to create advocates, opportunities to move the needle of our missions. Many of us have spent our careers being creative and constantly being problem solvers. We must continue to think out of the box with ways to connect our volunteers to the mission of our organizations.

While so much of this can be overwhelming, this is what we do. We adapt to the needs. The needs of the community haven’t stopped. In many respects, they’ve grown. Who’s hurting, who needs support? It might be our very own volunteers.

Disconnection and social distancing are unnatural to our work. At our core, we are connectors. How do we continue to connect our volunteers to meaningful work and our mission? While many of us have been paralyzed by fear, we cannot and will not give up!

Now, more than ever, we need to work together for the good of our profession and for the sake of those in need. There may be some uncertainty or even a bit of fear with the unknown future of volunteerism. That is precisely why we need to be leaders in our profession. We have the unique opportunity to be trailblazers, to CREATE the new normal for volunteerism. Our agencies and our volunteers are depending on our experience and our vision for the new face of service.

This is where peer support is imperative. Supporting each other professionally has never been more important. Together, we can overcome the challenges facing us. Let’s work TOGETHER to create what WE think the new normal should be for service and volunteerism.

Guest post by Stephanie Canfield, Leadership Community Advocate.

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5 Modern Tools to Improve Your Tech Stack

Carl Diesing

In 2020, it may feel like there is an abundance of obstacles standing between your nonprofit and accomplishing “the big picture.” A global pandemic, unprecedented economic downturn, a society more distant and divided than ever in recent memory— all challenges when it comes to making a difference.

For modern nonprofits, these challenges are far from insurmountable. With the right tools in your tech stack, you can improve relationship-building, fundraising, and internal operations. That’s where this guide comes into the picture!

At DNL OmniMedia, we help nonprofits discover and implement the software solutions necessary to reach their fundraising, stewardship, and advocacy goals. We’re going to cover five modern tools that your team can implement for more effective fundraising in 2021 and beyond:

  • Mobile Apps
  • Volunteer Management Software
  • Virtual Events Software
  • Grant Management Software
  • Time-Tracking Software

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that incorporating any new technology into your operations requires a careful evaluation and adjustment of your strategy as a whole. This is to ensure that all of your tools— existing and newly added— work cohesively together to reach your nonprofit’s fundraising and advocacy goals.

Nonprofit digital strategy isn’t the topic of this post, so we’re not going to dive into the details here. But, you can check out the DNL OmniMedia guide to building a nonprofit digital strategy to make sure you’re incorporating new tools intentionally and according to an effective strategic plan.

With that, let’s explore a few modern tools that can improve your nonprofit’s tech stack.

Mobile Apps

Think about the ways in which you interact with the outside world, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Browsing the internet, connecting via social media, and even video chatting— all of these methods of connecting are now handled through mobile phones.

At this point, 96% of Americans own a mobile phone, and 81% of Americans own a smartphone. It makes sense that interactions with the nonprofit sector are moving toward mobile accessibility as well! The following graphic from this guide about nonprofit apps shows a few interesting statistics about people’s interactions with mobile phones:

In particular, we want to highlight that 1 in 4 donors use smartphones to discover new nonprofits. If you’re not interacting with supporters on their mobile phones, you may be missing out!

Nonprofit mobile apps are an impactful tool that can be used to improve your tech stack, opening a new frontier of donor, volunteer, and advocate interactions. There are a variety of apps created specifically for nonprofits, including:

  • Peer-to-peer fundraising apps
  • Advocacy apps
  • Crowdfunding apps
  • Auction apps
  • Board management apps
  • Member management apps
  • Volunteer management apps

Beyond providing another outlet for engagement, mobile apps also empower you to connect with supporters who you may not have otherwise. After all, 1 in 5 Americans is a smartphone-only internet user— this means that the only way you’re going to connect with them on the internet is through their mobile phones!

Volunteer Management Software

Effective volunteer management is crucial to continue growing your volunteer program over time. However, with an increased need for volunteer assistance and a community that’s more physically distant than ever, an analog method of volunteer management won’t cut it anymore.

This is where volunteer management software comes into play. With this, you can automate key management tasks and connect with supporters near and far.

To choose an effective volunteer management software solution, seek features such as:

  • Intuitive interface for self-scheduling
  • Effective data management and custom reports
  • On-site check-in to manage in-person volunteers
  • Marketing tools such as social media sharing
  • Communication tools such as SMS messaging

But, how can you find the perfect volunteer management software for your organization? Prioritizing user-friendliness, scalability, and software support are great tips to start. For more tips to help find your perfect VMS solution, check out this blog post.

Virtual Events Software

This year has brought with it many challenges for the nonprofit sector. Some challenges, such as the economic downturn, can’t be overcome with technology alone. However, there is one challenge that you can solve with the incorporation of new software— the mass cancellation of events.

With the right virtual events software, you can get creative with online events to avoid canceling key fundraisers. There are a few different forms this could take:

  • Virtual Auction Software: With the right auction software, you can list items, live stream the auction event, collect bids, and facilitate guest checkout.
  • Virtual Conference Software: Conferences are exhaustive events, virtual or not. A dedicated virtual conference software is key to manage the many panels, speakers, and networking activities included in this type of experience.
  • Social Networks: Did you know that Facebook can be used to host virtual events? With the platform’s live-streaming and live donate tools, you can stream an experience and collect donations for the duration.
  • Video Conferencing Software: For simpler events, you may be able to utilize video conferencing software (such as Zoom) to conduct your experience. This would need to be partnered with an effective online donation tool for fundraising events.

The use of virtual events is hardly new— in fact, national nonprofits have been using virtual means to conduct their peer-to-peer fundraising events for quite some time now. However, the expansion of virtual events for the primary method of gathering together is unique to 2020. We recommend exploring the many possibilities for virtual fundraising events as you begin planning your 2021 calendar. To get started, check out this comprehensive GoodUnited guide!

Grant Management Software

This year, many nonprofits discovered the value of diversifying their revenue streams to combat the financial challenges caused by COVID-19. For some, pursuing grant funding was the key to staying afloat during the crisis. However, there’s no denying that grants are challenging to secure— even during times of economic prosperity.

Grant management software can be a game-changer when it comes to giving your proposals a competitive advantage. This software is created to help your team effectively manage grants from start to finish, or from the initial search and application process through the final implementation tasks.

Of course, not every grant management software solution is equal. We recommend seeking features such as:

  • Integrations with key databases, such as your nonprofit’s CRM
  • Multi-user access for team collaboration
  • Accounting and reporting capabilities for transparency
  • Grant tracking calendar to monitor progress and upcoming deadlines
  • Project management features to keep your team on track

Grant management is a highly customized process. Not only will each nonprofit have its own strategy, but each grant will as well! This is why we recommend working with a nonprofit consultant to create your grant management strategy. These partners can review your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy holistically to effectively incorporate grants. Then, they can help you customize your management software to carry out the most effective and efficient plan.

Time-Tracking Software

Last, but certainly not least, is a technology that’s already popular in the for-profit sector: time-tracking software.

Essentially, this is software that tracks your staff’s time to better understand the work they do on a day-to-day basis. But, why should your nonprofit start tracking time? Here are a few benefits it can provide:

  • Improved Staffing: You’ll understand exactly what your staff is spending time on and where you need to increase (or decrease!) time for various activities to make efficient use of your paid employees.
  • Increased Funding: You can be more transparent with funders and tell them exactly what their donations will go toward. This can be invaluable to raise future donations.
  • Simplified Audits: Audits are a common pain point for nonprofits when they are required to report on their expenses as they relate to specific programs. Time tracking handles some of that lift ahead of time, rather than collecting this information retroactively.
  • Better Program Management: You will understand the tasks that go into different programs and the overall cost of those programs. With this, you can better plan for future programming.

Additionally, these benefits extend beyond your staff as you can track volunteer time as well! By doing so, you can provide rewards to volunteers that have given a certain number of hours. And, you can use that data to fulfill potential volunteer grant requirements.

In summary, new nonprofit technology can drastically improve your nonprofit’s operations— from supporter engagement, to events capabilities, to internal operations. Technology can be a game-changer when it comes to reaching your nonprofit’s greatest goals. However, it’s not as simple as purchasing a new software license.

To truly have success with the platforms described above and other nonprofit tech solutions, consider working with a nonprofit tech consultant (such as the team at DNL OmniMedia!). This partner will ensure you have a holistic strategy to reach your goals, for which all of your solutions must work in tandem.

About the Author: Carl Diesing

Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with on-going web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals. As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.

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10 Myths About Managing Volunteers

Brianne Sanchez

A popular favorite from the VolunteerLocal Blog Archives.

Volunteer coordination is hard work, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what the role entails (and how to be successful along the way). We’re here today to de-bunk some of the most common myths we hear about volunteer management.

  1. You’re on call, 24-7. If you’re passionate about your job, managing volunteers could turn into an all-day, every-day gig. But with established communication protocols and an active team, you can (and should!) unplug. 
  2. You can’t solicit volunteers for donations. Many volunteers see their time as their primary contribution to an organization, but if there are costs associated with onboarding (background checks, etc.) asking them to cover those fees is a good path into the donor pipeline. 
  3. Volunteer trainings need to involve slides and manuals. Sure, you should cover compliance and protocols in an onboarding, but bring the mission to life with role-playing, behind-the-scenes tours or other activities that engage and inspire volunteers. 
  4. You should be happy with whoever you get. That old “beggars can’t be choosers” philosophy could really disrupt your organization. Screening volunteers is critical. They should be a right match for the organization, and placed in a role that maximizes their skills.  
  5. There’s no professional development for volunteer managers. So many people fall into this line of work. Seek out a support system of other volunteer managers who can share best practices through your local United Way, nonprofit professionals network or online forums. They can also recommend conferences and webinars to grow your skills. 
  6. Volunteer programs are free. While a volunteer program can bring great value to your organization, they’re like a garden that needs attention and investment to yield the best results. Don’t forget to build recognition materials, management software and other supplies into your budget. 
  7. Your organization should jump on every Day of Service opportunity or group volunteer request. Saying ‘no’ to someone (or lots of someones) who want to contribute to your organization can seem crazy. But if the activity is out of scope for your organization, a ‘yes’ can lead to confusion and cause more harm than good. 
  8. You’re the only one recruiting volunteers for your cause. Partnerships – with corporations, colleges and universities and other civic organizations – can create productive volunteer pipelines. 
  9. Liability and insurance isn’t your territory. Make sure you are working closely with your organizations’ compliance arm to ensure both volunteers and the organization are not putting each other at risk. 
  10. Measuring volunteer impact is impossible. With proper tracking of volunteer hours and assignments, your organization can put a relative dollar value on volunteer power. And by collecting stories of volunteer initiatives and outcomes, your leveraging powerful anecdotes to support your cause.

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4 Core Traits to Look for in a New Volunteer Coordinator

Isabel Reed

There are many reasons why you might find yourself reading this article now. It could be that your previous volunteer coordinator moved away, leaving an empty seat at the team table. Or, perhaps your nonprofit has never hired a volunteer coordinator before and is now in a position to make that advancement.

Whatever the reason, there will be certain qualities and qualifications to look out for as you begin interacting with applicants. Let’s break it down.

What’s their “why”?

We’ve all heard this question in interviews: “Why are you applying for this position?” True, the question is an old one. However, in mission-driven work, it’s critical to understand a volunteer coordinator’s “why”.

There is no right answer, but at the very minimum, the position must mean more than a paycheck. For example, maybe they thrive in fast-paced work settings, or they love organizing groups of people to make a difference.

Volunteer management is hard work, and if there isn’t a value-packed reason why the person is showing up to work every day…they may one day not show up. Ask around, and I’m sure someone on your team will have some kind of insight into volunteer coordinator burnout. Which reminds me – once you find the perfect fit for the role, do your best to support and appreciate their work.

Communication skills

A volunteer coordinator will be in constant communication. The role requires close collaboration with the rest of the team, as well as with the volunteer base.

When interviewing an applicant, pay attention to how the conversation flows. Do they seem to follow the conversation easily, understanding your questions and engaging with them? Can you easily understand the heart of what they are saying when they speak with you? How personable do they seem? (We’ll get to that in just a moment.)

This is important because your team will need to convey short term and long term goals to the volunteer coordinator. Then, the volunteer coordinator will need to efficiently communicate those goals to the volunteers, synthesized through meaningful tasks, projects, and volunteer roles.

If an applicant has experience in teaching, tutoring, coaching, or some other kind of instruction, that is a great sign of their communication skills. Remember – their experiences in previous, seemingly unrelated jobs are relevant as long as they gained transferable skills from those experiences.

An authentic, inviting personality

We all want to work with a team of complementary personalities – hello amazing work banter! But in some positions, an amiable personality goes a longer way than in other positions.

Think of it this way – a volunteer donates their time and effort into furthering your cause. Volunteers are motivated by the joy of the work and the collective impact of volunteer efforts. Volunteers who are intrinsically motivated will be very much turned off by an unpleasant coordinator.

Personality traits to be cautious of include passive aggressiveness, a quick temper, inconsistency between what they say and what they do, and tendencies toward blame rather than accountability.

It can be difficult to spot any of these qualities during an interview, when they are (hopefully) at their most behaved. This is where references come in handy. As previous employers how this person behaved under pressure or in stressful environments.

On the flip side, look for strengths and skills that shine through in their personality. Are they welcoming and understanding, yet firm when needed? How well do they listen?

All this said, give your volunteer coordinator room to have an authentic personality – their own, beautiful, unique magic! Speaking from experience, I’ve personally continued volunteering at organizations much longer than intended, just because my volunteer coordinator was the glowing sun personified.

Well-Organized

A volunteer coordinator can be perfect in every way, but if they are not organized, they might soon be overwhelmed by the commotion of the job.

Generally, volunteer coordinators are responsible for creating programs for volunteers, recruiting volunteers, orientation schedules, applicant tracking, shift scheduling, on-site leadership, and more.

With so many moving parts to the job, it’s important to look for signs of orderliness in behaviors. Do they keep a personal calendar? Do they show up promptly and on-time when expected? How are their email exchanges – sporadic or reliable? What is their familiarity with basic data management (not necessarily a requirement, but a huge perk!). Do they enjoy multi-tasking, or do they prefer to focus on one priority at a time? (There are no right answers to that question, but pay attention to their reasoning behind their answer.)

As mentioned before, volunteer coordinators are a critical team member of any growing, volunteer-powered nonprofit. Pull all the stops to keep them happy, well supported, and doing their best work. Sometimes, that means giving them the right tools and resources (and coffee…don’t forget the coffee).

So, full disclosure, this is where I recommend VolunteerLocal for easy, intuitive, organized volunteer management. For the peace of my own conscience, I should explain that my recommendation is more than just a plug.

At VolunteerLocal, we work with numerous clients transitioning from mega-monster spreadsheets and folders to our streamlined, web-based platform. My recommendation stems from the favorite part of my job – when I hear a volunteer coordinator’s sigh of relief (followed fast by celebration). Request a free 1:1 demo any time you like. We’ll be glad to share the magic with your team.

There are many other qualities you might be looking for in a new team member, but these four are what many organizations consider “core” to the new volunteer coordinator’s success in the role. I wish you the very best of luck finding that new team member. They’re sure to be a dynamic addition to the organization.

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What’s on the Horizon for Volunteer Programs?

Isabel Reed

The year 2020 has expedited many changes to the structure and function of volunteer programs. Our team here at VolunteerLocal has researched and organized industry insights over the last 6 months, with a specific focus on how volunteer programs are evolving with the times.

First, let’s examine the forces, big and small, that are motivating these changes. Although this is not an exhaustive list, the following represent many catalysts of change:

  • COVID-19 (what you might call the “mega catalyst”)
  • BLM protests
  • Growing base of younger volunteers
  • Technology

COVID-19

It comes as no surprise that COVID-19 has caused the most change to volunteer programs in the recent past (and present). The outbreak of the pandemic has brought volunteer programs to a complete halt in many cases, and forced other volunteer programs to scramble for a solution.

What might be more of a surprise, however, is how it has inspired quite positive, innovative change to volunteer programs.

For example, volunteer roles have diversified (even more on that in a moment!). Volunteer roles have become increasingly off-site, rather than on-site, as we realize that volunteering does not need to be confined to any particular set of four walls.

For example, more volunteers are being recruited for driving, delivery, and transportation roles — delivering supplies or even transporting volunteers safely (the keyword is “safely”) from one place to another.

Another “new normal” — forgive the buzzword — appears to be the idea of volunteering from home. Volunteer materials are mailed directly to volunteers’ homes, so they may complete their duties from the comfort (or quarantine) of their living room!

Mailing materials directly to volunteers invites a wider audience of volunteers to be engaged in the work they care about, as it makes your volunteer program more accessible to volunteers in various living situations and medical conditions. For example, volunteers who are unable to find transportation to your site, unable to volunteer during the hours you are open, or unable to work productively from your site for medical reasons — all of these folks can volunteer right from home.

Quick tip: Each community is different. Find out why people in your community choose not to volunteer. Then, see if your organization can meet that need/obstacle. There are many ways to go about collecting this information, but the easiest might be to ask your current volunteers for feedback along the lines of: “We are doing market research to better support our volunteers and our volunteer program. Reflecting on some of the people in your own social circle, could you share what obstacles/concerns they might have about volunteering?” Of course, speaking directly to those people would be best, but this should get the ball rolling!

COVID-19 is also helping us address needs and opportunities alike in our volunteer programs. To reflect on a few more: How did your organization first react to the crisis? Do you now have emergency protocols, or even a new position for crisis management? Have you identified the vulnerabilities within your program? Did you notice anyone who rose to the occasion unexpectedly?

BLM Protests

Although the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements were born long before 2020, BLM has rightfully received much more attention this year. The BLM movement has given us much to reflect on and improve upon as community organizers and coordinators.

For practical starters, these protests have demonstrated how to gather large groups of people, while still minimizing risk of COVID-19 spread and exposure. Protesters wear masks, sometimes gloves, and carry their own signs/materials without exchanging them with another person. The protests are held outdoors, where there is good air circulation. Importantly, the protesters are informed of the risks and are motivated to keep each other safe. Research has shown that these protests — unlike other gatherings we’ve witnessed over the recent months — have not contributed the the spread of COVID-19. (Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020)

Furthermore, the movement itself has called attention to the systems within our own organizations, teams, and businesses. It has called for work that is overdue for many of us. Remember — tough questions can inspire needed, positive change. For example:

  • Is our leadership and team representative of the community we’re serving? In what ways? How can we improve this?
  • Are our goods, services, and job opportunities accessible to all, including those who have disabilities or socioeconomic barriers to access? If the answer is yes, yet you still do not see adequate representation in your programming or team, then there may be more subtle psychological or environmental factors preventing access. Reflect on how a person might feel upon arrival — welcomed, understood, intimidated, threatened, overwhelmed, at ease?
  • How can we use our organization’s powers, assets, resources, and privileges to support the BLM movement?

Growing Base of Younger Volunteers

As you may have noticed over the years, Millennials and Gen Z have knack for identifying their core values and promptly getting involved to advocate for them. A lot of this translates directly to a increase in this these generations’ collective volunteer efforts and monetary donations. (Monetary donations are largely sourced from Millennials, as the Gen Z population is still working toward financial independence.)

Volunteer coordinators who have noticed this trend have been riding the wave, maximizing their appeal to younger generations, and as a result, watching their volunteer programs improve in a number of ways:

  • Organizational adoption of technology solutions (more on this in the next section!)
  • Opportunities with varying commitment levels
  • Embracing & harnessing unique skill sets

As inspiring as younger volunteers are, they can also be known to be commitment-wary. Don’t write it off as a bad thing just yet! Introducing, the rise of “micro-volunteering”.

Micro-volunteering consists of small, bite-sized tasks, with no commitment to repeat. The tasks are usually informal, involving short, specific
actions that are quick to start and finish. Not only does micro-volunteering appeal greatly to younger generations, but it is also easy to promote and fulfill.

To make the abstract a bit more concrete, examples of micro-volunteering include: taking a feedback survey, leaving a review/testimonial, running an errand, signal-boosting and engaging with social media content, or being a brand ambassador.

Micro-volunteering could also involve small projects that utilize a volunteer’s unique skill. The age of the internet has empowered many to seek their own education in fields like graphic design, marketing, SEO, and computer science — whether via academic courses, online classes, or even YouTube videos. Younger generations are solution-seekers, powered by technology and personal values. They’d surely be a welcome addition to any volunteer program.

Technology

A more focused analysis of technology is a natural transition now, as it is closely linked to the understanding of Millennial and Gen Z volunteers. Beyond that, however, technology has fortified many volunteer programs with the organization, scheduling, and communication strategies necessary to keep things moving smoothly. (I say that not in hopes of selling to you; rather to celebrate the rise of game-changing tech solutions.)

From start to end, there is a technology solution for just about every need your organization might have. That is not to say that you should utilize every technology solution that is available…that quickly becomes overwhelming, expensive, and a total mess of open tabs in a web browser. Instead, I encourage you to envision technology as a library of resources, right at your fingertips.

Donations? Boom, that’s digital now. Recurring donations? Also a thing! Donor management software? You got it!

Rinse and repeat the above Q&A with the same level of enthusiasm, but swap out the topic with: volunteer management, vendor management, marketing/outreach management, etc. You’ll start to get the picture of technology’s impact in the nonprofit space.

“So broad, so abstract…” you might think, and you’re right! Let’s get more specific.

To be fair, technology solutions in the nonprofit space is a vast topic in its own right. Nevertheless, to measure how your organization and volunteer program has evolved with technology, you might ask yourself these questions:

  • Have we ever hosted a virtual event? (2020 is the year to do it!)
  • Have we offered any virtual volunteer positions?
  • Do we facilitate remote volunteering?
  • Can volunteers perform any volunteer-related tasks online, such as scheduling shifts, checking in/out, or logging hours?
  • What methods of communication are we utilizing? Email? Text?
  • Is volunteer information scattered among a series of folders and spreadsheets, or organized securely in a cloud-based database?

Technology can certainly be overwhelming, so set just one or two goals with your team. Work toward them together, one celebrated baby step at a time. If our team at VolunteerLocal can help, just say the word!

Reflecting on your own volunteer program, have you noticed any of the changes mentioned in this article? Continue to be mindful of your team’s reactions to these changes — including the reactions of your volunteers! Change can be nerve-wracking, and as a leader within your organization, you might explore ways of communicating change positively so that no one is left feeling discouraged.

2020 has been a year of incredible pressures to say the least, but sometimes pressure welcomes long-term change for the greater good. In your own reflections, or perhaps after reading this article, we hope you find a few glimmers of shine in an otherwise cloudy year.

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Seven Tips to Help You Find that Perfect VMS 😍

kaylee@volunteerlocal.com

I’ve always thought that buying software is a little like picking out an ice cream flavor from one of those places that has dozens of options.

Choose wrong and you are stuck with an entire cone of mediocre ice cream. Choose a winner, and it is a happy day.

OK, so that may be the extent of the analogy, but now that you are craving a treat, here’s a 5 minute read about volunteer management systems. This will go quick (and you might even have time to make an ice cream run when you’re done).

1. Make ‘User Friendly’ a top priority.

Ease-of-use is one of the most important considerations for any volunteer management software. A solution that is hard to navigate, slow to respond or requires a lot of training will cause frustration for both your staff and volunteers. 

Buy the software they will actually use. Oftentimes, this simply means finding the system that everyone can understand. 

2. Demo the software as a volunteer, too.

If your volunteer management system isn’t simple, easy to access and visually clear, your volunteers won’t use it. The right software solution should prioritize your volunteer’s time and user experience. Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google have changed the game in terms of consumers’ expectations for how software should be used, keep this in mind as you select your software.

3. Plan for growth.

Invest in a volunteer management system that can accommodate your needs as they change over time. For example, you may wish to elevate key volunteers into leadership positions. This means you’ll need captain-level administrative access settings to help delegate the work. Perhaps one or two rogue volunteers will prompt you to consider a flagged volunteer list.

Make sure the system you select has features like these (and more) available and ready to deploy when you need them. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to ask for a demonstration of features that may not be what you need today, but things you could want in the future.

4. Make sure you will be well supported.

You don’t want to be approaching the final days to your event with unanswered emails and phone calls hanging. Look for free, unlimited support. We think the best software providers offer live chat, phone and email support for starters. They should guarantee 24-hour (or less) response times on all emails. Extra points if they have a YouTube channel with tutorial videos to help guide your staff during off-hours and weekends. 

5. Seek the wisdom of the crowd.

As you explore different volunteer management systems, stack them side-by-side, and evaluate each product’s strengths and weaknesses as it relates to your priorities. If you want a flexible volunteer registration tool or check-in on a mobile app, iPad or laptop on the fly, give those features more weight in your evaluation. Once you’ve done this, research each vendor’s online reviews, paying particular attention to those features and read customer testimonials on their websites. Look to sites like Capterra and Software Advice for ratings, and always ask for references.

6. Survey your volunteers.

Use an online survey tool (like this one, or this one!) to create a survey about the overall volunteer experience, throughout the lifecycle of their relationship with you: awareness of the opportunity, signup/registration, advanced communications, arrival, staff interaction on-site, fulfillment of responsibilities, and wrapping up. Find out what areas are important to your volunteers. Ask them for ideas on how processes and communications could be improved.

Share the survey results with your software provider – good or bad, the right software company will love this kind of feedback, and they’ll be immediately responsive to changes or updates that the volunteers suggest might improve their online experience.

7. It’s OK to feel a little uncomfortable.

Taking your volunteer management activities online for the first time (or switching to a new software provider) comes with some discomfort. It’s ok and very normal. That discomfort however, should quickly dissipate as you engage with your software provider. 

The right software vendor will work with you to make sure you understand how the technology will support you and your volunteers every step of the way. If you don’t feel the love, don’t take the leap.

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VolunteerLocal Partners with Blerter For Safer, Smoother Event Management

Isabel Reed

VolunteerLocal is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Blerter, a tool that helps outdoor events streamline delivery, prepare for things that can go wrong and increase crew engagement. With a simple, easy-to-use platform that helps centralize your communications, operations and safety processes – your entire event team is connected in one place.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Anthony Vernon, Head of Sales at Blerter about what they do, their partnership with VolunteerLocal, and how he sees the future for the events industry. 

How do you describe Blerter to someone who’s never heard of it before?

Blerter is an event delivery platform that connects your entire event crew on one unified platform to centralise communication, manage risk and streamline operational delivery. It leverages the latest digital technology to provide visibility and situational awareness across teams and locations by allowing users to rapidly communicate issues and incidents, giving event organisers the ability to deploy resources faster and easily crowd source event intelligence for better audit control and post event reporting. 

It helps protect the sponsors brand, support the event experience and mitigate the risk associated with your insurance premium and legal liability.

What are the primary industries you serve?

We developed the platform to serve the events industry – in particular sports and festivals. Blerter is purpose-built for the idiosyncrasies and dynamics of each event.

Why is your solution important? Why is it innovative?

Events can be incredibly rewarding. But there is a fine line between getting it right and wrong. Events provide opportunities to curate wonderful experiences and as events professionals we are obligated to create an environment to make this happen. 

But this is no easy task, we’ve found that most events still use radios, paper forms or apps like WhatsApp to communicate and deliver the event. These systems have inherent flaws and create disconnected teams and disorganised communication. Information often goes missing, they lack context, people can be sent to the wrong locations to deal with issues and some teams like volunteers, often, have no direct line of communication at all. They are briefed for 30 minutes before an event and told to call a number or find someone with a radio if something goes wrong. It’s not effective. There are too many opportunities for time delays to occur, which is not suitable for a time sensitive industry. It only takes one situation to escalate and the entire event is at risk.

There are currently no systems that help events centralise communications, operations and safety in one platform. That is why we are innovative.

Why partner with VolunteerLocal? How do you think this partnership will benefit the industry?

Almost every customer I have a conversation with asks if we integrate with a volunteer management system. This partnership will allow customers to build a robust technology infrastructure, leverage specialist technology in one workflow, seamlessly share data and reduce administration time by digitising the process of volunteer management, registration, briefing, training and communication. 

It is a seamless end to end solution. 

What’s one thing you’d like our customers to know about Blerter?

We have an extremely diverse team. Nearly 50% of our development are female and over 60% of the company coming from different countries and ethnic backgrounds. I think this has allowed us to innovate and explore new ideas much quicker than our competitors. 

Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 years? How is your company positioned to enable that growth?

I think the events industry will be the leader for leveraging experiential technologies. You can already see it happening with music artists appearing as holograms, virtual and augmented reality becoming more common amongst E-Sports and Gamers. It will dramatically change the marketing landscape, audience engagement and how sponsors will leverage their products.

Ultimately, I think it will help events drive new revenue streams and reach a larger global audience.  It epitomises the global economy we now live in. Technology will allow consumers around the world to experience the atmosphere of the Super Bowl as if they were actually there, without having to buy the ticket, flights and accommodation. 

To find out more about how you can use Blerter with VolunteerLocal, click here.

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