Managing volunteer shifts is hard work, and it's easy for things to fall through the cracks. This can lead to volunteers not showing up or feeling unappreciated, making them less likely to work with you again.
Today, the GivePulse team is exploring how to manage volunteer shifts effectively–and how a reliable nonprofit CRM can streamline the process for your organization.
The Four Steps to Managing Volunteer Shifts
Managing volunteer shifts doesn't have to be complicated. Scheduling individuals or teams of volunteers can be broken down into four main steps.
Recruitment
Recruitment is when you reach out to potential nonprofit volunteers. Recruiting new volunteers can be daunting, but a nonprofit CRM like GivePulse can help you find and engage new supporters. Tap into your network of existing volunteers, advertise events and volunteer opportunities on your website or volunteer management platform, and share opportunities on your social media channels.
Once you have a team of volunteers registered, you can map their availability against your nonprofit's needs and schedule their shifts on a calendar. Our CRM securely stores all information about new and returning volunteers, making it easy to connect.
Scheduling
Scheduling is the process of assigning nonprofit community volunteers to specific tasks and shifts. This ensures that all the different aspects of your event are covered.
Scheduling can get complicated, as you need to take a lot of information into account. For example, what is everyone's availability? What types of work are they capable of doing? What locations are they able to staff?
A nonprofit volunteer management CRM like GivePulse can track this information in one easy-to-use interface to simplify the scheduling process. GivePulse can also help you send out reminders to volunteers about their upcoming nonprofit shifts to make sure nobody forgets.
Training
Training is the process of preparing volunteers for their tasks. Training can occur in person or online and ensures that volunteers are ready to do their job and know what is expected of them. Training can include orientations and briefings about nonprofit events such as races and festivals.
Tracking
Tracking hours worked is crucial for both the volunteers and the nonprofit. Tracking helps ensure that volunteers are getting the credit they deserve for their time, and it also helps the nonprofit understand their impact and budget time and resources for future events.
If you're ready to ditch unwieldy timesheets, a volunteer management platform is the tool you need. GivePulse helps you track all volunteer hours worked in one convenient interface so your organization–and your volunteers–can understand the impact of your work.
Conclusion
Managing nonprofit events and shifts is complex–and dropping the ball can have serious consequences. The best way to stay on top of volunteer management and volunteer shifts is with a nonprofit management platform. GivePulse can help you create an online schedule, send out automated reminders, and track hours.
Need help managing volunteers for your next nonprofit event? Schedule a demo with GivePulse today.
About GivePulse
GivePulse's mission is to enable everyone in the world to participate and engage in lifting their community to new heights. We do so by providing a platform to list, find, organize and measure the impact of service-learning, community engagement, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and volunteerism.
Founded in 2012 in Austin, Texas, GivePulse works with 650,000+ groups, including colleges and universities, nonprofits, businesses, K-12/school districts and cities and municipalities. Together, we connect millions of people in an effort to create positive social change.
Start making a difference today by visiting www.givepulse.com.