The arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center: A tool for online volunteer recruitment and management
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The arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center: A tool for online volunteer recruitment and management Mary Sweeney, Arbor Day Foundation About: The arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center matches volunteers with local service opportunities in their community with a click of a button. Discover more about this new tool for volunteer management which allows for tracking volunteer hours, expanded exposure, sending automatic email reminders and includes educational resources. Learn best practices for online volunteer recruitment and engagement and hear success stories from non-profits and communities who have used the Volunteer Center to promote their volunteer events.
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The arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center: A tool for online volunteer recruitment and management
- 2. Arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center Success Stories Best Practices
- 3. Partnership with Toyota Powered by VolunteerMatch.org Matches individuals with local conservationrelated volunteer opportunities
- 10. Photo courtesy of Kent Parks
- 11. Follow up immediately Post, post, and repost – keep content current Spell correctly Think outside the box on typical volunteers arbordaynow.org/volunteer
- 13. Arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center and VolunteerMatch can be a resource for your organization You’re Not Alone People want to help, so let’s find ways to engage them!
- 14. For more information, contact : Mary Sweeney 402-473-2034 msweeney@arborday.org
Notas do Editor
- Hello! Thank you for joining me for this presentation today. My name is Mary Sweeney, Program Manager with the Arbor Day Foundation. Today I’d like to share with you a new tool to assist in the recruitment and engagement of community members in tree- and conservation-related volunteer opportunities. This tool is the arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center.
- During this short presentation, I’d like to show you: The exciting capabilities of the Volunteer Center, which allows for tracking of volunteer hours, automatic volunteer reminders, educational resources, and exposure to over 6, million VolunteerMatch and 3 million Arbor Day Foundation annual website visitors Share a couple success stories from non-profits and communities who have used the Volunteer Center to promote their volunteer events; and Discuss the benefits of the site and best practices for online volunteer recruitment and engagement
- The Volunteer Center was created to help encourage community engagement in tree- and conservation-related volunteer opportunities. It is sponsored through a partnership with Toyota and powered by one of the nation’s largest online volunteer recruitment platforms, VolunteerMatch.org. Individuals are matched with local volunteer opportunities simply by typing in their zip code.
- The arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center serves two primary audiences – 1) those who want to promote their volunteer opportunities, like non-profit organizations, government agencies, park departments, and other similar organizations; and 2) those who want to get involved in a conservation- or tree-related volunteer opportunity in their community. First let’s take a look at those who are “Looking for Volunteers.” We’ll come back to “I’m a Volunteer” in just a bit.
- After clicking “I’m looking for volunteers,” those individuals or organizations who would like to promote, or post, their upcoming volunteer events will be directed to a page to create an account. Through the partnership with VolunteerMatch and the Arbor Day Foundation, all the information added to this website is used to create a free, upgraded “Community Leader” VolunteerMatch account, which is normally $75/year. The account is then accessible at VolunteerMatch.org, giving the user access to a suite of volunteer management tools and resources.
- When an organization logs into their account on VolunteerMatch, they will see their organization’s dashboard. From this page, an organization can post new opportunities, track who has signed up, or “referred” themselves, to that specific event, communicate with volunteers, generate reports, and access a plethora of resources from VolunteerMatch’s years of experience. Any environmental opportunity posted to the VolunteerMatch site will automatically be filtered into the arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center.
- So now that you’ve had a chance to see how the “non-profit” side of the system works, let’s switch gears to the volunteer-facing side of the arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center. When a person clicks, “I’m a Volunteer,” they are directed to this landing page where they can type in their zip code to bring up any volunteer opportunities near them. When they find an opportunity they want to participate in, they will click a link to “Sign Up”. Once they complete the sign-up process, an email will be sent to the volunteer confirming their successful submission and another will be sent to the Account Manager for that opportunity letting that person know a new volunteer has signed up.
- Let’s use Bastrop State Park as an example. In 2011 devastating wildfires swept through the Lost Pines Forest of Bastrop, Texas and destroyed over 96% of Bastrop State Park. Through local and national partnerships, funding came through to help with reforestation efforts, but rounding up enough volunteers and managing them until the project was complete, was going to be a big task. They decided to try out the arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center and were pleasantly surprised with the traffic they received and ease of volunteer management.
- By posting events like the one listed here, the Bastrop State Park has had nearly 300 sign-ups for their events, which has yielded roughly 850 volunteers since they began using the site last fall. The events are listed individually with a short description of what will take place along with any requirements. The coordinators in charge of managing the Bastrop State Park VolunteerMatch account continue to remark on the ease of the system and how it helps them to better communicate and manage their volunteers.
- Another example is from Kent Parks, Recreation, and Community Services in Kent, Washington. Among the many events they host each year, this organization uses the VolunteerMatch website to publicize one of their most popular events – the annual Arbor Day celebration where they commemorate the city’s recognition as a Tree City USA. In speaking with their Special Programs Manager, Victoria Andrews, about the event, she said that posting their event online helps them to recruit at least 120-150 high-quality volunteers each year.
- So whether you plan to use VolunteerMatch or another online tool, publicizing volunteer opportunities online can be a benefit to any organization. Some best practices to consider are to: Follow up with your volunteers. The sooner you acknowledge an individual as YOUR volunteer, the more likely they are to remain committed to your organization Post, post, and repost – keep your content current and up to date. As elementary as it sounds, remember to use proper spelling and punctuation. It helps your organization look professional and appeals to volunteers. And lastly, think outside the box on your typical volunteers.
- Yes, volunteer tree planters, mulchers, and pruners will obviously be a “must” with tree and conservation-related organizations, but think beyond the low-hanging fruit for ways to really optimize your volunteer resources. As budgets are getting tighter and tighter, consider posting your need for a photographer for an event, or someone to help you with social media or web design. People want to help. The sky’s the limit!
- So in summary, remember that the arbordaynow.org Volunteer Center and its partner, VolunteerMatch, can be a resource for your organization in its outreach and recruitment of new volunteers. VolunteerMatch has connected over 7.3 million volunteers since 1998 so I encourage you to take advantage of their volunteer management tools and resources and start recruiting today! Remember, you’re not alone! There are 10’s of thousands of organizations posting opportunities online, so connect with someone already recruiting volunteers and learn from their expertise. People want to help, so let’s work together to build a greater interest in urban and community forestry and engage them!