Perks for You and Them: Making the Most of all that Volunteer Data

Managing volunteers looks different for different organizations and may shift from season to season or event to event. But at the core of the job are three phases: recruiting volunteers, managing jobs and relationships on the day of the event, and recording the work that’s been accomplished.

Today let’s take a look at that last piece—recording what’s been done. 

Setting up a volunteer hour tracking system and training your volunteers to use your system gives you a huge advantage and infuses some fun competition among your volunteers.

Creating the right system for your organization does take an investment of time from you as a volunteer coordinator. But keeping things as simple as possible for both you and your volunteers reaps great benefits! Just remember to keep it to the essentials. 

Your volunteers don’t want to spend extra time tracking trivial aspects of their role, and you don’t need superfluous data to deal with after your event is completed. Just asking for the necessities is a big win for everyone!

Perks for You

Instant Feedback

I love running events! There’s so much camaraderie and adrenaline as you navigate and the highs and lows. But there have been times I’ve been asked at the end of the day, “How did it go?” And I had been too busy to know how to answer. Anyone else have that problem? 

Taking the time to collect volunteer data after the event and through a proper system helps volunteer coordinators gain the proper perspective to reflect on the event as a whole and celebrate successes.

Demonstrate Value for Others

When the Board of Directors, donors, or sponsors asks for a report on the event, volunteer data is a great place to start! It offers concrete numbers that helps to demonstrate investment from the community and the reach of your organization.

Perks for Them

Let’s be honest, tracking hours isn’t the most fun thing to do, whether you’re getting paid or volunteering. Use your tracking statistics to showcase your high level volunteers!

Individuals

When creating incentive programs for your volunteers, think about how to reward those certain individuals who go above and beyond the typical level of volunteer commitment. These might be people who have played a major role in an event for multiple years in a row or it may be someone who commits to volunteering multiple hours each week. Assessing the data may show some surprising trends!

The incentive may be as simple as posting a volunteer spotlight in a prominent place in your office. Or if you have the resources, recognize your top volunteers at a volunteer appreciation night.

Teams

Want to really play up the competition aspect? Encourage people to recruit their friends or coworkers to volunteer together in a volunteer team competition! The team with the most volunteer hours tracked wins. This works especially well when your organization is frequently hosting volunteer groups from companies who offer Volunteer Time Off. 

In similar ways to individual recognition, these teams can be recognized by something as simple as a social media post or as involved as creating a traveling trophy or a specially designed t-shirt for the winners.

Volunteer tracking is a simple tool that creates a significant impact, not just for you, but also for the people who work alongside you to bring success to your organization!

Anne Summers

Anne Summers is a staff writer at VolunteerLocal. She loves good food, great people, and volunteering.