Volunteer Management

by Larry Weaver

Let’s explore volunteer tracking in FundRaiser. Our lead article highlights Habitat for Humanity / 7 Rivers Maine who relies heavily on volunteers to accomplish their work.

They have the volunteer tracking module. Even without having the Volunteer Module, FundRaiser Select users can track volunteers through the use of multiple category codes. Gift records could be used to track the value of a volunteer’s time, especially using a Gift Mode code that is designated as “In Kind Donation”, rather than monetary. Of course, the codes on gifts could be used to further define the volunteer efforts of your donors.

With the Volunteer module (option for Select, standard in Professional) you can track volunteer information and their participation in tasks with a combination of coding and recordkeeping.

There are three separate code types that can be attached to each individual volunteer record to help track important information.
•    Volunteer Type
•    Special Category
•    Source/

Many of the Volunteer reports can be “focused” on these codes in different ways. You can also create meaningful groups of volunteers using these codes. In addition, you can choose how much detail you want to track, just by the way you make entries and how you choose to schedule individuals with their tasks.

Tasks, by the way, are the components that make up a “Project” in FundRaiser. In the case of Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine, I would imagine that each house they build is placed in FundRaiser as a Project. It’s possible to have multiple houses being built at the same time, so FundRaiser allows you to have an unlimited number of active projects on file. There are many, many tasks that go into building a house, so you are allowed an unlimited number of tasks per project. And since many different projects require similar (if not identical) tasks, it’s very easy to “Clone” a project, which creates a new project, carrying over all the associated task types from the original.

Any organization, even if you don’t build houses, may have several projects each year, each with different tasks, like committee meetings, stuffing envelopes, running a sales booth, receptionist, gardening or yard work, or… Basically tasks are any requirements to completing a project, even if the “project” is the everyday operation of your organization.

So on the one hand we have all the things we need to accomplish, with details about when it needs to be done, and how many people are needed, and what needs doing, and on the other hand we need to know more about who we have available to accomplish our tasks.

A perfect volunteer may be one who is willing, able, and available to complete the task at hand. As volunteer coordinators, it makes sense to have the information needed to quickly recognize the perfect volunteers for the task at hand. Each volunteer can be coded with “Job Interest” codes and “Skill” codes.

The Job Interest code indicates what a volunteer is willing to do for you. The Skill code indicates what skills the volunteer brings, whether or not they are willing to offer those skills on a regular basis.

For instance, if I were to volunteer on the weekend, I would prefer to hammer nails or dig in the dirt than to work on computers and computer networks, where my training lies. So rough carpentry and landscaping or yard work might be Job Interests, with Computer Tech and Computer Networking might be Skills. Along with skills and interest, a volunteer needs to be available, so that is tracked by marking the days of the week a person is available.

Each day is divided into Morning, Afternoon, and Evening/Night. 

With this type of information at hand for each volunteer, FundRaiser can use your computer’s speed to very quickly narrow your search to the perfect candidates for the task at hand. In the scheduling section there is a “Filter” window that allows you to filter out those folks who just don’t fit the bill, and show you just those who are willing, able, and available…  the perfect volunteer, in other words.

For more information about the volunteer module, consider the Volunteer Module training class, or look in your Help | Help Contents | Modules section for much more.