If you want more volunteers to login to know about your volunteer Opportunities, there are many tools and best practices to employ in your Virtuous Volunteer account. A few of them when used well can help drive more people to your Volunteer Hub to join Opportunities and begin serving. Let's look at a few of them:
- Launch and send invites
- Invitation link and Virtuous Volunteer App code
- Anytime Opportunities as interest forms
- Creating Virtuous Volunteer Groups
Launch and Send Invites
The best first step (and ongoing) is to launch Virtuous Volunteer to your organization through a simple two-fold process of (1) making an announcement and (2) sending invites to your volunteers.
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Make an Announcement
An announcement can be done in many ways. If you are a church, do you have weekend gatherings where everyone is present? Announce to your congregation during the service that Virtuous Volunteer is now the go-to app for all things volunteering. Then, point them to an invite you sent to their email inbox from your People Dashboard (see below).
If you are a school/business/nonprofit agency, do you have a weekly newsletter or a meeting for your staff/employees/volunteers? Make an announcement then, show them your Volunteer Hub (app.vomo.org/org/...), and then remind them to check their email for an invite so people can get involved.
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Send Invites
Sending invites is easy in Virtuous Volunteer. In fact, there are many ways to do it! But for your first Launch we suggest employing the Bulk Invite in your People Dashboard as your best first step. The bulk invite feature allows you to upload your volunteers' into the app and invite them all in one easy step. Learn more about this tool here.
Invitation Link and Virtuous Volunteer App Code
We know that managing and recruiting volunteers is a continual effort that never ends. Sending out the bulk invite during your launch is the best first step, but ongoing announcements and communication are very important. To aid you in these efforts, we give you a custom invitation link and app code. These two tools will be helpful for ongoing volunteer recruitment after your launch:
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Invitation Link
This link funnels volunteers through the process of creating their volunteer profile just like the bulk invite. Why do you need this invitation link when you have already sent invites from your People Dashboard? For one, not everyone will respond to your bulk invite the first time. The benefit of this invitation link is that it can be applied in many different ways for continual volunteer recruitment:
- Hyperlinked to a volunteer button on your website
- Drop it in your weekly newsletter
- Paste it in your email signature
- Post it on your org's Facebook page
- Talk about it on your social media platforms on a weekly or monthly basis
- Encourage core leadership and volunteers to share it with their friends
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Virtuous Volunteer App Code
When someone downloads the Virtuous Volunteer App, they can "Login" if they have an active account or "Join Organization" if they have not created one yet. To "Join Organization" they need your app code to do so. The app code is unique for your organization and is perfect for recruiting volunteers after you have already sent the bulk invite and utilized your invitation link. Using the code is easy. A volunteer simply 1) Downloads the Virtuous Volunteer App, 2) Clicks "Join Organization" and types in the code and 3) Completes their volunteer profile. Here are some ideas on how to utilize your app code for recruiting volunteers:
- Print the code and the three-step instructions on fliers and place them on your information booth or hand them out at events and gatherings
- Paste it on your website (or email newsletter)
- Share it on social media
- Encourage your leaders to recruit new volunteers using this code (fliers are helpful for this as well)
Learn more about finding and setting up your invitation link and app code.
Anytime Opportunities as Interest Forms
Now that you have launched and have a recruiting plan in place (see above), you will want to garner interest for Opportunities and events you still need volunteers for. The most helpful way to do this is by creating Anytime Opportunities that will function as interest forms. An Anytime Opportunity does not have specific times and dates associated with it. So, you can use these Opportunities as a way to build a list of potential volunteers to then follow up with and find out where they might best serve.
Anytime Opportunities have all of the same tools as Opportunities with specific times and dates (sending updates, adding volunteer hours, and more). Create an Anytime Opportunity that explains a specific volunteering need or upcoming event. Then, feature it towards the top of your Volunteer Hub and utilize the above methods, promoting it, to see who might be interested in serving in this area of need. This will allow first time volunteers, or those still apprehensive about serving, the ability to learn more before they commit to a specific time and date.
Learn more about creating and managing Anytime Opportunities.
Creating Groups
Beyond the tools utilized above, you will want to keep your volunteers updated on upcoming Opportunities, changes in schedules, and new ideas in planning stages. Creating Virtuous Volunteer Groups is a good way to accomplish this. This tool gives you the ability to organize your volunteers into Groups and even Sub Groups to best fit your volunteer structure.
Learn more about creating Groups and messaging your Groups.