E-tools to the rescue: electronic tools and distance learning techniques help solve common problems with volunteer management.

EVERYONE AGREES THAT VOLUNTEERS ARE TERRIFIC, BUT EVERYONE also knows that volunteer management is taxing. Figuring out which people have the right experiences for what tasks is hard. Training them is tricky, especially if they live all across the country or even the world. And once they're on the job, keeping track of what they're doing--how often, where, and when--and whether the experience matches their expressed interests can be a major headache.

To grapple with these challenges, more associations are turning to technology. The following case studies show the problems that volunteer management can produce--and the solutions that technology can provide.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Blending In-Person and Online Training

Problem: For more than 50 years, the American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., has provided face-to-face leadership training conferences for chairs-elect and other officers of its 189 local sections in the United States and Puerto Rico. However, no more than 60 percent of the sections have ever been represented at the conferences, whether we hold small regional conferences or large national mega-conferences for ACS leaders at all levels.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Solution: To extend the accessibility of our training, we have been exploring distance learning programs and products that local section leaders can use anytime and anywhere. In 2003, we hired a research firm to identify the learning preferences of local section and division leaders, plus at-large members. Based on the survey findings, we decided to do blended learning. For us that means continuing our face-to-face conferences even as we add online products and programs that all volunteers can use, whether they attend a conference or not. New electronic tools include the following:

* An e-seminar available online or on CD. In fall 2001, we hired a communication firm to videotape a leadership development conference and edit the tapes to accompany printed materials (Power-Point slides and additional text with links to related resources). The resulting e-seminar is available for free online or on an enhanced CD. In years past only the 120-150 people who attended a face-to-face conference received our training handbook. We now send the CD to more than 1,200 volunteers, including local section leaders, all officers, and members of the ACS council and board of directors.

* Audioconferencing. Starting next month, we will offer a live, interactive seminar by phone. Four volunteers and staff will address what local section leaders should do during the final quarter of the year, from participating in National Chemistry Week to planning for officer elections. Up to 200 volunteers will be able to participate. Related checklists and other materials will be available via e-mail or the Internet during the seminar: afterward the program will be archived on the ACS Web site.

* A Web-based program. By December 2004, we plan to house on our Web site an independent learning program called "How Local Section Leaders Can Access and Use ACS Tools and Resources." It will contain branched text with slides and links to various resources and short video clips from recent leadership development conferences. Later Web-based programs will likely mirror offerings at our face-to-face leadership conference.

Budget and staffing: Three staff from the Office of Local Section Activities plan and deliver the Web-based content with help from information technology and finance staffs. We have budgeted less than $10,000 for the internal development costs and outsourced work for the audioconference and Web-based program. The e-seminar program, which was outsourced, cost $30,000 to produce in 2001-2002.

Lessons learned: Although the content of our 2001 e-seminar receives high ratings, volunteer use has not been as widespread as we had initially hoped. When producing it, we realized that we didn't need to videotape the entire conference; most viewers have neither the right computer equipment nor the patience to watch it.

In the future we will prepare text and graphics that we can storyboard in advance and edit tightly as part of our Web-based products. (Accordingly, our costs should be less.) We will also build in interactivity by producing materials that the user can download, print, and use in hard copy or by providing exercises that call for user input.

Another discovery: Transitioning to a distance-learning format requires us to dedicate much more planning time for storyboarding, graphics, text, and other features. We have to design our distance-learning products to take into consideration the medium we're using (whether it's a computer screen, telephone, or other equipment), how adults learn differently depending on the medium, and the need to organize content into short segments that are useful even if the user gets interrupted halfway through.

Advice for others: Make sure that you understand your audience--how they learn best, the tools and equipment they have readily available, topics that interest them most, and so forth. Then develop your distance-learning products with users' needs foremost in your mind.

Effective distance learning does not merely repackage face-to-face workshops. It serves as a newly created learning tool that transmits content in many different ways. If the combination of in-person and online options pushes our participation rate above 60 percent, we will consider our efforts to have been worthwhile. Time and expenses will tell.

BY DALE GADDY, CAE 

Dale Gaddy, CAF, directs the Office of Local Section Activities at the American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. E-mail: [e-mail].

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Using an Online Data-Sharing Tool

Problem: The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) headquartered in Reston, Virginia, needed a database that would let staff in 11 offices nationwide organize and track volunteer information in real time while letting volunteers enter data remotely.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Solution: A tool with features to suit both groups. We on staff use it to locate volunteers' contact information and track their hours; recruit them for local projects; and e-mail volunteers, generate reports, and update opportunities. Volunteers use it to record their hours and type of work completed and update contact information. Newly recruited volunteers can enter the system from NWF's Web site, create a personal profile, and identify local volunteer opportunities. The tool is called eCoordinator.

Why such a database system is good for a field office: I can run searches for volunteers in specific locations in my region. Recently, I helped consolidate volunteer contact information in southern California to send invitations for a recognition event in June. I also use it to identify different types of volunteers and track the activities they're involved in.

What set-up was like: We contracted with the vendor, Samaritan Technologies, for system, server, and technical support and set-up. A tech-savvy NWF volunteer helped convert the data into formats that Samaritan could use. Once members of our headquarters-based volunteer team (about five people) were trained to use and administer the system, they developed training and materials for fellow staff and volunteers. The entire process took several months. We started researching available systems in mid-2002; implementation took place in fall 2003.

Budget: At $9 per volunteer record, we pay $18,000-$23,000 annually for approximately 2,000 volunteers nationwide. (We pay per-record regardless of whether volunteers are active or not.)

Advantages: Staff across the federation can use the tool to organize volunteer information and find volunteers for community-based projects. And because volunteers enter their own information, we save staff time and data entry is more accurate.

Volunteer reactions: For most volunteers the system runs smoothly. They like the convenience of updating information and logging their hours and activities online. Some people who were initially hesitant now use it religiously. But other volunteers are not technologically savvy, and some cannot log on because their computer systems (especially ones with pop-up ad blockers) are incompatible with eCoordinator. We send these folks and ones without computers hard-copy data/log sheets.

Disadvantages: Similar to any information system, this one has a few snags, most stemming from those incompatible computer systems and the fact that navigation is not always obvious. But the vendor has been responsive to our need for revisions.

Another weakness concerns securing the site. We are implementing a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL Security), a technology that protects interactions between browsers and prevents information from being intercepted and viewed by unintended parties. Until we fully secure the site, we advise volunteers to make sure their login information does not correspond with their credit card, Social Security, or ATM PIN numbers.

Finally, sometimes the system can be a little slow, especially when several people use it at once.

Advice for others: Understand that it takes time to get used to this type of database. Ideally, at least one staff member (not necessarily full-time) should serve as the point person to field questions to the vendor support center and train other staff to use the system. Yet another reason to have a dedicated staff person: You'll want someone available to address volunteer concerns quickly.

BY NICOLE FERNANDES

Nicole Fernandes is assistant coordinator for regional education at the National Wildlife Federation's Western Natural Resource Center, San Diego. Also contributing to this case study were Jeanne Braha and Danielle Picariello, who staff NWF's volunteer team. E-mail: [e-mail].

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Easing the Process of Volunteer Matchmaking 

Problem: Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing (STTI), Indianapolis, needed an efficient way to match its 8,000 volunteers around the world to available opportunities.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Solution: We developed an online tool to let members indicate their volunteer interests in 65 categories and 17 subcategories; identify their level of expertise as entry level, experienced, or advanced; and indicate whether they want to serve locally, regionally, or internationally. We consider the tool, called VIProfile (Volunteer Interest Profile), the first building block of a new organizationwide volunteer management program.

How the tool evolved: After our board president issued a call to members "to renew themselves through service," we wanted to learn about our members' volunteer interests. In addition, the STTI House of Delegates voted to create a more flexible organizational structure to allow for short-term, episodic volunteering, so we needed a quick and easy way to identify potential volunteers. STTI's Web manager and I pulled together a staff task force to study ways in which we could research and use the great reservoir of talent that our members possess.

With a technology consultant's help, we created the tool from scratch using standard Microsoft technologies. Building the system took 77 hours. VIProfile was beta-tested in the summer of 2003 and unveiled at our Toronto convention the following November during our president's call-to-action address.

Budget and staffing: We spent less than $10,000 for outside consulting, not including staff time for design. Two staff members dedicated to constituent involvement administer the program, promote the tool, train staff and volunteer leaders to use it, and provide reports to volunteer leaders and staff. Our technology consultant and Web manager assist with the technical side; the corporate communication staff helps with our communication plan.

Volunteer reactions: Volunteers have been complimentary and tell us that the tool is easy to use. One change we made early on: Users said that they wanted to type in more information about themselves (a good sign), so we increased the field size to permit this.

Advantages: VIProfile gives all members an equal opportunity to serve in their areas of interest, whether they consider themselves novices, experienced, or advanced. On the staff side, it provides a quick and easy way to identify potential volunteers.

Disadvantages: Because the system is still new, it's a challenge to integrate it into our existing processes. For example, we have to educate both new members and our 120,000 active members about what it is and why filling out a profile is important. When budget and time permit, we want to broaden the kinds of experiences VIProfile records and enhance its reporting capabilities so that we can use the data in more ways.

Advice for others: Designate a specific staff member to drive the development process and be accountable for keeping it on track. Remember, too, that recruiting is only one part of the volunteer management process. A strong foundation in all areas of volunteer management is critical to the tool's overall success.

BY BARBARA ROBINETTE

Barbara Robinette is director of the constituent center at Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, in Indianapolis. Also contributing to this case study were Angela Miller, constituent involvement manager, and Kelly Kijovsky, constituent involvement specialist. E-mail: [e-mail].

EDITED BY KARLA TAYLOR