If you run a food bank, a soup kitchen, or a shelter, you likely have a paid volunteer coordinator to manage your volunteers. But what if you don’t? According to Valerie Johnson, an expert on nonprofits and a writer for Generocity, most nonprofits “are not set up to handle volunteers and do not have the personnel, plans, or policies in place to manage them.” Yet, volunteers can provide more than “sweat equity” — sometimes they are pathways for future donors, for community collaboration, and corporate investment. Volunteers also donate more than donors who do not volunteer. The Fidelity Charitable study showed that volunteers donate 10 times more than donors who do not volunteer. It makes sense to collaborate with volunteers as part of a long term strategy, but how do you manage volunteers on a budget?

We are here to help! Magnify provides simplified volunteer management software. You sign up, fill out a brief online form to describe your volunteer project, and Magnify will give you the tools to ask volunteers to sign up and report their hours online or via our mobile app.  Volunteers will have all the social media tools they need to advertise your project and build community, they’ll be able to share the total number of volunteer hours with their employers, and you’ll be able to download the data you need for your CRM.

Currently, about 63 million Americans volunteer about 8 billion hours of their time, talent, and effort to improve and strengthen their communities.  We’d love to talk about how to support the work you are doing to build better neighborhoods and communities by giving your volunteers a chance to support your organization. Email us anytime at team@magnifyyourvoice.com.