Growing Volunteers is the theme for this month’s column and, yes a shameless plug, for the 2019 National TRS Volunteer Management Workshop series. You can participate in person or online throughout the year …. All the way until the wrap up in November with the Growing Volunteers IFEA Webinar!

Looking for a little teaser?

The ‘Growing Volunteers’ workshop is designed to help organizations recruit and retain the right volunteers for the right positions by building mutually beneficial relationships.

We start with The Expectations. Yes, you’ve heard about the changing needs of millennial volunteers but we explore trends for all volunteer ages and the tremendous growth of volunteer groups. Topping the charts is a well-known list. Are these expectations included in your volunteer development program?

Personal growth. It is fair that the volunteer expects to gain from the volunteer experience.

Making a difference in my community. What does it mean to ‘Make a Difference’? Many volunteers expect that their volunteer time will have broader meaning.

Giving voice or recognition to an important cause. Is this experience worthy of a post on my social media account?

Making new friends and serving with my family, friends or colleagues. Yes, it is about my tribe. I want to share the experience with people I know as my time is limited.

Easy to register. Understand position. Well organized activities. Good communication. I expect all these things. Please don’t waste my time. If you do, I won’t be back.

Fun. Friendly. Fabulous. Atmosphere counts. Remember this is my leisure time!

Recognition. Yes, that Thank You is always critical!

Celebrating and Communicating Success. Why was my volunteer time important? Tell me.

Next we explore The Motivation. Why should people give up their leisure time to volunteer for your organization?

The question is NOT why volunteers are important to your organization. It is understood by most people that volunteers are a great mechanism to accomplish a lot at a reduced cost. But that isn’t a motivation point for many volunteers.

Can you describe what your organization does that is so important that I should care? And care so much that I will give up my personal time to help? And then care so much that I will share my passion with others?

Our team helps guide your search for the WHY and helps you refine the communication of your mission and your goals. The WHY is what makes your organization exciting and engaging when recruiting and yes, retaining volunteers.

We also consider group volunteer trends as there has been tremendous growth in corporate social responsibility programs. “Deloitte’s “2017 Volunteerism Survey” of working Americans found that creating a culture of volunteerism may boost morale, workplace atmosphere and brand perception.” Yet most organizations struggle to articulate a relatable message to attract general volunteers and organization leaders.

“74% think volunteerism provides an improved sense of purpose.”

Am I going to outline the entire ‘Growing Volunteer’ workshop in this article? Of course not. If I give you the entire program, why would you come to the workshop?

Yes, this is a just a sampling of some of the topics and exercises. A little food for thought as you consider the following:

Does your organization understand and respond to the expectations of increasingly selective potential volunteers?Is your organization following and able to adapt to the changing volunteer trends?Can your organization clearly articulate why a volunteer should give time, talent and/or treasure to support your mission?Why should a volunteer select your organization, what is in it for them?

And there is one more item to consider. Perhaps the most important and challenging portion of the workshop, The Impact.

“75% of working American millennials surveyed said they would volunteer more often if they had a better understanding of the impact they were making.”

In the first section we mentioned that volunteers increasingly want to make a difference. They want their time to be meaningful. They want their time to have an impact on making the world a better place. Our sessions help our participants with developing an understanding of Impact. What does impact mean in the context of your organization? Do you have concrete impact examples to share? How do you measure impact? How do you communicate and demonstrate impact?

Interested in learning more? Join the IFEA webinar on Growing Volunteers November 14th by registering at https://www.ifea.com/p/resources/shopifea/shopifea-non-members/livewebinars-nm

Florence May is the Founder and President of TRS Volunteer Solutions. Her company provides myTRS Software for hundreds of Festivals, Conventions, Non-Profits, corporations and Sports Commissions. Among these support for 26 Final Fours, 5 Super Bowls, 2 Republican National Conventions, 2 Democratic National Conventions, 18 F1 Races, 12 Special Olympic Organizations, Indy 500 Events and so many others.

Flory is a national Speaker, Author and Workshop Leader on Volunteer Management Trends. You may contact Flory with volunteer management questions at fmay@my-trs.com or 317.966.6919. And there is a library of volunteer management resources at www.my-trs.com/articles.

A few months ago, I join my friend Kathy Nimmer for an awards luncheon. Kathy is giving the keynote speech. As Indiana Teacher of the Year and a National Teacher of the Year finalist, it is no surprise that Kathy is chosen for this honor.

The surprising part, for those who don’t know Kathy, is the moment she stands to walk to the stage with her guide dog assisting her to the podium. Yes, Kathy is blind.

Kathy has challenged my preconceived notions of disabilities for many years. When she was an inquisitive high school Senior, I would guide her toward a variety of destinations while having a series of fascinating discussions. Focused on our talk, I would inadvertently walk her into walls, tree branches or over uneven ground without warning. Kathy gracefully forgave my absentminded “help” and I would silently remind myself that even with the gift of sight, there are so many obstacles I don’t see.

Remarkably, Kathy doesn’t allow obstacles to stand in her way. She sees opportunities. She climbs mountains. She writes books. She is a talented public speaker. She even met and chatted with the President of the United States.

Kathy isn’t focused on her own opportunities. As we send letters via e-mail and notes on facebook, I see that Kathy is concerned about others. She uses her keynotes to voice concern that far too many people with disabilities aren’t in the workplace or even given opportunities to volunteer.

And she is calling for us (yes, you!) to think about inclusion in our day-to-day organizational management. Have we considered …

1. the sense of community that comes with inclusion?

2. the value of hiring people with disabilities?

3. the importance of organizations using accessible software?

My company supports numerous national and state level Special Olympic events. I’m always impressed how many Special Olympic organizations have successfully hired and/or engaged people with disabilities as part of their event support team.

I’m wondering what obstacles we unconsciously create for those who could be great additions to our work and volunteer teams? And how can we do a better job rolling out the welcome mat?

Last year the American Heart Association challenge TRS to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to make our volunteer registration sites ADA compliant. We took on the process and are pleased with the results. But now looking around we are surprised how many websites and other software platforms don’t meet the most basic ADA criteria.

Is your organization accepting the challenge to become more inclusive? Please share your stories of tearing down barriers and creating opportunities with me!

Florence May is the President of myTRS Volunteer Management Solutions. Flory challenges events to grow their volunteer base. She brings workshops, seminars, hands-on examples and software solutions to events across the United States, Canada and Europe. myTRS festival and event clients include the 500 Festival, Fayetteville Dogwood Festival, Amelia Concours, Wings Over Water, Celebrate Fairfax, Cine Passion, ComicPalooza, Gilroy Garlic Festival, Night to Shine, Waco Cultural Arts Fest and so many more! You can reach Flory at fmay@my-trs.com

My passion is helping event managers find and finesse great volunteer solutions for their specific needs. You likely know that my company, TRS, helps events discover the right combination of technical solutions – online volunteer management, background check, online training, databases, surveys and communications tools. What you might not realize is that most of my time is not spent on technology. Most of my time is spent one-on-one, in webinars and leading workshops with a focus on problem solving. No, not technical problem solving. That comes last.

First, you must understand the volunteer recruiting-registration communications-retention plans and timeline for your event.

At a recent conference workshop, a group of 35 volunteer managers broke into small teams. Their initial task? To explore their volunteer challenges and opportunities.

Volunteer Management #Challenges The event volunteer managers discussed their challenges at length. I listened as the managers laid out their frustrations. The themes were consistent at each table. • We count on our older volunteers, the Boomers. But many are aging out. And others aren’t physically able to do the tasks.

• Not enough middle age people, the X Gen, in our community to take the place of the Boomers.

• Trouble connecting with those who are 20s-30s, the Millennials, now the largest generation in the workforce. Are they not interested in events? They seem more interested in causes. • Trying to communicate with the Boomers, Xers and Millennials using consistent communication tools is difficult. • Must expand our volunteer pool. • Volunteer motivation is needed. How do I explain “Why” people should volunteer with us? • Need to communicate our relevance if we wish to connect with younger volunteers. What impact are we making as an organization in our community?

Volunteer Management #Opportunities The Millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce. Their volunteer efforts look different than previous generations. I asked the volunteer managers to consider each of these opportunities and determine which trends might provide volunteer growth potential in their community.

Younger Volunteers are ... • Seeking life balance means volunteering with friends and family. • Looking for that great selfie with high visibility volunteer experiences. • Making choices about what they will do (volunteer positions) and when (volunteer timing) they will do it. Critical to match volunteer skills and interest. • Seeking big impact projects that make a difference.

Younger Volunteers are Likely to be Introduced to Volunteer Opportunities in Groups • Growth in Corporate, Church and Convention sponsored Days of Service. • Focus on high school and college volunteer group activities for building experience, networks and resumes. • Growth in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, Volunteer Time Off (VTO) and Employee Resource Groups (ERG) within large businesses. • Charitable groups (e.g. Health Causes, Dads Clubs, Rotary, Optimists) who supply volunteers for festivals and endurance events in return for charitable donations. (Yes, you may have to pay for your volunteers.)

Volunteer Management #Motivation Our final task was looking at volunteer motivation and impact communication. Unfortunately, most events still focus on economic impact statements when discussing why they are important to the community. These are important. But how many people are staying in your hotels, eating in your restaurants and shopping in your department stories are simply not relatable to most volunteers. Volunteer interest typically leads back to self-interest (see opportunity trends above). Our group of volunteer managers were asked to assess their programs using the following questions:

The First Interaction • What impression do you make? • What message are you sending? • Is there a truly local component to your event? • Are the volunteer registration and communication tools effective and efficient for the volunteer manager? User friendly for the volunteer? (If you have the right message but it is too much work to volunteer... you will likely still have problems recruiting)

Purposeful Volunteer Recruitment and Training • Are you recruiting the right people? Skill set? Enthusiasm? Influencers? • Do you offer opportunities for school groups? • Do you partner with charitable organizations?

• Do you reach out to corporate connections? • Are you developing Parent/Child or Grandparent/Grandchild areas?

Clear and Consistent Communication • How and what are you communicating? • Are you creating community connections? • Are you speaking to the impact your organization/event makes locally? • Are you timely?

Volunteer Recognition and Reward • Do you have short-term vs. long-term recognition programs? • Are you rewarding the volunteer behaviors that you value?

Long-Term Volunteer Engagement • What is your volunteer retention plan? • Do your volunteers come back? • Do you survey your volunteers?

Closing Consider where you have opportunities to create new connections in your community. Cause based? Educational opportunities? Group interactions? Social recognition? Corporate responsibility? And of course, personal interests? Discuss the options with your leadership team. Don’t try them all at once. Pick a few and test them out. Which sources are the right fit for your organization, events and mission? Remember the goal isn’t to have the most volunteers. The goal is to have the right volunteers.

At a recent volunteer management conference, I noticed a common theme in every session: The volunteer world is shifting.

Several speakers were discussing a shift in the perceived role of volunteers. According to Rick Lynch, principal consultant at Lynch Associates, the volunteer management era “grew up”when many people volunteered as an alternative to professional work, whereas today’s volunteers do so as an alternative to other leisure activities.

In addition, we shared observations that more people are choosing to volunteer in a team or group. The volunteer groups, numbering in the 10s and 100s, come from schools, clubs, associations, or even just a group of friends or family who would like to spend time together at a volunteer activity. And this is just part of the group trend.

In this age of corporate social responsibility, the groups are often employees from a local, national or even international companies. Often these groups wish to spend their leisure time helping their community. Popular group volunteer activities include solving social problems; improving the quality of life and developing sustainable environmental projects. While studying these dramatic changes in community service and volunteer trends, I recently had the pleasure of talking with social entrepreneur Ben Reno-Weber, co-founder of MobileServe. MobileServe provides tools for organizations to measure their organization’s social impact by tracking employee volunteer activity.

FLORENCE: Ben, you are working in an exciting field with a wide variety of organizations. Corporations, Schools, Non-Profits, Community entities and

so many others are actively engaging in social responsibility. Why are these organizations interested in matching their employees with volunteer opportunities? What has changed?

BEN: I think there are three forces at play here. The first is an underlying part of the human condition that has not changed: people want to be of service to others. They want to be a part of something larger than themselves. What has changed is that many institutions which previously filled that need have deteriorated. Everything from faith communities, Rotaries, Bowling Leagues, the Elks, and the PTA have seen declining memberships over the last decade. So the second force? People are looking for companies to fill that gap. And the final force is the increasing dominance of the Millennials in the workplace and the marketplace. Milennials are now more than 50% of the workforce, and they want to work for and purchase from organizations that align with their values. They want to see how their efforts have impact, not just cut a check and trust that it will help. So, what used to be a nice to have is now a need to have: organizations who want top talent or want loyal customers need to demonstrate how their companies contribute to their communities. Volunteering is a great way to do that.

FLORENCE: At TRS we work with a wide variety of event volunteer managers championships, endurance sports, festivals, arts and educational programs -- they want to connect with large groups. What advice would you give to them? (Should they pay greater attention to community impact and links to social cause? Or other items?)

BEN: My best advice: build connections over time. There can transactional

component, which is fine: “volunteer at this event to get free admissions or to fundraise for your group.” But if you want a longer-term relationship, if you want volunteers to be ambassadors, if you want people connected not just to your event but to your organization, you need to offer more than just a one-time per year engagement. The highest retention and engagement we see is with groups who offer multiple on-ramps and significant autonomy to their volunteers. Here’s an example: WeDay puts on concerts and inspirational events that fill stadiums all over the world. To even have a chance to get a ticket to attend, you have to do (and report) one domestically focused service project and one internationally focused service project. They also recognize their participants who go above and beyond with leaderboards and social-media shout-outs. It’s not complicated, but it does require investment either in people or technology.

FLORENCE: At TRS, we see this generational shift in volunteer trends is

creating new challenges and new opportunities for event volunteer managers. Not just recruiting but retaining volunteers. There seems to be an outdated view of volunteers as “unpaid labor” must change to a cultivated relationship with professionals who bring skills, collaboration and professional advice. Have I got this right?

BEN: The best book on this I’ve ever read is Daniel Pink’s Drive. He lays out what motivates people in almost any setting, not just volunteering. He says people crave Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose, to which I would add Community. What does that mean for people engaging volunteers? Autonomy means giving people a task or set of tasks to accomplish and let them reason through how to do it. You can give them best practices, history of approaches, inspect, and approve, but let them own it. For Mastery, they also want to feel they are getting better. Returning volunteers might want to be “supervisors” or get first crack at different assignments. People who have invested in pre-work (ie. doing volunteer work at a pre-event or as part of something else) might get preferred assignments or increased responsibility. To help people feel purpose, spend some time reminding people the “Why?” of what they are doing. Handing out water is about hydration, but it’s also about encouraging people to be the best they can be, picking them up when they are down, and getting them into the right headspace to finish. And community is about connecting them to one another and to the organization. They want to know who else is with them and why they are here. I’m not just working this information booth, Alexis, Callie, Chris and I are making people feel welcome here.

FLORENCE: Event volunteer managers are eager to cultivate relationships that will evolve into recurring volunteer activity. Are the organizations focused on factors that volunteer managers need to consider?

BEN: This is the biggest area of opportunity we see. People are hungry to belong, but afraid of being trapped. They increasingly don’t want to belong to an organization, but are happy to be affiliated with a cause. They want their volunteer experience to be aligned with their values, connected to their skills, to be meaningful, and to help them connect. I recognize that’s a tall order for a volunteer manager who just needs warm bodies to get the job done. But it’s also not as daunting as it sounds. A lot of that work can be automated, or can be done at the same time as the logistics, with a little bit of forethought. The same volunteer hungry for increased responsibility can be put in charge of volunteer culture in their little part of the event. Pre-event volunteering is a great way to select who is really motivated and capable. Keeping records of those who have been there before gives you a great chance to give shout-outs and support leaders. Of course, I’m biased in all of this. I ran a nonprofit that grew from hosting 10 events to 20+ events per year and depended on volunteers for all of them.I ended up leaving because I felt like I didn’t have the tools I needed to do that engagement well, and neither did my peers, so we went out and built them.Ultimately, we need people to be engaged in their communities. Volunteering is not just about getting the work done,it’s about building connections that bind us together as a community and a society.At this moment, our country needs as much that as we can get.

Give Meaning

Thank you, Ben for your insightful observations. At TRS, we sense that for many volunteer managers the changes to the volunteer recruiting, training, activity and retention cycle feel dramatic. And clearly the national research and your observations reinforce the realities of this millennial shift.We collectively see the desire for stronger participation when there are shared values. The motivation among younger (but also many older) volunteers to ‘own the movement’ or ‘make an impact’which gives meaning to their time.Our volunteers are asking: What’s the point? What’s in this for my personal goals? The job of event directors and volunteer managers is to create consequential connections.

Over the past few years we've seen major shifts in the volunteer world, including more competition for volunteers and a huge growth in the number of events held. There are a plethora of festivals, endurance events, school sports, charitable fundraisers and much more competing for the time of potential volunteers.

I’ve been studying The Millennial Impact Report for insight into generational trends. For many years, Baby Boomers, our growing rank of seniors, have driven our volunteer trends. We would expect that our middle age Generation X would fill the Boomers volunteer roles. But Gen X is a very small generation and there simply aren’t enough people. That means volunteer managers need to focus on the younger Millennials - the largest generation in the workforce today and our next big pool of volunteers.

Many event leaders I speak to struggle to attract and retain Millennial volunteers, so I've reached out to Cara Silletto, workforce thought leader, generational speaker, and author of “Staying Power,” to explore these challenges.

Florence May: Cara, welcome! Let’s dig right in. What should volunteer managers know about different generational expectations? Can we learn something about Millennials from the workplace?

Cara Silletto: Absolutely! My observations about keeping Millennials as employees in the workplace apply to their volunteer roles as well. Team leaders, just like any new boss, must communicate their unwritten expectations clearly. New volunteers can’t read their minds. New volunteers don’t know how things “have always been done”. They also may come with expectations of the volunteer experience that may be inaccurate. You likely clarify rules and expectations throughout your recruiting and training processes, but do you ask new volunteers what they expect to get out of their time volunteering with you? This is a great opportunity to make a strong early connection while clearing up any potential misunderstandings or missed expectations down the road.

Florence May: I often work with the leadership of events on improving their volunteer recruiting to retention cycle. Any first steps you would recommend? Are there specific questions they should be asking?

Cara Silletto: Start by asking how the volunteer discovered the organization/event. Ask what drew them to participate in the first place. And let the volunteer know you truly want candid answers about which items bring value to their volunteer time (networking, resume credits, community service hours, tickets to the event, etc.). The answers will help you understand what motivates the volunteers. The process also encourages the volunteer to gauge the value of their volunteer time. Knowing the origin of their interest can also help you calculate their anticipated renewal rates. Is this volunteer likely to return based on initial interest? Or do we need to engage further to encourage a second volunteer experience?

Florence May: Change can be difficult. If events are having trouble recruiting and retaining younger volunteers, are new management strategies necessary? Do we need to consider expectations?

Cara Silletto: Yes, yes, yes! This question gets right at the heart of the reasons people do or don’t come back. How were they treated by the managers and coordinators? What does the management-volunteer relationship look like? One of my clients was adamant that most people left because of scheduling issues, when in reality people left because they didn’t like the managers. In fact, some suggested, “managers should have some experience doing the actual job first.” That’s great advice to anyone putting team leaders in place. Have they done the front-line work themselves before? Do they know exactly what they’re asking of others who are out in the field?

Florence May: Great points and perfect lead in to our next question. We often see organizations struggling to find recruiting, training and scheduling strategies that work for multiple generations. How do events need to evaluate their technology and communication approaches with volunteers?

Cara Silletto: When there were fewer channels for communication it was easier to reach everyone in the same ways. But today, as more channels become available with new tools and apps popping up everyday, we need to remember to go where our volunteers are - of all ages.

Just because you’ve used email successfully for 20 years doesn’t mean that will continue to work best for everyone. If you’re recruiting younger volunteers, you better be sure all your web pages are mobile-optimized, info is short and sweet, and you’re explain the WIIFM (What’s in it for me?) aspect of volunteering in your recruiting methods. But for Baby Boomers, you had better have a simplified platform that offers instructions for completion - and they prefer it looks similar to the way it did last year.

Are you texting in addition to sending e-mail reminders? Are you offering group sign-up options? And how are you letting volunteers be heard and customize their experiences working with you?

These are all things technology can help with, but there’s no silver bullet that can do it all. Organizations who will remain successful are those diversifying their approaches and using what works now and next, not just what worked five years ago!

Florence May: I’m glad you brought up volunteer groups because this will be our hot topic next issue! In all these points, you are talking about engaging the volunteer. This makes me think about the actual event experience which can be very passive. Are there good ways to actively engage volunteers during training and their on-site experience?

Cara Silletto: With the plethora of communication apps today, there’s no reason for your volunteers to feel disconnected. They should know what’s going on, get real-time updates throughout the event, and have ways to share questions and feedback with the organizers at all times. Note that some volunteers may not use these functions, but others will become increasingly frustrated without them. Plus, this is a great way to collect candid feedback and resolve issues quickly across all aspects of the event.

Florence May: You have me wondering how long should volunteer managers expect new volunteers to stay with their organizations? Is that shifting?

Cara Silletto: There’s a major shift occurring in the event/ volunteer relationship. Many people used to check the box to participate year after year because they had always done so. Now, volunteers have many more choices of where to participate and they are evaluating every single decision that impacts their schedules.

Do I want to do this again? Did I have fun last time? Was it worth my time or could I spend it elsewhere with a better return? For many, donating their time means more to them than donating their money, and they’re getting picky, so you have to be more attractive than ever, and evolve with their needs.

Also, it’s time to have more realistic expectations when it comes to how long you can expect to retain volunteers. People don’t stay connected to any organization as long as they used to - as workers or volunteers, so be prepared for that and maximize the time you have with each person. Don’t ever make folks “sit the bench” the first time they volunteer. They want to be put in the game, coach!

Florence May: At the end of the event, does a thank you note really mean anything? Are we looking at the right Rewards & Recognition?

Cara Silletto: It’s critical today to appreciate any and all jobs well done - even if it’s the exact job they signed up to do. Many people expect recognition and a pat on the back when they show up (thanks to those good ol’ participation ribbons our parents, teachers and everyone else gave us as children) - even if you think that’s ridiculous. The reality is there are lots of people who don’t show up at all for things they signed up to do, so we certainly need to say “thank you” to those who do show up, and those who do a great job while they’re volunteering for us. Remember, they have choices, so don’t take that for granted!

And to do recognition right, find out what matters to your volunteers! Some may prefer public recognition on your social media sites while others may prefer scheduling preferences for the next event. Are you asking recruits, “When we recognize your hard work and dedication to this event, in which ways would you like to be thanked?” Give them a checklist to find out what most people want and customize rewards when possible. At my events, if I give away a gift card, I give folks a choice between three online retailers and then I email the gift card of their choice. Don’t assume everyone shops or eats at the same places!

It’s a Wrap!

As we learned from Cara, for many organizations adapting strategies for millennials will be critical to the midterm success of their events. Is your leadership looking at the average age of your volunteers? Do you have strategies in place to expand your millennial base? Have you considered how these strategies will work with your older volunteers?

At TRS, we work closely with a major event venue who has a very loyal group of older volunteers. The older volunteers were very much “this is the way we’ve always done it” and effectively drove away all younger volunteers. So the venue managers instituted a new younger Ambassador program specifically designed to attract young adults and college students.

Guess what happened? Within one year the older volunteers wanted to participate in the younger Ambassador program! If you want to attract and retain younger volunteers, you may have to design specific initiatives that challenge the establishment.

The bottom-line? Leaders and coordinators must dive into the mindset of Millennials if we want to connect with them and extend their time working with our organizations.

Would hearing more about today’s new workforce (who are or soon will be your volunteers) and ways to retain them would be helpful for your organization? Get a copy of Cara’s little guide explaining “The Millennial Mindset” free at www.crescendostrat- egies.com or order her new book, “Staying Power: Why Your Employees Leave & How to Keep Them Longer,” on Amazon.

We have clients who've spent years hosting events .... nearly identical events. I've worked with many this year and observed the impact of very different volunteer data collection process.

Is this Organization getting good ROI on their Volunteer database?

I ask this question often and compare best practices. The below clients and examples are real. As you read, ask "Is my organization getting a good return on investment?

Scenario A: One client consistently builds event volunteer sites tracking contact, activities and background checks. They (like many clients) have staff turnover but the focus on quality data collection is consistent for small, medium, large and extra large events. The client regularly uploads lists of large corporate and partner groups. They prompt volunteers to update their accounts when scheduling for a new event. And they update user status if a volunteer is a youth or inactive. They send notes (and texts) showing appreciation.

Outcome: Client A has built a community of volunteers. The focus on keeping information updated also means that the staff know the volunteers by name (plus work, friends, family) and are able to recognize volunteers for their complete volunteer record. As Client A reaches out to their volunteers to participate in a new event, volunteer for a partner organization or become members (or donors), it is a friendly outreach from an organization that has built trust. Client A is ready to activate a community of volunteers for every large event.

Scenario B: The "other" client is sporadic. They build sites and track only when they have large events. We work with a different volunteer manager on each event, again not uncommon. But there is no consistency in Client B's online volunteer presentation, data collection questions .... in anything they are doing. They start from scratch on every large event.

Outcome: Client B has not built a community of volunteers. They don't know their volunteers and quite frankly their volunteers don't know them ... I don't mean just the volunteer manager, I mean the entire organization ... they haven't built a relationship. Now Client B wants to reach out for donations .... they have some contacts (many out-of-date) but no relationship on which to build. And Client B has a very large event coming so now they will have to recruit a database of unproven volunteers to vet rather than building on a team of proven volunteers.

Sadly Client B represents more than one client who could be getting a much better ROI. Can we help you grow your investment?

Reach out to the myTRS team if you need guidance! We are here to help.

We regularly get questions about volunteer waiver templates for TRS. Our recommendations? 1. Consult your attorney to ensure your volunteer waiver meets your state laws. Using a waiver template from another state could be a big mistake. 2. Ensure that the waiver is reviewed with your insurance company. The bottom line is a waiver does not stop volunteers from suing your organization or the sponsor affiliates. But it is important that your insurance company has reviewed your waiver and approved it. 3. If you have volunteers under the age of 18, you should have a parental signature. We recommend a printed version with original signature.

May I Help You? The desire to serve is at the heart of the volunteer experience. It is with pleasure that I’ve signed on to write about the driving factors related to recruiting, managing and retaining the right people. The people who want to serve. The right people? Yes, the right people. The people who choose to spend their free time working long hours for your event. The people who volunteer to do hard and often thankless jobs. The people who feel so committed to your festival or event that they come back year after year. It is my business to watch and report on volunteer recruiting and scheduling trends that impact our event clients.

Facebook Hubbub I’ve been listening to the Mark Zuckerburg testimony to Congress. There were two key lessons gleaned from this time-consuming effort. First, the Facebook organization appears to have data access issues to sort out with users and partner apps. Second, several members of Congress asked questions that made me believe they apparently don’t understand the difference between data privacy and data protection. And this got me to thinking ... I bet most people don’t understand the difference and, more important, why they should care.

Data Privacy vs. Data Protection Data privacy concerns arise wherever and whenever personally identifiable information (PII) is collected, stored, or used. This concern may include who has authorized access to your organization’s volunteer management systems, background check databases, credential platforms, payment systems and many other platforms where you collect data such as names, contact information and birth dates. Authorized access includes not only those with user names and passwords to sign into your systems but also integrated partners of these systems. In contrast, data protection requires securing data through unauthorized access. This concern relates to who may gain unauthorized technical access to the systems you use to manage and support volunteer operations. Typically, consumers ask detailed questions about data protection assuming these precautions also cover data privacy.

This is a fundamental issue in privacy. Ownership should be implicitly laid out in your contract. If you don’t own your data or if the technical system has the right to share or sell your volunteer data than you have limited or even eliminated your capability to protect the privacy of your volunteers.

2. Is my data stored separately or co-mingled with other clients?

Are volunteer accounts shared with other clients? These questions are inter-related. If a person volunteers with several organizations on the same platform there may be the expectation that their account information will travel with them during each registration as this is convenient; however, this can also be a concern if private information can carry over without their express permission.

So you received a copy of your volunteer database when you left that software company, but do you know what happened to the original database? Was it wiped out permanently? Is the data still available if you need to go back to the original system? How do you want the database treated?

The risk from authorized access users is substantial. Are you updating your admin access on regular basis? Do you know when your access list was last updated? Do past employees and summer interns still have access?

5. How are passwords protected? Check to see if software company employees see your passwords. And ask if passwords are encrypted across the system.

You must ask for a list of integrated partners and understand which of these companies are authorized to receive your specific or whole system volunteer data. Integration with background check companies, social media (especially Facebook) and Google Analytics are common and may be desirable. However, you need to make certain that the integrations are of measurable value and that you are knowledgeable about the partnership data agreements. This appears to be the area that has caused Facebook so many challenges.

7. Do you register people from other countries? The final area of concern is understanding that other countries have different privacy laws. The European Union will implement the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on May 25th, 2018, which has extensive protections for the privacy of their citizens data. Software companies must meet the EU requirements or face extensive fines. We find that event management companies want to be more efficient and expand the awareness of their volunteer programs while getting the best buy for their dollar. It is important in this equation to consider the value of privacy and to understand if your software company is selling or sharing your volunteer data to their benefit without benefit to your event or your volunteers.

In Search of The Right Product

“What do you seek in an online volunteer management system?” is the first question in our fact-finding meeting with potential clients. The leadership response typically includes elements of the following response: we are seeking a product that enhances our brand, integrity, efficiency, partnerships and relationships with our volunteers. Our follow-up session is with the manager of volunteers. This person is responsible for one of the organization’s most valuable assets: the relationship with the volunteer team. The discussions with the managers of volunteers tend to be less aspirational and more focused on the following challenges: • “My boss doesn’t understand how much time it takes to recruit, register, schedule, coordinate, train and manage our volunteers." • “We have a system but it wasn’t designed for volunteer management. It was the least expensive option.” • “We need the volunteer management tools to do the work efficiently and effectively.” Managers of volunteers want to do their jobs efficiently with tools they can operate effectively. Managers want the organization to look good in the process AND they also want to look professional personally. The reality is that it is difficult to ascertain the differences in the numerous system options on the market today as the promotions for products sound very similar. The following article will help your organization differentiate and enhance your brand, integrity, efficiency, partnerships and relationships with your volunteers while using your financial and personnel resources appropriately.

Understanding Options

Five years ago, there were a dozen online volunteer management systems in North America. Today every technical service provider claims to have registration and volunteer management options. Your database provider, your e-mail provider, your ticket system provider and many others try to repurpose their existing software to force a volunteer management solution. They can sell the additional services to you cheap or even provide them for free with your existing contract. If your organization manages a very small number of volunteers and has limited reporting needs, this type of “no frills” solution might work. Unfortunately, decisions are often based simply on price and not on the core needs addressed in the opening paragraph: brand, integrity, efficiency, partnerships and relationships with our volunteers. The old adage “you get what you pay for” often applies as organizations end up with an online system that: • Frustrates the volunteer as the process does not match the organization’s purpose, • Infuriates the manager of volunteers with lack of functionality, • Does not create efficiency for the organization and • Leaves the organization looking weak and disorganized.

Step 1: The Shopping List Identify the features and functions needed to be successful. Make a checklist and identify which items are a priority and which are nice to have. ✓ Admin Access (e.g. number, roles) ✓ Communications. (e.g. email, text) ✓ Reporting. (e.g. by registrant, by shift, by day, by activity, by custom field) ✓ Registration. (e.g. individual, family, corporate group) ✓ Check-In. ✓ Integrations. (e.g. background checks, payment processing, CRMs/Central Database) ✓ Mobile Friendly

Step 2: Discuss the System’s Primary Purpose Shouldn’t this be step one? Yes, but most people are more comfortable starting with features & functions. So now, what type of volunteer management system will support your organization’s primary needs? • Ongoing Activities - Every day? Set schedule at set location? Same hours? Small number of volunteers daily? (e.g. food bank, hospital) • Event Based - Specific periods of time? Multiple locations? Numerous positions in the same time period? Large numbers of volunteers in shifts? (e.g. championships, endurance, festivals) • Community Hub or Recruiting - Need to match volunteers to geographic interest-based requirements. • Enterprise - Central organization with numerous supporting organizations. (e.g. cause based, Special Olympics).

Step 3: Avoiding Account Management Nightmares When you have questions and worse yet problems, do you have confidence in the support team? • Account Management - Does the company provide an assigned account representative or a pool of account reps? • Account Services - What services will you need from the account rep? Consultant? Task? Technical? Only tech support? No support? • Access - How can you access support? Phone? E-mail? Chat? Forum? When is support available (days/hours/holidays)?

Step 4: Valuation Has your organization looked at how much volunteer management costs the organization? • Tasks - Break down the tasks that consume the most time (e.g. recruiting, scheduling, communications, group coordination, check-in, reports, and management). • Staff Time - Do a time study. Do you know how much time your manager of volunteers is spending doing administrative tasks manually? Probably not, but you can take some sample situations and calculate the monthly time expenditure. • Program Pain Points - Determine which tasks are causing the most pain. Is there something unique about your volunteer management needs? Or do you have poor process requirements? • Staff Turnover - Is your organization’s manager of volunteers position a revolving door?

Step 5: Before You Sign on the Dotted Line. You think you are ready to send in that signed contract, but have you covered all the bases? Here is a quick quality control list. • Operator - Who is going to operate the system? Has this person bought into the selection? • Demo - Has your manager of volunteers participated in a full-product demonstration? • Priorities - Understand that no system is going to give you everything you want. But the volunteer management system should be able to handle the majority of your top priorities. • References - Have you checked references? • Continuity - If your manager of volunteers leaves the organization will the system continue to provide your organization with the volunteer database, history of activity, activity schedules and templates for the future?

The Final Question: What is the Return on Investment? Is your organization putting a band-aid on your volunteer management needs or investing in the future of your program? Volunteer management systems should be measured in the broad return on investment (ROI), not just upfront expenditure. Review the guidelines above and consider all costs. The system needs to do more than just a series of functions and features; it also needs to build your brand, integrity, efficiency, partnerships and relationships with your volunteers.

The right people? Yes, the right people. The people who choose to spend their free time working long hours for your event. The people who volunteer to do hard and often thankless jobs. The people who feel so committed to your festival or event that they come back year after year. It is my business to watch and report on volunteer recruiting and scheduling trends that impact our event clients.

Is Your Website Accessible?(Why you and your volunteers should care.) Volunteer managers (and Event Owners) are about to hear a lot about accessibility. Why? Because. Lawsuits. Over the past few years, WinnDixie and Target were, among others, sued because their websites did not meet the spirit of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA indicates (broadly) that places of public accommodations will be made accessible to disabled populations. While the ADA does not specify the internet in specific terms, several courts have started to interpret the internet as a public place, the entry point to our services.

WinnDixie and Target are enormous companies.What does this have to do with my event management company?

I suspect the producers of “Hamilton” and the owners of the theatre asked the same question when they recently got sued. The US federal government adopted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA in January 2017 as the standard for federal agency websites. This step to set standards and meet the spirit of the ADA, leads many in the accessibility community and the technical community to believe that full adoption of these standards for public and private websites will be forthcoming. But bluntly the lawsuits and the heightened public awareness is here!

So as of right now no one is forcing us to make our websites accessible by a certain date?

Correct. However, as the number of accessibility lawsuits expand public attention to issues of accessibility are heightened. Waiting until 2018 could have consequences in both time and money. Law firms representing private litigants are increasingly aggressive regarding web accessibility. Firms send letters stating that your website is not accessible and request the opportunity to develop a plan to bring the website into compliance while emphasizing payment of attorney’s fees and possibly alleged damages as terms to settle if you don’t. Your organization would be wise to consider the cost and time as an opportunity to expand your business with both disabled and aging customers who are presently unable to navigate your website or mobile application. Incorporating website accessibility designs and requirements is just smart [especially if a website or mobile application revamp is in your near-term business plans] business planning.

What exactly does “accessible” mean? And is it difficult to make your website accessible?

The “Accessible name is the name of a user interface element. Its value is a big part of what is communicated to users of assistive technology” (eg screen readers) says accessibility expert, Joe Watkins. “Without it, people who rely on those technologies would have difficulty understanding or interacting with much of the content on the page. My volunteer management software, TRS, has gone through two accessibility audits over the past few years. The first for a federal event client and the second with a national Not For Profit multi-event client. These audits are becoming more prevalent across our industry. We found that the biggest accessibility concerns include 1) incompatibility with speech recognition and/ or screen reading software, 2) no option to only use the keyboard 3) lack of or no text-based alternatives to media content, 4) poor color contrast and/or small text size, and 5) transaction timing requirements that didn’t account for intellectual disabilities or age. We had to make a few adjustments and the process made us more aware of the challenges of our users.

Bottom Line?

Save your company a lot of misery and make all your site volunteers and users happy. Remember many of these changes impact both people with disabilities and the aging. Many of our volunteers are older and often retired so these additions make it easier for them to use online systems. Take these extra steps. 1) Ensure your programmers and graphic designers are referencing the ADA guidelines when updating and building your sites. 2) When you buy software ask specifically if they meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA.

Yep. Make the Internet a Better Place.

The desire to serve is at the heart of the volunteer experience. It is with pleasure that I’ve signed on to write about the driving factors related to recruiting, managing and retaining the right people. The people who want to serve. The right people? Yes, the right people. The people who choose to spend their free time working long hours for your event. The people who volunteer to do hard and often thankless jobs. The people who feel so committed to your festival or event that they come back year after year. It is my business to watch and report on volunteer recruiting and scheduling trends that impact our event clients.

In the Hot Seat Lawsuits naturally create an environment of concern and uncertainty for many event management organizations. In the past few years, SXSW, Competitor Group (Rock n Roll Marathons), Major League Baseball and Live Nation were all sued over volunteer related issues. Many event management organizations are studying the volunteer legal questions to ensure that they are taking all reasonable steps to have positive volunteer relationships while avoiding potential legal battles.

Why Are So Many Large Event Organizations Facing Volunteer Lawsuits? The lawsuits are not all rooted in the same issues but many have commonalities. The TRS team follows all volunteer related news closely but legal items are of particular interest. While reviewing lawsuit articles, our research specialist, Kathryn May, identified the key labor practice questions and potential legal concerns that all event organizers should review and consider.

Have You Considered These Key Legal and Labor Questions?

1. Does a for-profit organization disproportionally gain revenue from the event? This was a key question in several of the lawsuits. If a non-profit is providing volunteers for an event either in a primary or secondary role, the non-profit must proportionally gain value for its’ services.

2. Is a for-profit event manager using volunteers directly? Are they making payment in the form of tickets? The for-profit company is risking a minimum wage law violation.

3. Is a non-profit acting as a volunteer “hiring agent” for a for-profit organization? Take caution that your organization isn’t acting as a front.

4. Are volunteers connected to the non-profit mission or is the non-profit just an intermediary? If the volunteers are recruited by the non-profit they need to have a direct affiliation.

5. Is the non-profit receiving equitable return on their time and other efforts? Or is it a lop-sided relationship? This is related to #1 but really speaks directly to return on investment for the non-profit instead of the for-profit. Is the non-profit putting its’ own resources at risk?

6. Is the volunteer doing a job that is part of their normal day-to-day job? During their regular work hours? If there is management pressure to do the paid job as a volunteer on behalf of an event the legal line has been crossed.

7. Are your volunteers “certified” as judges, officials etc. directly through your organization? Do they sign an “agreement” with required duties? Is a legal relationship implied?

8. Has the hazard threshold been evaluated? Are there positions that require professional certification or knowledge? Areas of special consideration include moving heavy items, operating machinery, positions that require training/ certification and any role associated with implicit dangers.

9. Is this a local host committee working on behalf of for profit sporting events, conferences etc.? Is a line drawn between welcome to the city mission and bringing profits to the for profit? Which event activities and positions cross this line? Welcome booths at hotels are fine but volunteers manning activities within a paid event (e.g. NFL Experience at the Super Bowl) may be suspect.

10. Interns are not volunteers but they are also not “regular” employees. Are your interns in training or are they simply replacing employees at a lower cost? By law interns must be receiving training.

Please note that the TRS team does not provide legal counsel and we don’t profess to be experts in labor disputes; however, we encourage all event managers to consider the above questions and if you have concerns to engage proper guidance. Interested in learning more? The supporting articles about a variety of lawsuits can be found at https://www.my-trs.com/ single-post/2017/07/11/Volunteer-Lawsuit-Support-Articles

The May I Help You volunteer management (IFEA Summer 2017) article outlines recent legal disputes related to volunteer management practices. The following articles provide additional resource information on these lawsuits. TRS does not provide legal or labor guidance, we simply provide awareness of key issues and access to additional information. If you believe your organization is at risk please secure the services of an attorney or labor expert.

Resources:

http://www.wizardslawsuit.com/ (Wizards of the Coast)

http://www.comicsbeat.com/emerald-city-comic-con-faces-a-class-action-suit-over-non-payment-of-volumnteers/ (Emerald City Comic Con)

http://www.runnersworld.com/races/race-volunteers-lawsuit-against-competitor-group-will-go-forward (Competitor Group Inc., also American Cancer Association)

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/6070088/update-live-nation-insomniac-targeted-in-volunteer (Live Nation and Insomniac Events)

https://www.gomn.com/news/10000-volunteers-needed-for-super-bowl-lii-so-should-they-be-paid/ (2018 Minneapolis Super Bowl)

https://www.google.com/amp/www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/transportation-museum-sued-in-st-louis-county-over-volunteer-s/article_a20811e9-782c-599b-a223-988c3c2c3c87.amp.html (St. Louis Museum of Transportation: volunteer killed)

https://www.google.com/amp/nypost.com/2014/03/26/judge-tosses-fanfest-volunteer-suit-against-mlb/amp/ (Major League Baseball)

The desire to serve is at the heart of the volunteer experience. It is with pleasure that I’ve signed on to write about the driving factors related to recruiting, managing and retaining the right people. The people who want to serve. The right people? Yes, the right people. The people who choose to spend their free time working long hours for your event. The people who volunteer to do hard and often thankless jobs. The people who feel so committed to your festival or event that they come back year after year. It is my business to watch and report on volunteer recruiting and scheduling trends that impact our event clients.

The Competition is Hot

In my community, there were 4 festivals and 2 marathons over the past two weekends! I didn’t make it to any of these because of volunteer obligations with a Zumbathon fundraiser; working a PTO event and interviewing young women for a scholarship program. My community is not unique. The growth of community activities requiring volunteers – festivals, endurance events, large venue events, school functions, church events and many others – are creating increased competition for all resources and especially volunteers. And that competition is creating major changes.

Are You Keeping Up?

As the competition grows, there are substantial shifts taking place in the volunteer recruitment world.

Corporate community engagement has become very popular with employees.Event managers are making donations to charitable and education related groups to fill key positions.High schools and universities are requiring students to participate in community service projects.The largest US generation, the Millennials, are the future of your volunteer base.

Why Should Events Care About Corporate Social Responsibility?

Many corporations work to create connections for their employees to participate in volunteer programs. This is a mechanism to give back to communities and/or for causes around the world. Corporations typically have a corporate social responsibility or community outreach manager who collects and communicates volunteer opportunities with a corporate online network. Some corporations want to make connections and let employees choose which opportunities are appealing from a long list. They may allow or encourage employees to take time off to support community organizations. Other corporations work to create corporate group volunteer activities for employees to make an impact in a team building mode.

Assessment:

Are you making connections with the corporate social responsibility managers for major corporations in your community?Many corporations have online registration systems to track volunteer hours and the number of organizations they are impacting. Is your event represented?Is your event reporting the number of hours worked by the employees of specific organizations as part of your event wrap up? Do you report these hours back to local organizations?

Should my event be partnering with Charitable Groups?

Obviously, many organizations have budget concerns about moving from unpaid volunteers to making donations to other organization in-order-to fill key positions.

There are two prime issues driving this change.

Competition for volunteers. Simply consider the sheer volume of events in your city on the week and month of your event(s). Are your volunteers increasingly overloaded? Do you have major gaps in filling your needs?Concerns about potential lawsuits. Are your volunteers being used in positions where people are generally employed/paid? (Look for a future column on this issue) Increasing numbers of For-profit and Nonprofit events are partnering with charitable organizations (e.g. Dad’s Clubs, Churches, Rotary) and School Clubs (e.g. Band Boosters, Athletic Boosters, National Honor Society) to fill concessions, parking, water stations and other key service volunteer positions. Event managers provide donations to the charitable organizations and school groups based on number of hours and/or number of shifts filled.

Assessment:

Talk with other event managers who have taken this step. Would they recommend this approach? What were their lessons learned?Talk with your attorney. Are you at risk for a lawsuit?Could your event grow with more assistance and committed support?

The growth of community activities requiring volunteers – festivals, endurance events, large venue events, school functions, church events and many others – are creating increased competition for all resources and especially volunteers.

Are You Reaching the Next Generation of Volunteers?

There has been substantial growth in required community service programs in high schools and universities. Community service requirements are expanding. The requirements are often tied to a class, graduation or for a specific diploma or certificate program. Opportunities for youth to gain experience; share experiences with friends; learn about NFPs and begin life-long volunteer commitments are valued. Colleges are aware and understand that their graduates are more employable if they graduate with experience.

Assessment:

Do you have volunteer opportunities that are appropriate for students under the age of 18?Does your event insurance allow volunteer under the age of 18?Do you have proper supervision (e.g. background checks) for youth volunteers?Have you tested the waters? Reached out to your high school’s National Honor Society? Or a college program that has potential affiliation with your event?

Not Important to Your Event?

Think again. These three trends are important because they represent a shift in volunteer demands and patterns. In addition; these trends should be closely watched because Millennials, the largest generation, show tremendous interest in giving back to their communities and working for cause based projects in both their free time and in conjunction with work opportunities. It is likely that the Millennial volunteer’s first touch with your organization will happen via one of three options listed above.

I, Florence May, love volunteers. Maybe it is the 15 years spent managing events with Visit Indy, Simply Hospitality and the United States Grand Prix (F1), or maybe it is the 16 years delivering online volunteer management systems for many of the largest and most complex events in North America. Over the past year my company, TRS – The Registration System, has provided volunteer management systems for the 500 Festival, the Kentucky Derby Festival, the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, Celebrate Fairfax, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the US Mayors Conference, the Azalea Festival, USA Special Olympics National Games and hundreds of smaller events. In the process of supporting events, I study and discuss the trends that make certain events successful while others struggle. Do you have a volunteer management related question? Please contact me at .

Florence May is the President ofTRS – The Registration System. Leveraging world-class event management and large scale operations background, Flory is a popular speaker and writer on forward-thinking volunteer management strategies. She has served in leadership positions with Visit Indy, United States Grand Prix LOC, Simply Hospitality and as an US Army Officer during the Gulf War. She is married to a rocket scientist (seriously) with two daughters in college (donations are welcome) and a crazy labradoodle (my exercise plan).

The desire to serve is at the heart of the volunteer experience. It is with pleasure that I’ve signed on to write about the driving factors related to recruiting, managing and retaining the right people. The people who want to serve.

May I Help You?

The right people? Yes, the right people. The people who choose to spend their

free time working long hours for your event. The people who volunteer to do

hard and often thankless jobs. The people who feel so committed to your festival or event that they come back year after year. I love this topic. Maybe it is the

15 years I spent managing events with Visit Indy, Simply Hospitality and the United States Grand Prix, or maybe it is the 16 years delivering online volunteer management systems for many of the largest and most complex events in North America. Over the past year my company provided volunteer management systems for the 500 Festival, the Kentucky Derby Festival, the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the US Mayors Conference, the Azalea Festival, multiple Olympic Trials and hundreds of smaller events. Over and over I study the trends that make certain events successful while others struggle.

My point? Size doesn’t matter in the volunteer management world. All events

share common challenges, the difference is simply scale. What does matter

irrespective of size? Good leadership, teamwork and well thought out processes.

From Soup to (are you) Nuts?

I plan to cover a very wide variety of trending topics. Warning, whiplash is

likely. But I will consistently provide management tools and tips gathered

from working with the best volunteer managers in the event world.

So which volunteer management topics are trending?

Festivals getting sued over volunteer management issues. Yes, you’ve heard about this. We will explore the risks.Growing trend in events recruiting charitable organizations to manage and staff key operations … for a donation. Are they volunteers? Yes, but with different needs and expectations.Email is still the most comprehensive way to reach all volunteers. Not all volunteers are using text and social media yet. But email deliverability is becoming a bigger challenge. How do you guarantee quality communications with all your volunteers?Event staff communicating with volunteers using text and social media are a growing trend but sometimes with unexpected outcomes. Are you developing standard operating procedures for popular communications tools for younger volunteers?Many events and festivals make it difficult to volunteer. Event managers are challenged to provide efficient communications and registration options for multiple generations. How do you evaluate and compare technology to ensure it is right for your event and volunteers?The competition for the right people is substantial. Appealing to younger volunteers, corporate outreach programs and partner organizations requires event managers to provide a quality and well-organized experience. Do you have the right organization structure and processes in place to engage your volunteers?Are your volunteers coming back year after year? In many parts of the country, our long-time volunteers are retiring from community service. Younger volunteers aren’t as inclined to volunteer with the same patterns as their predecessors. Do you have the right incentives in place?

We have a lot to cover. So much that occasionally there will be a column focused on the issue and a supporting article to explore hot topics in greater depth. Yes, I am passionate about volunteers and all related topics. And I’m excited to share this passion. May I Help You?

Better known as “things that will make your job easier and more productive."

1. Site Cloning

Do you wish to clone your event site from year to year or from event-to-event? Many clients used cloning on the original TRS platform (and liked it) and now myTRS offers even more “copy” options:

Option A. Clone without activities: Recommended if your activities are very different from one site to another but you would like to keep the sites instructions, email wording, custom fields, etc.

Option B. Clone with activities: Clone the entire site including all the activities and timeslots. You will need to edit activities to update the dates/times.

Directions to clone a site:

Cloning is a feature only accessible by TRS staff. Please advise your account manager that you are in need of a site, the date it is needed (please provide reasonable notice) and the following information:

Name of original site to clone.Name of new site.Subdomain for the new site (eg: NewSite.my-trs.com, ABCevent.my-trs.com). You must select the prefix that goes before my-trs.com.If you want to clone with or without activities.

Fee: Please note that cloning is an add-on feature. You will be billed a $150 cloning charge for 1 contract year for all your existing sites. You will be billed per year not per site.

2. Site Status

Having trouble keeping your sites organized? Is my site still in build mode or is it live? Now you can change your site status and track your progress.

The status options are:

Building: The default status shows you are building your site.

Testing: Shows that you are testing your site. This is just a status, not a “Test Mode”. So if you register people or run payments they are NOT in test. Registering or running payments in the test status is the equivalent of live registrants. You will still need to delete test registrants prior to going live.

Live: You are linking the TRS site to your website and sending the URL out to your e-mail list. Time to register. The site is live and actively taking registrations. Update the status to live.

Closed: When your event is over and you are done using the site, please change the site status to closed.

Site status will show on the admin dashboard. We also added filters (search) to only display sites with a specific status. You only want the cards for your live sites? Filter the Event Group by Live.

Directions to change site status:

Go to your dashboardSelect a site cardClick on general settingsChange the site statusSAVE!

Fee: None, this feature is part of your on-going updates to myTRS.

3. Event Groups

Introducing the new Event Group feature! You can now group sites by different categories (eg. region, type of event, year). Create your own event groups and assign sites to them. One site can belong to multiple event groups.

This is an easy way to organize your dashboard and sort by event groups. In the near future you will also have the capability to run reports by event group. Event groups is a major step towards introducing cross event and historical reports.

Create event groups - You can create an event group by going to the new Tab at the top right of your screen.

Directions to create event groups:

Click on event group.Go to add new.Enter the name of your event group and select the sites you want to link to it.

Fee: None. This feature is part of ongoing updates to myTRS.

Once you create your event groups, you will only be able to display sites from a specific group on your dashboard.

4. Activities Notes

Many clients expressed interest in adding more information to the confirmation email based on the activities selected by registrants.

This additional information in the confirmation e-mail could include:

Where to go for this activityBackground check neededParking directions and passOthers

This information will only be displayed in the confirmation email.

Directions to add additional information or directions:

Edit an activity.Click on the Notes tabEnter the note (eg directions, background check needed, parking info, other)SAVE!

5. TRS Integration with Background Check

We’ve built a robust integration to make the registration/background check a seamless process with our partner, Verified Volunteers (VV).

The VV + TRS integration allows the volunteer to register and to complete the background check application during a single session. The integration also feeds the background check results from VV into TRS. You will no longer have to run several reports in 2 different systems and manually update the background check status in myTRS! Want to learn more about the integration? Click on this link for a detailed description.

The feature is very flexible as each of our clients has specific needs in screening volunteers at different priority levels. These priority levels equate to different package IDs. Confused? Don’t worry we will guide you through the process.

Set up

Ready to start the background check integration? Let your TRS account rep know. We will connect with your VV rep to exchange the key information needed to turn on the API (integration).

Then we will enter the Verified Volunteers package IDs into TRS. Package IDs are simply the level of priority and type of screening you want for specific volunteer groups. If you have multiple package IDs, we will order them from the highest to the lowest screening. This screening order is very important to ensure the correct information is sent to Verified Volunteers.

Once the Verified Volunteers package IDs are set in myTRS, you will link each activity and registrant type to the right package by following these steps:

Click on Edit in site buildingGo to Activity TabCheck Registrant TypeSelect the registrant types and packageSAVE!!

You will repeat the process for all the activities that require volunteer screening.

Volunteer Flow

Volunteers will register on myTRS following the usual path:

Select registrant typeCheck activitiesCreate or login to accountComplete profile page

If the volunteer selects a registrant type or activity that requires background check, the date of birth field will automatically populate the profile page. This field will be sent to VV through the API (integration).

The volunteers will complete the terms and conditions and review/confirmation pages.

When the volunteers click on the green CONFIRM button, instead of being sent to the Confirmation page, they will be sent to the Verified Volunteers Background Check Page.

Volunteer will identify themselves on VV by re-entering the email address, zip code and date of birth used to originally register on TRS.

Volunteers will then follow the steps on VV to submit their backgrounds checks.

Important Notes

Only volunteers over 18 years old can be screened through the API (integration).

Only US residents can be screened through the API (integration).

The email address, zip code, date of birth and legal name need to be entered properly on TRS as these fields carry over to VV and are critical for screening identification match.

Volunteers will NOT receive a TRS confirmation email UNTIL they complete their background check process.

If a volunteer stops the background check process before completing it, they can log back into TRS on their dashboard and click the resubmit Background Check button to start again.

Reports

As soon as volunteers complete their background checks, Verified Volunteers sends the status and results to myTRS. We’ve added easy filters so you can find the status and results in your registration report.

Q: What does the report look like?

A: Under filters, select the different background check status and results you need to report on and click on ‘run’.

Q: Can I cancel all the volunteers who don’t pass their background checks?

A: Yes, we added the option to cancel the entire registrations for all volunteers who do not pass their background check.

Q: How?

A: If you need to cancel registrations, select the registrants and click on Cancel Registration

Fees: There is a $250 set-up fee for the background check integration.

Thanks to the Inside Indiana Business team for sharing the TRS story Friday and Sunday this week. TRS is supporting the host committee for the NCAA Final Fours (M&W), 500 Festival, 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, Kentucky Derby Festival, Bicentennial Torch Run and a few Olympic Trials (Swimming, Diving and Gymnastics). We finish the summer with both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. The Inside Indiana Business team invited our President, Florence May, to come on air last week to talk about what the TRS – The Registration System team is up to this year. The segment will air Fri., March 18 7:30 p.m. show on WFYI and on Sun., March 20th at 11 a.m.on NBC/ WTHR-TV in Indianapolis. Special thanks to Gerry Dick and Bill Benner!

Remember the old adage, “You get what you pay for?” Here’s your shopping list for the next time you need stock up on volunteer management wound care. This article will help your organization differentiate and enhance your brand, integrity, efficiency, partnerships and relationships with your volunteers while using your financial and personnel resources appropriately.

Click to view the full article as published by the Canadian Journal of Volunteer Resources Management, written by TRS President Florence May (Indianapolis, IN) and Account Manager Tammy Parent (Ottawa, ON).

While you’re there, check out some other great volunteer management articles from our library. We have recently added an overview of the myTRS product and the complete compilation of myTRS product sheets in all of their printable PDF glory. In addition, myTRS is also hosting three articles on background checks written by Verified Volunteers, one of our integrated strategic partners.