Advocacy organizations thrive when they harness the power of volunteers to accomplish their mission. With 37 million members and 65,000 active volunteers, our nonprofit client has a tremendous base of support. Our client's volunteers deliver important programs such as tax preparation, child literacy, and driver safety.
The Challenge
The Solution
Cloud Platform
Acumen Solutions implemented the solution on the Salesforce platform to take full advantage of the functionality, extensibility, and interoperability of that platform. Salesforce’s front-end interface allows volunteers and managers to effectively use the system on desktops and mobile devices. It also can integrate with our client’s existing systems for functions such as data warehousing, reporting, membership, access control, and fulfillment. Some of the key features of the solution include:
- Single Interface
Through a single sign-on (SSO), our client’s staff and volunteers gain access to the volunteer portal. The permissions for the system provide the functions available to that user based on their program participation, management level, or role. The portal simplifies access to volunteer scheduling, activities, work logs, and expense tracking. - Connections to Enterprise Applications
The reach of our client’s volunteer programs meant that the volunteer portal would need to interface with many existing applications. Historical reporting and analytics are handled through an enterprise data warehouse application. Fulfillment for training materials came from a third-party publishing house. Connections to our client’s membership database were handled through a single sign-on tool and application interface. These integrations provide several benefits to the client. First, they protect the previous investments made in these complex applications. This minimized the impact of the new volunteer system on other technology. Second, they streamlined operations by automating connections with systems that required separate authentication or batch processes for synchronizing data.
Increasing Volunteer Impact
The new system includes all volunteer opportunities within the client organization and users can be presented with other ways they can use their time to benefit their community. Based on their skills, geography, or interests, volunteers can register within the portal for additional activities. A volunteer instructor for driver safety who has extra time can now easily volunteer to visit the state legislature to lobby his representatives. Ultimately, volunteer interests can be shared between the client’s volunteer programs.
Workflow Management that Streamlines Operations
Workflow for management was also implemented within the system so that more complex programs can be fully managed within the portal. One such program offers free tax preparation in more than 5,000 locations for people 50 and over who can’t afford a tax preparation service. The system enables transparency into the volunteers’ expenses, all of which had previously been entered after the tax season ended each year.
Online Training and Speedy System Adoption
Training and training management of volunteers for their roles in programs were also brought online through the integration of Cornerstone for Salesforce, a robust learning management system. This helps onboard volunteers, as well as improve their skills, as they become more involved in our client’s programs. Operational expenses were decreased and convenience for volunteers increased as the client hadn’t utilized a true Learning Management System previously.
Additionally, Driver Safety now leverages Cornerstone for Salesforce that enables their instructors to schedule and display options on the website’s course selection page for participants to find and sign-up for. With a program that reaches 65,000 volunteers, an effective roll-out for our client was critical.
Key staff were used as beta testers and were trained on the entire system so that they could subsequently train volunteer managers to onboard other volunteers. This “train the trainer” approach was cost-effective for the client and also helped staff and volunteer managers become familiar with the system more quickly.
Ongoing, Staged Improvements
The vision developed at the start of the project was used to plan an enterprise roadmap for the system. This vision roadmap detailed the improvements and extensions of the system that would be undertaken following launch. Ongoing support and extensions are currently provided through the Acumen Solutions development team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Future stages will include additional functionality that matches volunteers with “best fit” opportunities based on their skills, availability, and location.
Project Outcomes
Our client’s stated mission is to “enhance the quality of life for all as we age.” They do this by strengthening communities and fighting for issues that matter most to families and volunteers who play a crucial role. The new portal is critical to this mission. Volunteers are better engaged and supported. Members can now connect to various applications and business functions seamlessly. This saves them time and gives them a better view of how they can help their communities. Key operational improvements include volunteer expense reimbursement in an average of three days.
Our client’s business partners established the following adoption areas for success to poise our client to recruit younger and more diverse volunteers as well as empower existing volunteers:
- Improve the volunteer lifecycle user experience
- Increase training for volunteers
- Improve program staff time efficiency
- Increase business self-service
The client chose Acumen Solutions for this vital transformation because they know that when it comes to cloud technologies, one thing matters most: experience delivers success.
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Transforming a Nonprofit's Legacy Technology Case Study | Download |