Nonprofit Uses Technology to Tighten Recruitment Tonya Layman April 15, 2005

If you are looking for a way to volunteer but don't know where to go to find opportunities, look no further. Hands On Network has adopted a new technology that gives you options as to how you spend your volunteer hours.

Across America, millions of people want to support their communities by volunteering. But they face the everyday problems of active citizens -- busy schedules, little knowledge of volunteer opportunities and lack of experienced leadership to guide them.

Meanwhile, their communities, and the agencies that serve them, desperately need volunteer support, said Richard Berlin, CEO of Hands On Network.

Frequently, nonprofits don't have systems in place to manage their volunteers. Hands On Network is utilizing technology to change that for its more than 40 affiliates worldwide through Hands On Tech, a product that manages volunteers, coordinates volunteer opportunities, manages service projects and helps market their services. Because of its use of technology by a nonprofit, the organization is a finalist for TechBridge's Technology Innovation Award, given by Accenture Ltd.

Hands On Tech provides online, real-time project and event sign-ups, tracking and e-mail communication capability for volunteer leaders and an online Virtual Citizen Academy that helps affiliates deliver service learning without increasing staff.

The public can utilize the system by going online and signing up to volunteer for specific events that interest them. Volunteer coordinators can sign up groups, and the system will automatically e-mail those individuals with information and reminders. It's like sending an e-vite to friends or colleagues, only this is not an invitation to party, Berlin said. It's an invitation to volunteer your time.

"It gives volunteers freedom to choose what they do and how they give through their volunteer time," he said.

The system allows for better internal administration, promotes self-service for volunteer projects, increases volunteer coordination by those who organize groups and offers more internal reporting capabilities, Berlin said.

"It has positively impacted the organization and all of the affiliates across the country," he said. "It has revolutionized the business practices of our affiliates and organization."

The old system involved individual employees and volunteer coordinators who managed volunteer projects through paper and Excel spreadsheets.

"It was cumbersome and not very efficient," Berlin said. "We couldn't respond to all volunteers." He added that projects were poorly tracked, data was lost and many work hours were wasted. Now the automated system does it for them, and they have evidence that it is working.

"We know that, on average, 74 percent of volunteers sign up for projects through the Web site because of this online registration tool," Berlin said.

The system was rolled out last year. About $4 million was invested into this product, about 10 percent of that by affiliates. A large portion of up-front costs was covered by grants.

The program currently is available to all affiliates at a cost that ranges between $1,500 and $12,000 a year, based on the organization's size. It has been adopted by 17 cities across the country, including the Atlanta affiliate. Original investors get a discounted price, Berlin said.

The affiliates are experiencing a high return on investment. Each affiliate saves, on average, about $45,000 by adopting this tool. With 17 affiliates utilizing the system, this yields a total annual network savings of at least $765,000, Berlin said.

Hands On Tech also provides enhanced reporting. This allows local affiliates to better understand the impact they have on their local community. The system spent about three years in development. Now, not only are stakeholders counting on the program's potential, but other organizations are checking out the program, Berlin said.

"This software program is now being evaluated in many other volunteer centers outside of our organization because of its applicability," he said. "It can be customized to different organizations."