May I Help You

WITH FLORENCE MAY

PANDEMIC SPARKS NEW WAVE VOLUNTEER TECH SOLUTION

Over the past year, I’ve studied how event volunteer managers are reacting to the pandemic and evolving their programs. We’ve explored volunteer fears and frustrations. And you have all learned about the fighting spirit it takes to manage events with so much uncertainty.

My tech colleagues, like all good suppliers, are seeking the best options to help event managers struggling with the realities of this new and ever changing event management playing field. They are taking into consideration all the lessons learned since the COVID outbreak hit the United States nearly a year ago.

Recently I sat down with Virginie McNamar, President/Founder of Betterflye - the new volunteer complimentary impact tracker, to discuss how software and the online volunteer experience is evolving to help event managers during the pandemic.

Florence May (myTRS): Thank you for meeting with me to discuss how the tech world is reacting and evolving to support volunteers in the event and hospitality industry in this unprecedented time. I’m intrigued with your new product concept. Over the past few years, I sensed slowly growing pressure to expand tech platforms beyond the traditional online recruit-register-onsite volunteer management model. What is missing from the traditional recruit-register-onsite volunteer management experience?

Virginie McNamar (Betterflye): Flory, the volunteer world was changing quickly before the pandemic. Traditionally we saw volunteer managers send potential volunteers to registration sites where key contact information is collected; waivers are signed; volunteer activities are selected and scheduling is completed. This is what everyone has come to expect. The basics, right?

However, in the past few years, cracks were showing in this traditional approach.

What is the issue? Event managers are seeing their core volunteers aging out. Volunteer managers need to attract and recruit new, younger volunteers. These younger volunteers have no problem with technology. They expect to register online and to have easily accessible communication related to their roles and schedule. None of this is new.

What has changed is that younger volunteers are very selective about how they spend their volunteer time and the organizations they support. They want and expect to make a difference in their community.

They lean more towards participating within a group or team that strongly values a cause. They have high expectations for well-organized operations and want transparency on impact and ongoing communication from the organizations they support.

Event managers are learning that they must increase volunteer engagement in addition to the traditional recruit-register onsite management model in order to attract and retain the next generation of volunteers. In other words, event managers must build an online community of networked and highly interconnected volunteers.

Engagement is not a one-way street where the organization pushes info to the volunteers. It’s creating mechanisms allowing volunteers to communicate directly with the organization, connect with others who are supporting the organization and weigh in on the actual progress and impact. You want your volunteers to have a sense of ownership and to feel like they are truly part of your team.

The pandemic accelerated these generational demands.

Older volunteers have been at high risk for in person activities and sometimes struggle with the tech skills to participate in virtual volunteer opportunities. At the other end of the spectrum, younger adults are struggling with work from home challenges and are likely balancing e-learning with their kids.

People who are still able to volunteer are looking for ways to help with the most pressing challenges facing their neighbors. Volunteers have focused energies on food banks, blood donations, tutoring and more immediate needs within their communities.

Keeping volunteers engaged and connected to your organization is more critical than ever if you don’t want to have to rebuild your entire program once events are back.

We still need central and online volunteer registration, communication and administration. It is a big part of the process. But this approach is no longer enough.

Florence May (myTRS): What are the biggest pain points facing event volunteer managers and by extension the technology companies that support them?

Virginie McNamar (Betterflye): Volunteer managers are typically planners by nature. They are adept at adapting to and managing changing requirements and expectations. Events have many moving and complex pieces but in this pandemic period planning is a particularly painful process.

There are three key pain points and they all come back to one key word: Uncertainty.

Uncertainty in all things related to events is causing the majority of pain.

Uncertainty: Will there be an event?

How do you plan for volunteers when event dates, event programming, event capacity and event management expectations are in constant flux?

Uncertainty: Will there be volunteer activities?

How do you keep your volunteers engaged if you don’t have event shift opportunities? For many volunteers, the act of volunteering is a big part of their social life and self-identity. There is a big void if they are no longer able to help their community in a meaningful way.

Uncertainty: Will event or activity volunteer participants be safe?

How do you limit risk to staff, event participants and volunteers? The challenges of making last minute changes with the constant vigilance to avoid becoming a SuperSpreader event are extensive.

Now the volunteer management challenge is to extend their engagement. Tech companies have the opportunity to create the lifeline to the volunteers in a way that is safe and develops volunteer relationships in new ways.

At Betterflye we wanted to reduce the noise and make it easy to access everything you need to know about an organization: the mission, the impact goals, reviews, all their initiatives including fundraisers and a social feed focused on collaboration. If your main event is canceled you still have ways to engage with your volunteers, promote other initiatives and show that you are still working toward fulfilling your mission. It’s also designed to allow volunteers to expand their search outside of your organization as they are working toward fulfilling their own impact goals.

Now, Flory, you know that Betterflye was designed pre-pandemic and was not scheduled to launch until spring of 2021. But conversations with organizations and volunteers encouraged us to accelerate our schedule so we could provide the needed tools this year. And we see many other technology companies focused on the same challenges.

Florence May (myTRS): How do software companies need to evolve platforms to help both volunteers and volunteer managers be more effective in dealing with the realities of this period?

Virginie McNamar (Betterflye): Normally technology trends take shape over time and software companies evolve products over time with input from the clients and volunteers. But the pandemic is forcing overnight change.

We are facing two challenges. First, supporting our clients now by stretching the tools we have available. And second, anticipating what the event industry will need once more “normal” events are back.

Event managers often view software and software support staff as an extension of their event team. As both a partner and a team member, our job right now is to support their efforts to create virtual connections, improve communications and support limited volunteer opportunities while preparing for the “come back” period.

In preparation for the “come back” period we are considering the potential changes to event operations:

• Will volunteers (and everyone else) need to show proof of vaccination to participate?

• How long is immunity and who is tracking?

• How will contact tracing evolve?

• Will emphasis on less contact and less touch at events continue? Beyond low contact check in, what else is needed?

• Will volunteers have to confirm health status a few days before or when arriving on scene?

• What are the implications for waivers and event management disclaimers?

At myTRS (and other volunteer management solution companies) your job is to show the event managers that you are still here even if many events don’t need your full products right now. It’s important to stay in touch, ask questions, gather feedback and start putting together the new best practices of the industry.

As mentioned before the Betterflye focus on engagement and impact tracking is very timely and this pandemic has pushed us to work harder to deliver the product sooner.

Betterflye is starting to integrate with traditional volunteer management products including myTRS to provide that all-in-one approach. Bridging the recruit-register-onsite management with a full volunteer engagement solution helping organizations and volunteers navigate these crazy times.

Conclusion

Event volunteer managers will require tech models that fit the realities of the world changed by the pandemic in order to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining volunteers.

Tech companies like Betterflye will transform the volunteer management tech space to answer the concerns of a new volunteer generation: virtual volunteer engagement, volunteer social opportunities and community impact tracking.

These are the very items that are missing in most event volunteer management technology solutions right now. While the recruit-register onsite management technical model was evolving pre-pandemic, there is a need for major evolution for the highly networked and instant communication expectations of younger volunteers.

At this moment people are hungry for engagement. They miss interacting with others. And they want their time and actions to have meaning.

Event managers and the supporting tech world will need to work together to deliver the solutions that will fill this pent-up demand.

Will the Betterflye volunteer engagement model be the answer? Well, the price is right to test it. Betterflye is complimentary for beta testers right now! Go to https:// www.betterflye.com/orgs or contact Virginie directly at vmcnamar@betterflye.com

MAY I HELP YOU?

TRS supports festivals and events! I am pleased to assist with any questions on volunteer management. Engagement. Recruiting. Registration. Retention. Tracking Impact. Technology. Let’s talk.

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.

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