Regular Online Reporting by Volunteers

From Managing Offsite Volunteers via the Internet
by Jayne Cravens, Project Manager

 
Managers of remote volunteers may feel an even stronger need to maintain frequent and ongoing communications with online volunteers, to make up for seldom or never seeing each other face-to-face.

By providing clear and concise guidelines to volunteers concerning the expected frequency of communications, what types of communications are expected when (such as an itemized list of results - weekly, monthly, quarterly), and the desired format and content, the manager will avoid being inundated with unnecessary information and productivity can be enhanced for everyone. It also is an effective means of further assessing the volunteer's written communications and reporting skills.

The Virtual Volunteering Project requires its own online volunteers to report in via email on each Friday or Monday. The Volunteer reports:

• the number of hours worked (even if it's none)
  
• what percentage of the assignment is left to do (is it half done? 75% done?) and how "on track" the volunteer feels
  
• what tools and resources are proving most valuable in completion of this assignment
  
• any problems/obstacles the volunteer has encountered in completing this assignment.

Reply to these progress reports as soon as possible to acknowledge receipt. If the volunteer doesn't report in, be proactive -- write him or her to check in on progress. Without such ongoing communications, your volunteers will feel out of the loop and unsupported. Actually, you will too!

This ongoing communication will also provide you with an automatic written record of volunteer activities and progress.

You can also use web-based forms for volunteers to report progress. However, please be aware that most organizations report that they need to send constant e-mail reminders to get volunteers to use these forms. Stress in the volunteer orientation and in all communications that completing these forms regularly is mandatory to volunteering with your organizations!

 
Form Examples:

Boulder Community Network (BCN) Volunteer Center
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/volunteer/mail_hours.html

Service Chronicle for Texas A & M Student Volunteers
http://vvsc.tamu.edu/chronicle/add.html

Macdonald Youth Services
http://www.mys.mb.ca/volunter/rec_hrs.html

 
Develop a procedure to track this information, keep this information in a centralized location (a spreadsheet, a folder, a directory, a database, etc.), and review this information regularly! You will need to be able to communicate how many hours volunteers have contributed to date, or for a certain period. This can also help show you who is contributing the most hours, and what impact online volunteers are having at your organization.

Communicate to your volunteers what the elements for success in their assignment are! This is also discussed in orienting volunteers, but it's worth repeating.

 
Other parts of this essay:

• Management by objectives
  
• Regular Online Reporting by Volunteers
  
• Staying In Touch and In Tune With Online Volunteers
  
• Building a sense of team / Ensuring inclusion of online volunteers
  
• Additional Tips to Ensure Success of Virtual Volunteering
  
• Links to Related Resources

 

If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.