Microsoft provides eligible not-for-profit organisations with free and low-cost access to a range of its technologies, including Microsoft 365, Power BI and Power Apps. In this post we explore how NFPs can use a number of Microsoft applications to help support their volunteer management.
Volunteer Shift Management
Many not-for-profit organisations rely on the support of volunteers to deliver their services. Managing the shifts and schedules of a diverse volunteer workforce can be a complex task, requiring efficient planning and clear communication.
The Shifts app in Microsoft Teams is a schedule management tool that allows managers to easily create, update and manage shift schedules. Volunteers can view their upcoming shifts, request to swap a shift, and schedule time off, all within a centralised platform.
This streamlines the scheduling process, reduces scheduling conflicts, and ensures that volunteers are effectively deployed where they are needed most. Since Shifts is part of Microsoft Teams, the communication features of Teams can be used to provide real-time updates and notifications, keeping everyone informed and engaged.
The Shifts app is part of Microsoft Teams which is included with most Microsoft 365 licences. More information about the Shifts app is available at:
Volunteer Information Hub
Ensuring team members have easy access to up-to-date information is key to fostering a connected and engaged team, and this is equally important when volunteers are involved. NFPs can leverage SharePoint Online to create a centralised hub for their volunteer workforce, enhancing communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
SharePoint's Volunteer center site template is specifically designed for this purpose, offering a customisable site with pre-populated content that can be tailored to an organisation's needs. It provides a welcoming space for new and existing volunteers, with easy access to onboarding resources, training materials, announcements and event information.
SharePoint Online is included with most Microsoft 365 licences and the Volunteer centre site template is free to use. More information about the SharePoint Volunteer centre site template and how to install it can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/use-the-sharepoint-volunteer-center-template-b2ddd3b5-eb1a-425d-b059-a51ed9bff819.
Volunteer Management Apps
Once an NFP’s volunteer workforce reaches a certain size, it is no longer feasible to use paper-based forms or spreadsheets to manage volunteers. Microsoft provides tools to help both larger and smaller NFPs maximise the impact of their volunteer programs.
For larger NFP organisations, Microsoft offers the Cloud for Nonprofit Volunteer Management and Engagement app, which is built on the same platform as Dynamics 365 and provides a comprehensive solution for managing volunteer activities. The app includes features for approving volunteers, tracking onboarding processes, sharing engagement opportunities, managing activities, and communicating with volunteers. It also offers insights into volunteer participation, helping NFPs to optimise their volunteer engagement strategies.
A guided tour of Cloud for Nonprofit Volunteer Management and Engagement app is available at: https://guidedtour.microsoft.com/en-us/guidedtour/non-profit/volunteer-management-and-volunteer-engagement/1/1.
Smaller NFPs who don’t need the bells and whistles of the Cloud for Nonprofit Volunteer Management and Engagement solution can leverage Microsoft Power Apps to create a simpler volunteer management app tailored to their size and needs. Power Apps can be combined with Power Automate to create volunteer approval flows and send automated reminders to complete training and compliance activities.
The ability to create and use simple Power Apps is included in most Microsoft 365 subscriptions. The Cloud for Nonprofit solution will generally involve an implementation cost and may incur additional licensing costs depending on which features are enabled.
Get in touch to find out more about Power Apps and the Cloud for Nonprofit or read more about Power Apps here.
Volunteer Dashboards
Making effective use of data to support decision making is vital to every organisation, including in the not-for-profit sector. Power BI can bring together data from various sources, such as volunteer management systems, registration forms and engagement surveys. This makes it easy to visualise key indicators and trends across different aspects of the volunteer workforce in one place.
NFPs can use the capabilities of Power BI to gain deeper insights into their volunteer workforce, including what skills and qualifications their volunteers have, where they are located, how often they participate in volunteering activities, and how satisfied they are. This can help NFPs identify future skill gaps, locations where additional volunteers are needed, and what additional support and training is required.
While Power BI Desktop is free, the ability to securely share interactive reports with other team members requires Power BI Pro licensing. Read our blog post for other examples of how NFPs can use Power BI.
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