Welcome to class two in the Better Impact Academy!
Join us for class 2 in the Better Impact Academy series to learn about how to recruit and screen new volunteers that apply to your organisation.
Below is a video and some frequently asked questions to set you on your way.
Recruitment and Screening: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do I have to use the public volunteer page?
You are not required to use the public volunteer page however it can be a very valuable tool If you rely on a marketing or communications team to manage your organization’s website, then you can reduce delays involved when adding new volunteer adverts or changes to existing adverts by managing your own public page in Better Impact. Ensuring that visitors are seeing the most up to date information about your volunteer roles . A link for the public page can be easily generated and placed on your website for visitors. This public page can also be indexed by public search engines increasing your reach to potential applicants.
What does Volunteer 1, 2, and 3 mean?
These are the different application forms you can utilise in Better Impact.
Do I need to use all three application forms?
No! If you have different types of volunteers or need to capture different pieces of information from volunteers along their recruitment journey, then utilising each form can help you.
What do I write in the ‘New Volunteer Email Message’?
Use this as an opportunity to thank volunteers for their application, advise how long they can expect to wait and what the next steps in the recruitment process are. As one of 2 automated emails for volunteers, we recommend taking advantage of this email to communicate the next steps the volunteer should take.
I see there’s a section to record policies – is this where volunteers can sign waivers and other agreements?
We recommend using this section to outline deal breakers that potential applicants can read before deciding to start the application form. Use custom fields to allow volunteers to record agreements, sign waivers and record consent. Custom fields are more reliable for auditing purposes down the road and can be used for searches and reporting purposes.
I have volunteers that are not tech savvy or do not have good IT literacy – how can they create a profile?
As an administrator, you can create a profile for the volunteer manually and administer their profile for them.
How should I use the statuses in Better Impact?
There’s no rule on when volunteer statuses should be changed. It should be determined by your organisations’ own recruitment policies. Consider creating a document that explains how your organisation will be using each status.
For example:
Applicants (those who have just applied
In Process (those that are going through your recruitment process – training, references, checks)
Accepted (those who have completed your recruitment checks and are ready to start / are active
Inactive (those who are taking a break, with the intention to return to their volunteering role)
Archived (those who have been rejected, have moved on, or you’ve had to let go)
Does Better Impact move volunteers from one status to another automatically?
No. The status of volunteers can only be changed by an administrator, and it must be changed manually. It’s not possible for Better Impact to change a volunteer’s status after a period of inactivity. In future classes, we will explore how to use saved searched to easily identify profiles that might require a status change.
How can I track the training volunteers need to complete before they can get started?
Use private custom fields to track screening steps and use those fields to support searches, that can be saved, which will allow you to quickly review outstanding training requirements for volunteers.
Qualifications or Custom Fields can be used to track volunteer training requirements. The type of field that you use will depend on the type of data that you need to track related to the training. For example, if you need to save a copy of a training certification, a file type custom field would work best. If this training eventually expires, you may choose to use a qualification to assist you in tracking that expiry date.
Can I prevent volunteers from re-applying?
No, that’s not possible. However, consider using the Admin News page to share instructions with your team that concerns those who should not be considered.
The Note Log is a helpful tool track notes related to volunteers that should only be visible to other administrators.
Why should I use General Interests if I will be using activities? Wouldn’t this create duplication of my volunteer roles?
There is a possibility that your general interests and activities will be quite similar however, each of these features has a different job within the software. General interests allow you to gauge what role an applicant is interested in and controls what information related to these roles is shared with them.
Activities should be accessible to only your accepted and qualified volunteers meaning we do not want them visible to brand new applicants who have not been screened and trained. General interests are a tool that allow us to protect our activities while still sharing important information with applicants.