Volunteer Connection Best Practices: GroupShare

Share this with Volunteer Supervisors in all departments!

Suggested Content

GroupShare is a tool for communicating with your volunteers on a day-to-day basis. Encourage participation by keeping content fresh, current and relevant. Refer to GroupShare training guides on Zendesk for details on how to turn off GroupShare features you may not need.

Home
Keep volunteers engaged by being creative!

Consider including:

· Strong photo of your activity in action

· A brief description of your activity or a thank you for the support your volunteers provide

Calendar
Try categorizing event types by color to keep your calendar organized and use the RSVP function available to save yourself time tracking attendance.

From the “Add an Event” button in Administrative Actions on the right, consider including:

· Meetings (weekly, monthly, quarterly)

· Special projects or events

· Conference calls

· Training opportunities (local and through other Chapters)

Just looking to post a quick, informational-only event? Simply click right on the calendar to add details.


News
Share, share, share! Show volunteers how they’re supporting their local community.

Consider including:

· Press releases that involve your activity

· Stories and recaps of past events, projects and disaster responses

· Meeting minutes

· Past emails or newsletter items


Discuss
Enable this tab only if you are able to commit to managing questions and replies regularly.

Consider including:

· Engaging, positive questions: Why did you join the Red Cross? What do you love most about volunteering? What is your most memorable Red Cross experience?

· Welcome messages to encourage site participation


Tasks
Matching your volunteer leadership to a task makes it simple to track responsibilities and deadlines.

Online Forms

Consider including:

· Surveys: volunteer satisfaction, best meeting times

· Nominations: Volunteer of the Month, local annual volunteer awards


Files
Create categories to keep things easy to find.

Consider including:

· Activity job descriptions and career paths

· Participant manuals for locally-developed workshops

· Commonly used forms – provide a template as well as a completed sample

· How-to guides


Photos
Post images of your volunteers in action to celebrate their accomplishments and to motivate others to stay involved.


Pages

Consider including:

· List of available opportunities within an activity

· Links to external sites or public forms

Sept 6 DRAFT – 1