Salesforce Volunteer Management and Nuclay Solutions: A Case Study

Nuclay Solutions is a leading Salesforce consulting partner that major organizations and associations worldwide trust. We offer custom solutions to help manage all aspects of volunteer programs with Salesforce. Our certified experts designed a “Volunteer Management” platform for our nonprofit client that manages recruitment, scheduling, creating shifts, and tracking hours. We help volunteer programs to grow cost-efficiently and generate high returns for their organization.

Client Business Background

The client is a leading nonprofit organization that signs up volunteers who are looking for ways to give back - both locally and around the country. Such volunteers help with simple organizational tasks to show support for their favourite charity while inviting friends, family, and coworkers to the cause.

Nuclay helps nonprofits attract the right volunteer by making it easy for them to post a job, search volunteer database, and choose the right candidate according to their preferences. We understand volunteers save time and money for the nonprofit’s cause. Hence, we make sure that our client receives the right help to run a highly successful campaign.

Customer Challenges

Here are some difficulties that the nonprofit was facing before our intervention. They were looking for an exact solution that met the following requirements:

1. A way to manage the entire volunteer campaign through their existing Salesforce platform.

2. A solution to manage volunteers jobs efficiently.

3. Some way to keep track of volunteer time, workloads, and what each person volunteers for through an automated solution.

4. An automated solution to monitor the skills of each volunteer and assess where they can be most helpful.

5. The client also wanted a calendar view of the jobs and shifts on the organization's website.

6. They asked to automate the process through which volunteers sign up for shifts through their nonprofit website.

7. The nonprofit organization also asked for an automated way for volunteers to report their hours easily.

8. A solution to send email reminders to confirm volunteers about their upcoming shifts.

9. The client was also looking to automate sending “Thank You” emails to volunteers after they sign up for a shift

Goal

The idea was to integrate Volunteers for Salesforce (V4S) into the existing system of the nonprofit. The V4S is a tool to help manage an organization's volunteering program, events, and people. It handles many volunteer management tasks, just as the client expected.

Solution Offered By Nuclay

We used the standard Salesforce objects like “Contacts” and “Campaigns” to build our solution. We also introduced some custom objects into the Salesforce.org platform to target the specific needs of the client. Here is a list of objects we used along with their explanation:

Contacts - The object represents individual volunteers.
Campaigns - This object represents individual volunteer events or initiatives.
Volunteer Jobs - A custom object to track jobs that become available and corresponding skill requirements.
Volunteer Shifts - It is for tracking dates, time, and the number of volunteers required for a job.
Volunteer Hours - This custom object is useful in tracking the time a volunteer spends with the organization.

The process begins when a volunteer signs for a specific job or a certain shift. This means that they are working either as a member of a team or for an individual event. The difference between a job and a shift is that with a shift, one can showcase their skills, ability, and character to interested employers.

Our Approach

Nuclay allows you to maximise the potential of every volunteer by making sure that the volunteers receive great hands-on experience. Our team works alongside your in-house team to manage all Volunteer Management processes. Here is a workflow we used to create a solution for our nonprofit client

Brainstorming

Configuration

Integration

Client Training

We started by understanding the system, and how volunteer jobs work in the nonprofit.
Then we created a sample data set for the current system as shown in the image below:

Setup crew	4-6 PM
Waitstaff	6-8 PM and 8-10 PM
Bartenders	6-8 PM and 8-10 PM
Cleanup crew	10 PM- 12 AM

We decided on how to structure volunteer data in Salesforce, using campaigns, jobs, and shifts.

We created a pictorial representation of the event structure just as shown in the image below.

Here campaign is the key event under which you can assign the job type and shifts.

We started by creating the volunteer campaign from the App Launcher.
From the volunteer campaign, we just created a new job.
We also created another job for the same event, by cloning the previous job and then changing the details.
After we created the top-level (Campaign) and the second level (the jobs) of the system successfully, the next step was to create the structure’s third level - Shifts.
We automated the system to track the details of a volunteer’s time using the “Mass Edit Volunteer Hours” functionality of V4S.
Our team of experts simplified the process of recurring events.
We made it easier to assign a time zone for a campaign or a job within the campaign.

We advised the nonprofit on how to create jobs and shifts under a campaign.
We provided them with a step-by-step guide to introduce them to recurring events or recurring jobs.
We helped them confirm shifts using the “Shift Calendar”.
Nuclay sent documentation on working with a recurring volunteer.
We sent the client recorded videos explaining the fresh features.
Our team also held weekly sessions with the client to check for any irregularities or issues implementing the system.
Our experts also held one-on-one training sessions with the in-house team to make the adoption of the new system smooth.

Key Highlights of our Solutions

With the V4S system, we improved the pre-existing system and handled many common volunteer management processes such as.

Managing the volunteer jobs that are vacant in the organization.
Tracking the time a volunteer works automatically.
Track the time against specific volunteer shifts efficiently.
Tracing of the volunteer hours and jobs for a specific event.
Easily monitor the skills and availability of each volunteer and match them to jobs.
The client can now view a calendar of jobs and shifts on their website.
They could also allow volunteers to sign up for shifts through their parent website.
The new system also allowed volunteers to report the hours they’ve worked easily.
It was easier for the nonprofit organization to send email reminders for upcoming shifts to confirm volunteer presence.
“Thank You” emails are now sent automatically to volunteers who sign up for a shift from the nonprofit organization’s website.

Result and Impact

Because of our services, the nonprofit can manage volunteers efficiently.
It is easier for them to connect with the volunteers with matching jobs, “Thank You” messages and job alerts.
Getting routine reports on where the help is needed the most has become a lot simpler.
Tracking a volunteer’s skills, availability, and status to find the right fit for a job has been effortless.
Volunteer sign-ups are easier regardless of their location, skills, and experience.
The nonprofit can now send emails for changes in shift time, cancellations, and shift reminders automatically.
It is a lot easier to analyse volunteer trends using V4S reports and dashboards. It also helps in deciding where to focus volunteer efforts the most.

Discuss Your Project With US

We are a Salesforce consulting partner focused on helping our clients make the best use of their investment in the platform. We help nonprofits to automate their volunteer campaign in a short time. By utilizing Salesforce's robust foundation of features, we work with you to build a VMS specifically tailored to your nonprofit's needs. You can discuss your project and requirement through email at info@nuclaysolutions.com . We will get back to you as soon as possible and start creating something unique for your organization.

Volunteer Management Case Study