Volunteer Centers Reaching Volunteers through 1-800-Volunteer.org
By Katherine Watier

The Points of Light Foundation recently launched a major upgrade of 1-800-Volunteer.org. The upgrade aims to provide Volunteer Centers and their organizations with even more functionality, including the ability to schedule Volunteers for one-time opportunities and manage events and activities, in addition to their Volunteer opportunities.

This upgrade provides a "closed loop" Volunteering system. 1-800-Volunteer.org is the only solution that fulfills the full 360° cycle of Volunteering needs in the community, integrating every aspect of the Volunteer process from recruitment, referrals, record of service, recognition, and reporting.

The new 1-800-Volunteer.org site offers a variety of new tools for Volunteers. Visitors can now register for automatic notification of new opportunities that match their interests (VolunteerAlerts) and can start tracking their service hours - even if the Volunteer Center in their area is not yet active on the 1-800-Volunteer.org system.

Shaele Wood, Executive Director of Volunteer Center of United Way - Thomas Jefferson Area, noticed the benefits right away. Now, she has more organizations in her network than she did before signing on with 1-800-Volunteer.org. And the organizations in her area love the system. They appreciate the fact that they are hearing from more knowledgeable Volunteers. The Volunteers have already looked at the mission of the organization and have read details about the opportunity, and are more prepared and ready to start the Volunteer process.

Diane Paluzzi, Assistant Director of Volunteer Hampton Roads found that the system allowed her to stay on top of community trends. "1-800-Volunteer.org has helped us think ahead to what our needs might be, —the key issues, where people are struggling to place Volunteers, etc, all in a way a piece of paper just doesn't capture."

Diane also appreciates the fact that she can now better meet the needs of Volunteers in her community, "We used to field several hundred calls per month. The Volunteers now just want to use the web to find and search opportunities - when it's convenient for them, not just during our business hours. They are accustomed to using sophisticated sites for information ... so when they are ready to Volunteer, they expect a similar level of service and access to instant information. There is no way we could provide them with that type of service with our staff of five without Points of Light providing us with 1-800-Volunteer.org."

Volunteer Centers that are interested in learning more about how to become a part of the 1-800-Volunteer.org network should act quickly. Centers that have a successful launch before March 31st can take advantage of reduced costs on data migration, assistance with web advertising through Google, and additional promotional support.

For more information about 1-800-Volunteer.org, contact: Katherine Watier, Director, Marketing & Sales, 1-800-Volunteer.org, KWatier@PointsofLight.org, 202-729-3231.