Reward Volunteers appreciates all you do to improve your community through volunteerism, which is why we wanted to honor those efforts by logging time and winning prizes even easier.
You can now embed our Reward Volunteers Web Widget or Web Widget Button directly on your website, allowing volunteers to log time quickly and easily. We’ve provided two options below with detailed instructions here.
Ken Ross, Samaritan Implementation Manager, recently took the Immunodeficiency Foundation (IDF) live with their new volunteer management system (VMS). He and the staff at IDF provided the following thoughts about the entire process just completed, from vendor selection to post launch.
The Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF), founded in 1980, is a national non-profit patient organization dedicated to improving the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life of persons with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PI) through advocacy, education and research. There are approximately 250,000 people who are diagnosed with PI in the U.S., and thousands more go undetected. Thousands of individuals and families affected by PI depend on IDF for advocacy, education and empowerment.
Through the IDF Volunteer Network, opportunities are offered nationwide for individuals to give back and make a difference in the PI community. Volunteers contribute to the overall mission of IDF by providing another layer of compassion and skill to the team. The goal of this program is to give volunteers many opportunities to enrich the lives of others by sharing their time and talents. It is because of the passion and dedication of volunteers that IDF is able to assist so many people throughout the country. Volunteers are truly at the heart of what they do.
IDF decided to search for a volunteer management system so that they could take their volunteer administration practices to the next level. They wanted a program that would allow for easier tracking of volunteer service hours, as well as capturing the skills and talents of their volunteers for future needs. Additionally, they wanted the volunteers to play a more active role in their program. By having an online profile their volunteers are able to see their progress and express interest in opportunities they may not have known about before.
As a national non-profit, all of these factors are key to the success of their system. Additionally, IDF wanted to work with a professional vendor with a proven record for providing excellent customer service along with an exceptional product.
IDF initially heard about Samaritan through a Google search and then they followed up by consulting with colleagues in the Volunteer Management community.
Samaritan was selected once IDF was shown the features of the system and they were assured that it would communicate with their current database. Samaritan’s solution had many of the features that they were in need of and even gave them insight into options that they had not considered. They wanted a system that was easy to use and could be customized to meet their unique needs. They also wanted to work with an organization that matched their company culture of teamwork and collaboration to create the best system possible.
The entire process presented IDF with the opportunity to look at their existing volunteer management practices from beginning to end. Although it was time-consuming, it shed new light on their practices and gave them new opportunities to be creative.
The implementation was completed on time. It stayed on schedule, despite the fact there were a few last minute changes that had to be added on before could launch. The Samaritan team was very flexible and helpful in explaining what needed to happen to make our launch successful and it was.
Three individuals from Samaritan represented Samaritan at the conference this past June, with the goal of meeting as many customers, partners and new contacts as possible. A record number of new contacts were made, in part because of new product lines Samaritan launched to help small non-profits.
We were pleased to formally launch our new “Automated Recognition Program” in collaboration with one of our customers, the Cabot Cheese Cooperative. Samaritan’s customers can now automatically pass the hours served by their volunteers to Cabot’s “RewardVolunteers.coop” website so they can qualify for a large variety of prizes, at no obligation to anyone. Among other things, Cabot is well known for awarding volunteers FREE cruises. More than 150 people went to the Caribbean with the last cruise, and Cabot is getting set for Alaska 2017 right now.
Another major partnership was also launched at NCVS. Non-profits with annual budgets less than $400K can now obtain a FREE version of eCoordinator through Samaritan’s partners at the Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (AL!VE). For more info, please visit this page. Recruiting is facilitated automatically through yet another program we launched at NCVS, called “VolunteerNow.com.” Each grantee – as well as all of you – are welcome to have your opportunity listings appear automatically at VolunteerNow.com/[organization name]. Here’s an example.
In short, NCVS was a smashing success for Samaritan and really set the tone for our next year, as we move in to our 20th anniversary celebration.
As Cabot’s Reward Volunteers online program enters year four, they are excited to announce the latest upgrades to the farmers’, Cabot’s Co-operative and B-corp partners’ impactful salute to those who serve non-profits in our communities.
What’s new? Cabot has implemented several of the suggestions of volunteers. It’s now even easier to find places near you, that need volunteers. And we’ve broadened the impressive list of monthly prizes and cash awards to include more prizes for Organizations and Non-Profits.
2017 Cabot Community Celebrity Cruise – Earn a spot onboard by logging time throughout 2016!
Along with National Cooperative Bank, AARP/Create the Good, and Points of Light, Cabot is setting sail in June of 2017 on an Alaskan cruise with 70 of the nation’s top volunteers and their guests for an all-expense paid rest and relaxation adventure on the Cabot Community Celebrity Cruise. This marks the sixth cruise undertaken to honor volunteer achievements and their community contributions and to build significant networks among of volunteers sailing with us. Throughout 2016 Cabot will be drawing three cabins to join them onboard from among the Reward Volunteers users.
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Many of you have responded to the new feature survey links in our newsletters and on the eCoordinator login page. We really appreciate the fantastic feedback! It’s great guidance on how to meet your needs. Our most recent survey asked about time formats, editable grids, and bulk edit. In addition to your votes, you made a lot of comments, which although we don’t include them here because of space constraints, were really helpful. We’ll be rolling your feedback into our upcoming releases. Here are the questions and what you had to say:
If a volunteer logs that s/he has given 12 hours and 15 minutes of service, which of the following time display formats would you like the grids to display as a default?
Which method did you prefer most?
Which method did you prefer most?
The Friends of the Library Book Sale, held every February, is the biggest event of the year for the Friends of the Metropolitan Library System in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This year Volunteer Coordinator Heidi Port ran into a huge problem just weeks before the sale.
Although booked months in advance, the venue at the Fairgrounds was mistakenly reserved one week too early. By the time Heidi was made aware of the mix-up, 350 volunteers had already signed up for specific dates and times, using Samaritan’s Volunteer Management System.
“As soon as I heard the news, I immediately contacted Satina at Samaritan” stated Heidi. Satina Smith is Samaritan’s Support Manager, and she has helped many clients with emergencies for more than three and a half years.
Working together, Heidi and Satina developed a strategy to solve the problem. Heidi went into Opportunities in the system and changed the dates and times. She sent an email to all volunteers who had already signed up to inform them of the change. The volunteers could then use Opportunities to change their times and dates. Without the Samaritan system, Heidi and her staff would have had to call and reschedule each of the 350 volunteers.
Prior to using Samaritan’s system to sign up volunteers for the sale, 500 volunteers served in 2013. Since then, the number of volunteers has increased every year, with a record breaking total of 1,090 in 2016.
Heidi is already looking forward to next year’s sale. She continued, “the Library is very happy to partner with Samaritan. Their amazing support plays a large part in our efforts”.
For over three years, Satina Smith and Mike Wolfe have led the Support Team at Samaritan. They are the voice of Samaritan for many of our clients.
The goal of the Support Team of Samaritan Technologies is to acknowledge all requests from users of the volunteer management software within the first hour of receipt, and to resolve the issue in less than 24 hours. The most common requests are:
Satina has worked for Samaritan for 3 ½ years. She brings more than 10 years of experience working with nonprofits, which enables her to better understand the needs of Samaritan’s varied clients. She earned a Masters in Communication from the University of Utah. Although she is a Utah native, Satina has lived and worked in Texas, New Jersey, and Washington.
Mike recently celebrated his 5 year anniversary at Samaritan. He is an Army brat, and he lived in Germany, Alabama, Louisiana, and Washington while he was growing up. He studied Natural Sciences post high school. Mike has been a web designer for over 10 years. Mike and his Australian Shepherd Little Bear can be found hiking all over the Wasatch Front.
An innovative approach was taken by the Samaritan Implementation Team for the New York City Emergency Management project. “There were several firsts with NYCEM”, stated Implementation Manager Ken Ross. “This was the first project at Samaritan to use the Angular development toolset”. For Front End Developer Damien Taylor, it was a learning process, but the successful completion of the project has established a baseline for going forward using Angular to build webpages.
An important characteristic of the project is that NYCEM by necessity is very selective in recruiting and training volunteers. The process is so unique because trained volunteers may be called upon to assist in a wide array of emergency situations in the largest city in the United States.
The NYCEM team is headed by Herman Schaffer, Assistant Commissioner, Community Outreach. Herman fulfilled a key role in defining the system that volunteers needed in the project.
Team leaders (Team Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs) can utilize the volunteer management system as volunteers, as leaders of an organization team, and as approvers of hours submitted by team members. These actions can all be performed using a single sign-on, another first for Samaritan.
Volunteers who are signing up to join a team enter the street address of their home or place of work located within New York City, and the system takes the address and drops a pin on a Google Map. The system assigns the new potential team member automatically to the team that has responsibility for that geographical area. There are a total of 55 teams in the system.
NYCEM also requires that each new team member complete basic training before they serve, a requirement tracked and verified within the system. Team members can participate only after training and other on-boarding conditions have been met.
The main volunteer web page contains an alert feature that notifies team members of any pending emergencies within the city. Once signed in, volunteers only view emergencies posted for their team. Team leaders can submit training, exercises, and emergency opportunities for their team and for any other teams that would be included in an event.
Citizen Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) use the system for sending notifications to volunteers, such as newsletters and event announcements.
“I am excited about continuing work with NYCEM. We are discussing new projects within the Emergency Management Office”, said Ken. We look forward to new challenges with our friends at New York City Emergency Management.
Happy holidays!
In January, 2016, Software Product Manager Mike Brady is celebrated his 10th year at Samaritan. During those years, Mike has seen Samaritan grow and make many very positive changes to enhance the functionality and performance of our software.
Mike was born in Chiba, Japan, moved to Oklahoma, and then at age three, he moved to Salt Lake City. After high school graduation, he attended the University of Utah, where he received a degree in International Studies.
Mike is fluent in Japanese, having served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2005, Mike was employed processing Workers Compensation claims. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, Mike felt a strong need to help the people affected by the storm, so he volunteered for three weeks to work for the American Red Cross at the scene of the destruction in New Orleans.
When he returned to Utah, he knew he wanted to continue assisting in volunteer efforts and followed up on a job lead with Samaritan Technologies where he was hired, and began his employment in sales support. After a few months, he began implementing new customers, and eventually became manager over the Implementation and Client Services (support) departments. His next position was technical writer. From that position, he moved to Product Manager, where he has remained for several years.
As Product Manager, Mike’s duties span a few different job descriptions, but he is primarily focused on:
In 2008, Mike and his family moved to Gresham, Oregon, where he continued his work for Samaritan in product development. In his spare time, Mike and his family enjoy outings together. He and his wife Chelsie have five children: a son, twin sons and two daughters. Mike also actively volunteers in his community and church.
After 10+ years at Samaritan, Mike retains his original enthusiasm for providing ever-improving volunteer software for all clients. He states that one of the most important reasons for this is that Samaritan has a long history of employing highly qualified personnel. Finally, Mike states that, “it’s the clients who keep me on track. I’m always looking for innovative ways to assist them in performing their jobs.”