Welcome to Galaxy Digital’s Agency Engagement Series! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be enlisting the wisdom of our nonprofit superstars to offer helpful insight into more effective engagement with your partner agencies.
How is This Series Pertinent to You?
As a volunteer center that has invested in Get Connected, you’ve probably developed some valuable partnerships with other nonprofit agencies. Perhaps you’re looking to bring those agencies on board so that they can post and manage volunteer opportunities and recruit volunteers. Or if they already have Connect accounts, maybe you’d like to encourage more active platform engagement from agency managers. Regardless, there is always room for improvement when it comes to agency engagement!
What is Agency Engagement?
Get Connected is a way for volunteer centers to become more efficient and effective by providing a single platform where partner agencies can create profiles and post needs. It’s a valued resource for expanding your network of community programs, volunteers and partners. For this platform to be at its most effective, partner agencies must regularly engage with your site, posting needs and actively connecting with volunteers. When agencies and their site managers engage with a volunteer center’s Connect platform, they:
- Post needs on your site: Agency managers post and update volunteer opportunities consistently. Regular posting and updating makes your site more dynamic, which can keep volunteers coming back.
- Communicate with volunteers: Agencies respond to their volunteers’ queries, and review and approve volunteer hours that have been logged.
- Feel confident using your Connect site: Taking the time to ensure agency managers are trained is important. Agency managers who understand your platform will be able to use the site more frequently and effectively, and may be more likely to understand its value.
- Quantify volunteer impact: Get Connected allows agencies to track volunteer impact using quantifiable data. Not only do these figures help to recognize the value and impact of volunteers, they can encourage further donations.
- Open the door to more donations: People who volunteer are more likely to donate to the nonprofits they care about. Successful agency engagement can promote successful volunteer engagement, which will certainly help you meet fundraising and donation goals!
What’s Your Story?
Every organization has its own approach to involving its partners, and your definition of agency successful agency engagement may be different — or broader, or more specific — than what’s listed above. We’ve spoken with several site managers of United Ways and other volunteer centers, and we’ll be sharing some of their keys to successful agency engagement throughout this series.
