Volunteering Ramps Up with Warm Weather

As the weather gets warmer and people start to break away from the dreary indoors, charitable organizations begin their fundraising efforts with walkathons, races, and golf outings, as well as many other outdoor volunteer opportunities. These efforts, while honorable, can be quite an undertaking, with keeping track of volunteers, registrants, and donations. Paperwork can become lost and unorganized, leaving the organizers pulling their hair out. Thank goodness for technology! This type of organization no longer needs to be a hassle. Using technology, organizers can now stay on top of events and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Registrations and Funds

When dealing with things like a golf outing or walkathon, not only are you taking in people choosing to register, but you are taking in their funds and keeping track of payments made. Funds are coming from personal sponsors as well as event sponsors and even some registration fees. Many times, for back office purposes such as sending thank yous and reporting where funds came, meticulous records need to be kept. In some cases, prizes are awarded for certain fundraising levels and need to be recorded. In addition, registrants may have special needs for which proper accommodations must be made. In all of these instances, computerized records and tracking make the job much easier. Programs can be created specifically for your organization’s needs. Then it becomes a simple data entry process to maintain the incoming information for use at the time of the event and after the fact for any necessary purposes. Furthermore, it keeps your information and the information of your registrants and sponsors safe and secure, avoiding the worry of someone stealing paperwork or losing it in an unknown location.

Typically, the average person does not understand the organization and scheduling that goes into having volunteers for a large fundraising event. Too many people at one time or in one spot will create havoc and usually leave you short staffed in other areas. A centralized database to organize your volunteers can not only help the initial staffing of the event, but it can aid in making sure the show runners are all on the same page. This helpsinsure that a volunteer is not moved to another location or another time-slot and no one else is made aware of it to help fill in the gaps. Additionally, it helps keep track of when volunteers may need a break from their post because of the hours they have been in the heat or moved to another post to accommodate other needs of the event. Managing volunteers is just as difficult as managing an entire event but with the help of proper software, it does not need to be quite as tough.

Cogran Systems can help you manage your fundraisers and volunteers easily and effectively with their innovative systems. Cogran has developed systems designed specifically for this purpose which include managing funds, registrants and volunteers to help make your event the success it should be. To learn more about how Cogran Systems can help you, contact us at 1-800- 985-9342.