Host a Volunteer Training Night

Ready to roll out VSP to your volunteers? Consider holding a live training! Trainings lead to a smoother transition as you can address common questions and personally assist those volunteers who are resistant to change. Below are tips on how to prepare and host a successful training.

Before

Email your volunteers using the introductory email templates provided in the program (go to Announcements -> Use template -> Preconfigured) and add a line about the upcoming training night. Encourage volunteers to log in online, download the app and come up with any questions they have about VSP before they attend the training.

During

  • Play the volunteer video tutorial.
  • Walk through the Web Terminal on a projector while volunteers follow along with the printable Web Terminal Guide.
  • Let volunteers know about any reminder emails/texts that will be coming their way and how to turn them on/off (if they will be allowed to do so). You can even show an example email and text message that you have sent yourself.
  • Share your organization’s Organization ID and walk through the mobile app.
  • Provide an overview of your organization's scheduling cycle. How often will you be sending out new schedules? How much time will volunteers have to submit “Can’t Serve Times” before a schedule is run? 
  • Q&A
  • Have fellow schedulers/administrators in the back of the room with laptops so if people want to practice logging on before they leave, they can do so.

After

Send a follow up email to volunteers the next day with their Web Terminal username and password, mobile app information (including your Organization ID), and links to the video and printable guide. All of this information is included in the introductory email templates available in the program. And remember, volunteers can always access the video tutorial and printable guide in the Help tab in the Web Terminal.