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Description
The aim of the project is to digitize the administration of volunteers in the Salvation Army in the Czech Republic, to make the cooperation with volunteers more efficient and to simplify our communication with them. Volunteering in the Salvation Army is currently managed inconsistently within the organization and unprofesionally, which causes situations proving that the volunteering in the Salvation Army is far from reaching its full potential. We would like to unify the volunteering within the Salvation Army and to move it on a higher level, creating much better environment for volunteer work. To this end, we request the acquisition of software (SaaS) for the effective management of all volunteers in our organization, which will be set up according to the needs and requirements of the Salvation Army. This software will be connected to the nationwide volunteer portal vlnapomoci.cz for a simple and clear search for volunteer opportunities in the Czech Republic and will be used both by the Salvation Army and by volunteers themselves, making it not only a professional database for volunteer management but also transparent communication channel between the two parties. From this project will benefit both the Salvation Army, which will be now capable to manage volunteering in more professional and unified way, and volunteers themselves, who will now be more informed regarding volunteering opportunities in the Salvation Army and their communication regarding those opportunities with the Salvation Army will simplify.
Summary of project results
Thanks to this project, certain structural changes in the field of volunteering in the Salvation Army were accelerated. We identified all contact workers for volunteers in each of the 57 social service facilities. In doing so, we gained a volunteer network of Salvation Army workers. We acquired the Sinch database platform and the Vlnapomoci.cz advertising platform, which enable cooperation in the field of volunteering across our entire organization. Another legal entity, the Salvation Army - Church, was also joined by 1 female colleague - a national fundraiser. We managed to prepare and discuss a crucial document as a team: Methodology of volunteering in the Salvation Army as well as the Annex to the National Personal Resources Directive on Volunteering and we were also able to revise other related documents. The new methodology already comprise the use of the Sinch application in volunteering. We have also made progress in unifying the "corporate culture" of working with volunteers in our organization. At the time the project started, there was also an opportunity for free training courses for volunteering coordinators and contact workers. These courses were organized in several runs by the organization ACCENDO – Center for Science and Research, z.ú., several contact workers for volunteers used them, others participated in round tables within the project of the Czech Ministry of the Interior "Volunteer Development in the Czech Republic", also organized by Accendo. These activities as well as the information campaign directed inside the Salvation Army certainly contributed to the promotion and awareness of volunteering in our organization. However, we understand this process as a long-term run. The biggest benefit of the implemented project is the fact that we took the first fundamental steps that significantly contributed to the development, modernization and unification of approaches in the field of volunteering in our organization.