For organisations

Your organisation’s listings on Volunteer Bucks are an excellent way of advertising your roles to potential volunteers. Here are some hints and tips to help get the best from our platform. First impressions count The image that you choose is important. Depending on the search criteria chosen by a potential volunteer, they may see a screen full of images relating to a whole host of opportunities listed by a variety of organisations. Volunteers are likely to click on a well-centred, clear image before investigating a blurry or truncated picture or an image that doesn’t seem to link to the role being listed or the purpose of the organisation. You can find advice on choosing and sizing your images in our blog on Using images when posting Volunteer Opportunities . Keep your listings up to date Once a volunteer contacts you to sign up for or find out more about a role, the system automatically logs this as “pending”. You can see the status of all your active roles by going into your organisation’s profile page. If there is a small number next to the “Opportunities” in the menu on the left-hand side, this means that there is something for you to do: In this example, there are 3 roles where the system has one or more “pending” applications. These may relate to applications where you are still in discussion with the potential volunteer, but often applications that are “pending” are simply those where the outcome of the application has not been recorded. Once you click on “Opportunities”, a list of all your organisation’s active listings appears. Next to each are small numbers which indicate how many volunteers have been accepted and how many applications are pending. Eg: Clicking on those numbers takes you to the details of all applications there have been for that role. From that screen you can access all messages to and from the volunteer, and message the volunteer and you can also change the status of the application. For example, means that the application is logged as “pending”. Clicking on that yellow dot allows you to change this the status to “accepted”, “declined” or “on reserve list”. Archive filled or expired roles If you have enough volunteers for the role you have listed, you can mark it as filled. Once you have filled a volunteer role or no longer need volunteers for that role, do archive the listing. This hides the listing from public view, but keeps it in a separate folder so you can reactivate it or copy it as a template for another role at a later date. Archiving helps to keep your organisation’s profile on Volunteer Bucks clearly focussed on your current roles that you would like volunteers to come forward for. You can find the mark a role as filled or archive it using the toolbar under the image on your role listing page: These steps can save you time in having to deal with messages from potential volunteers interested in roles that are no longer available. No response to your listing? If after two weeks or so you’ve had no interest in the role(s) you have listed, it is worth refreshing the listing. Things you might think about are: A new image Changing the role title to something more descriptive Changing the wording in the Summary part of your listing – this appears under the image on the volunteer’s search results page If you have a question or need help, you can get in touch by emailing [email protected]

A quick guide on how to structure listings on Volunteer Bucks

Getting the most out of the Volunteer Bucks platform can help organisations save time and costs when recruiting and managing volunteers. Once you know the basics, familiarise yourselves with the advanced features so that you can raise your organisation's profile, promote your opportunities effectively, and reach more potential volunteers. Here are some of Volunteer Bucks' advanced features: 1) Invite registered users to follow your organisation You can directly notify Volunteer Bucks registered users about your new volunteer opportunities or general updates if they are members of your organisation on Volunteer Bucks. To use this feature, simply invite them to become a member - read the How do I invite people to become a member? guide. Unlike moderators or administrators, members are not able to make any changes to your organisation profile or create opportunities (unless you specifically allow them to). 2) Display your Volunteer Bucks opportunities on other websites Increase the reach of your volunteer opportunities by embedding them on your own website, on social media, or on other websites that can share opportunities. This will also save you administration time as you will not have to rebuild custom posts for each website. Read this step-by-step guide to find out how. 3) Use data and analytics to manage users, opportunities, activity, and visualise your impact Data and analytics can help your organisation's administrators and team leaders identify trends in volunteer applications, member engagement, and other metrics. It can also help with reporting and checking how your organisation's profile is performing on the platform. Using the data tables, you can use your organisation page as your own customer relationship management (CRM) tool. It can help you to manage your organisation's interactions with past/ current/ new volunteers, or as a portal to export information to be used separately. Using analytics, you can generate reports on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis on a range of criteria. Read Best practices: using data and analytics to see how your organisation could access insights into your account. The Activity Reports and Impact Hours feature gives organisations the ability to not only find volunteers through the platform but also to measure the impact they are making with the help of those volunteers. 4) Streamline your onboarding process using forms To gather more information about the volunteer when they apply, add custom forms to your activities or opportunities. You can also use one form for multiple activities or opportunities. Read this guide about adding forms. 5) Request files from volunteers You can ask a volunteer to upload a file when they apply for your opportunity/ role in cases where you need specific information. For example, a CV, drivers' licence, or application form. Find out more by following this guide. Our Advances Features webinars go through all these tips for organisations in more detail and give the opportunity to ask any questions. To book your place at the next available date, visit our Webinars for Groups page.

BucksVision is a registered charity whose staff and volunteers support those with sight loss in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Why do you use the Volunteer Bucks platform? BucksVision had been using the Buckinghamshire Volunteer Matching Service to find volunteers since 2022 with some success, so we were keen to have a presence on the Volunteer Bucks platform which replaced it as soon as it was announced. As with other charities, finding volunteers is increasingly difficult but we have found Volunteer Bucks is a great system which allows us to get our roles out to a wider audience who are actively looking to take on a volunteer role. How easy is the platform to use? We started using Volunteer Bucks after attending a very helpful webinar on how to use it and how to get started as an organisation. We've found the platform is user friendly and easy to navigate. It takes about 30 minutes to add a role to the platform - mainly due to getting the knack of uploading the images but it gets easier when you have completed a few. How do you use the platform to communicate with potential volunteers? Volunteer Bucks has a number of useful functions which has definitely helped us to communicate with people who are interested in our roles. We use the chat function to make initial contact with the volunteer and then use emails to send applications forms and to respond to any queries. Have you encountered any challenges or difficulties while using the platform? The main challenge we have is the time it takes to follow up with the numerous applications we receive. Some people who have said they are interested in the role do not respond after we make contact with them, but this is something we have also experienced through our other recruitment methods. How has the platform impacted your ability to attract volunteers? In just three months, we have successfully recruited seven volunteers through the platform: three administrators, three drivers, and one be-friender. This is fantastic given the short time the platform has been live. The interest in some of our roles is higher than usual - for example, we received seven applications for one admin role! We are looking at starting a new recruitment campaign soon to attract volunteers between the ages of 18 and 25. We will be using Volunteer Bucks as part of this as we feel it will help us reach new potential volunteers from across Buckinghamshire.

A picture paints a thousand words… Choosing the right pictures to advertise the roles in your organisation is important. It is equally important to check that the sizing of the image looks good, as part of that key first impression that the volunteer gets when browsing your opportunities. Check that the image you choose appears correctly when potential volunteers are browsing for volunteer roles , as well as in the full description of the opportunity that appears when a volunteer clicks on the role. Click on this link to the article ‘How do I choose a good cover photo / image for an activity? ’ provided by Deedmob, the host of the Volunteer Bucks platform, which explains how to choose and, importantly, how to size your image so that it appears correctly in all places that it appears on Volunteer Bucks. Handy tip: when creating a new opportunity, always check the “Preview” box to make sure that the image appears as you’d want to – this shows the view that will appear when volunteers browse available roles. If you want to check on your existing opportunities, select the one you want to look at, then choose “Edit”. This will take you to the page where you can both see the details of the volunteering opportunity and the preview of the image, as it appears when the volunteer is browsing roles. If after reading the online guidance , you still need help in resizing your chosen image, please email [email protected] and attach the image you would like to use, in .jpg or .png format, and we can re-size the image for you.

Are you looking for volunteers to support your organisation in Buckinghamshire? Are you keen to find a new way to engage and recruit volunteers? Volunteer Bucks is an online platform where volunteers and organisations across Buckinghamshire can find and connect with each other. Run by charity Community Impact Bucks , the online platform is free to use and is open to organisations looking for volunteers to fill roles in Buckinghamshire, helping reduce your costs around volunteer recruitment. Community Impact Bucks runs two types of webinars for organisations to help them register and start recruiting volunteers via the platform, and how to use other features on the platform. Held on Zoom, there are two webinars to choose from: ‘Get started’ webinars for groups: These webinars are a good opportunity for your organisation to: Discover its benefits: learn how Volunteer Bucks can help enhance your volunteer programme by making your roles more visible to potential volunteers across Buckinghamshire. Get step-by-step guidance: receive a live demonstration to introduce some of the platform’s features and functionalities. Ask your questions: speak directly to the Volunteer Bucks team during the Q&A session which follows the presentation. This webinar complements the guide on Steps to Get Started for Organisations webpage , which includes video tutorials, and is perfect for organisations new to Volunteer Bucks or anyone looking for a refresher. ‘Advanced features’ webinars for groups: These webinars will give your organisation the opportunity to learn how to: Promote your volunteer opportunities: find out how to embed your Volunteer Bucks' roles into your website, and easily promote the roles on social media Use the platform's forms and files: take a more in-depth look at forms (e.g. creating an application form) and files (e.g. if you need volunteers to upload a particular file when they apply for a volunteer role). Use the platform's data and analytics: track your organisation's roles and volunteers, and see which opportunities are getting more views. Ask your questions: speak directly to the Volunteer Bucks team during the Q&A session which follows the presentation. This webinar accompanies our Advanced Features guide and is aimed at organisations who are already familiar with Volunteer Bucks. How to register? Choose your preferred webinar and date from the list below, and secure your free place by clicking the link below and filling out the registration form. ‘Get started’ webinars for groups Tuesday 25th November 2025 - 10-11am Tuesday 20th January 2026 - 2-3pm Thursday 7th May 2026 - 11am-12pm Book your ticket on Eventbrite . 'Advanced features' webinars for groups Wednesday 10th December 2025 - 11am-12pm Thursday 26th March 2026 - 10-11am Tuesday 2nd June 2026 - 2-3pm Book your ticket on Eventbrite.

Please follow these steps to register your organisation on the Volunteer Bucks platform and post volunteer role(s). Please also click on the links for guidance videos (provided by Deedmob, the host of the Volunteer Bucks platform): 1. Create an account : click on this link for a video guide. 2. Create your organisation profile ( click on this link for a video guide ). There are also tips on sizing and customising your organisation profile page which can be found by clicking on this online guide . You are now an organisation administrator. 3. Wait for the organisation to be approved by the Volunteer Bucks admin team 4. Create a volunteer role/opportunity ( click on this link for a video guide ) . Please also familiarise yourself with the different options when you set up a role/opportunity, and follow this video guide for help. 5. Ask a colleague to set up an account : click on this link for a video guide. 6. Invite them to join as another admin/moderator/member to your organisation : click on this link for a video guide . In our upcoming webinars for organisations, we will also demonstrate what it’s like when a volunteer applies for one of your volunteering roles, and how to change the status of the application, from “pending” to “match”. Click on this link for a video guide. For further guidance on getting the best from your organisation page, click on this link for '3 tips to set your organisation page up for success'. If you would like to attend one of our webinars, where we will be going through these steps and can help to answer any questions, find out more and register on our Organisations: webinars to help you get started webpage.