A volunteer management system complements a nonprofit’s use of the LinkedIn Volunteer Marketplace, a skills-based volunteer network. Ministry nonprofits can use LinkedIn’s new tool, which was launched in January, to find qualified volunteers from a pool of 250 million professionals worldwide, The Nonprofit Times reported.
LinkedIn’s official blog reported that retired individuals and stay-at-home parents are prime candidates for nonprofits. This demographic typically searches for ways to hone in on their skills because they have more time on their hands.
The professional networking site’s volunteer tool addresses individuals’ aspirations to change the world. In fact, 82 percent of LinkedIn members want to volunteer their time and over 40 percent of human resource manager consider this type of work equivalent to a full-time job, according to The Nonprofit Times. Meg Garlinghouse, head of LinkedIn for Good, said there’s more demand for volunteer opportunities than are available.
After a ministry leader finds a skilled volunteer on LinkedIn, he or she can store the volunteer’s information in the database. This helps with volunteer engagement and retention. NPOs can tap into the volunteer tracking software to find an individual’s contact information and send them an email in just a couple minutes.