Improving the effectiveness of 70,000 hours of work…
…and the individuals who helped make it happen #thenewCSR — HKBN
The article “5 Reasons Why NGO’s Should Invest in IT” recently published in “The Innovation” highlights a specific project which was a game-changer to one nonprofit’s efficiency: an online cloud-based remote community portal for volunteers. Together with the support of a visionary funder, a pro bono service provider and a global tech giant, Mother’s Choice, a charity serving children without families and young girls facing crisis pregnancy in Hong Kong developed a community portal to manage its hundreds of regular volunteers.
Volunteers are an incredible gift to any organization and an often undervalued resource to nonprofits. According to Joan Garry, who hosts a podcast on the nonprofit sector, about 25% of all Americans volunteer every year providing 8 billion hours of service and that number keeps on growing. Mother’s Choice estimates that 80% of its workforce is volunteers who contribute 70,000 hours each year.
Although volunteers are an incredible gift, they are also an important stakeholder group to manage. Showing up at a wrong time because of bad communication, not having adequate brief about the deliverables of a project or overworking certain dedicated volunteers or not being able to properly appreciate them, can lead to misunderstandings and people having an unrewarding experience.
The functionality of the portal included the ability for volunteers to “self-service” update their own information, complete requisite training and for the organization to control which volunteers were able to sign-up for specific roles depending on their training, length of service and availability. It also allowed the service managers to communicate all at once with all relevant volunteers, for example if they needed additional help for one shift, they could see which of the volunteers had marked their availability and reach out directly.
Mother’s Choice’s third strategic pillar of “Impact Big” involves bringing the community along with them for the journey of serving clients, which means we must ensure each volunteer understands the needs of its clients as well as Mother’s Choice commitment to child protection and the belief in a hopeful future for each and every one of its clients.
As part of the community portal project, an incredible team from HKBN, a Hong Kong based internet, communication and telecommunication company, volunteered to co-create Mother’s Choice’s volunteer screening and training or the “CARES” model, which stands for Confidentiality, Accountability, Respect, Enthusiasm and Safety as an acronym for the expectations of volunteers. Launched at the end of 2018, this model has now been deployed to nearly 400 individual volunteers as well as the entire staff at the Mother’s Choice child care home, all whom want to support the needs of vulnerable children in Hong Kong.
As part of our series on building capacity and #thenewCSR, focused on corporates and individuals using professional expertise to give back to the nonprofit sector, NiQ Lai, Co-Owner and CEO of HKBN and CY Chan Co-Owner and Chief Talent & Purpose Officer of HKBN discuss with Mother’s Choice COO, Rebecca Brosnan on why they decided to give back.
- Rebecca: Why does investing in technology matter for nonprofit organisations?
NiQ: Non-profits need to be even more efficient than for profit companies, i.e. if technology can help efficiency, then it is essential for non-profits to make the investment.
CY: To run a system, you need hardware and software. To run an organization, hardware is about technology and software is about people. Normally a nonprofit organization focus on investing in people as they serve the community — people, but to continuously run it with impact, investing in technology to facilitate the work, engage staff and manage operations is equally important. Moreover, for a nonprofit organization aiming to transform and be run efficiently for bigger impact, investing in technology indeed can be game-changing, especially in today’s big data world, making key people-related decision aided by technology is essential to long-term success.
2. Rebecca: How have you seen employees of nonprofit organisations benefit from systems infrastructure?
NiQ: Improving efficiency means that employees of nonprofits can make a far bigger impact with their efforts … we all have limited resources, but the potential impact we can make is unlimited and proper systems can help us realize this potential.
CY: A quick win is operation efficiency gain via automation, simplified workflows, self-service by users, etc. In long run, a great systems infrastructure blended with the right mentality from employees could benefit them to become more strategic and confident in making wiser decisions from useful data, they will become smarter.
3. Rebecca: What is your personal motivation to offer your time and expertise to nonprofit organizations?
NiQ: At HKBN, we look for Legal Unfair Competitive Advantage (LUCA) in everything we do, including how we can help nonprofits. This is why in addition to cash donations, we offer our specialties whereby we have established LUCA, so that we can make a bigger impact instead of merely offering general time or money.
CY: It’s about “take and give” (in this sequence), I benefited from the society in the past and simply want to give, it’s not until I start to give that realize I can really use my expertise to help. That also comes with a huge sense of fulfillment.
4. Rebecca: How has being involved with Mother’s Choice helped you see your corporate work differently?
NiQ: Real lives, real impact, in the community that we live in.
CY: Our Talents see how we could “make our home a better place to live” from personal capacity, and they also appreciate how we can help the society with our profession.
5. Rebecca: What do you love about Mother’s Choice?
NiQ: The track record speaks for itself … we want to be part of a nonprofit that has lasting impact.
CY: Everything, from its reason of existence, impact made, philosophy and support model, leadership team, staff, and how it engages beneficiaries and volunteers.
6. Rebecca: Describe your experience working with MC in one word?
NiQ: Vool (HKBNese for Very Cool)
CY: Fulfilling
About Mother’s Choice. Mother’s Choice is a charity serving the many children without families and pregnant teenagers in Hong Kong. Follow Mother’s Choice on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or at www.motherschoice.org
About HKBN. HKBN Group is a leading integrated telecom and technology solutions provider. Through three core brands, Hong Kong Broadband Network, HKBN Enterprise Solutions and JOS, the Group offers a comprehensive range of premier one-stop Information and Communications Technology solutions to both the enterprise and residential markets. HKBN‘s core purpose is to “Make our Home a Better Place to Live”. Follow HKBN on LinkedIn or at www.hkbn.net
