The first hospice volunteer training online podcast was
released over a year ago.
It has taken me that long to prove to the world that this
is not just another fly by night program, that quality and
integrity are vital to my business in order to educate
those who will be of service to hospice patients and families.
Everything finally fell into place. Initially I read the
final essays of those taking the course and was in awe of
the "reasons" that people gave for taking the course. It
looked like the program was making a significant difference
in the lives of those wishing to become hospice volunteers.
Next, I finally defined the benefit to hospices. I knew
the benefits in my heart, but to hear the agencies who were
utilizing the program for their initial volunteer training to
really confirm that the program was on it's way to being a
legitimate, service oriented program that would ultimately
save hospices money and time while breathing new energy
into their follow up training with those who had taken
the course.
So here it is 16 months after the original podcast and I am
ready to update you on the status of the program.
*There are approximately 30 agencies now using the online
training.
Each agency has it's own personalized site for
training their volunteers with a personalized certificate
of completion with the company's name and/or logo. The
volunteer coordinator has administrative privileges and can
monitor their volunteers' progress and add users and grade
esssays. They can also save or print the certificates.
For sites that only use the program every couple of months
or so, they are put on one web page as a sponsoring agency.
This page is not personalized with company logo, info, etc
but is a generic listing with an enrollment key so the
agency can approve/not approve the volunteers that wish to
take the course. Unlike the personalized sites, the
sponsoring agency site has a generic certificate issued.
The volunteer coordinator has non-editing privileges and
can only view their volunteers but not edit any
information.
Only 2 sites have utilized the option to create their own
course for me to upload. That's really okay as I had to
learn as well how to make the site flow easily with
additional material.
I discovered "inodes". The courses were so full of
information and the individualized sites were full of
pictures and slides that I got a notice from my web host
that I had severely exceeded my inode limit. It sounded
like a disease. That's when I re-introduced myself to back
up plans. I now have 2 different web hosts so that at any
time one site may go down or incur difficulties, in an
emergency I can go to the other site and immediately
(within hours) upload an agencies information so they can
continue training with a minor web address change.
I got critiqued! It wasn't really pretty but it got me lots of business.
I apparently use "me" or "my" too much in some places and
appearances lean toward this being a program for rural
areas only. The good news is that this program is being
utilized in rural areas but just as much in heavily
populated areas and college students are the prime target
for participation. They know the computer, they want their
resume to look really good by reflecting service training,
and they are more than full of the energy it takes to be a
great volunteer.
Benefits I never promoted.
I realized that all my agencies were getting my full
attention to any obstacles, questions or training.
I didn't know I was a coach and counselor but looks like
that has played quite a role in this business when I talk
to volunteer coordinators. I get to share ideas and then I
get to receive some great ideas to share with others.
I send blast messages on behalf of the agencies utilizing
the course. In other words, if hospice a submits an ad on
craigslist for "volunteers wanted" - if its sent to me I
will send it to my mailing list and post to all my social
media sites. There....I do use "my" and "me" too much!
I have been accused of lowering the value of the course by
not charging for the site set up and only charging $10 per
volunteer. As I see more and more growth and a steady flow
of active agencies providing training I have to agree. At
some point I will begin charging for the site set up but
for now I am just getting to the point where I can identify
my ideal client and something still considered new in the
volunteer training world has to complete it's cycle of
confirmation. The site charges will happen, but just not
right now. I want to be as fair as possible to those
agencies who are struggling financially to at least be able to
recruit and train a vast volunteer force. In my thought,
the volunteer can make an agency successful if trained
appropriately. Marketing, patient care, companionship,
administrative duties, and the intention of love for
service are invaluable.
Loving automation; Most of the programs run very well
without my assistance. The volunteer signs up for their
user account and begins the course. The volunteer
coordinator grades final essays and prints the certificate.
In a perfect world I would have nothing else to do. But as
life goes, challenges appear and I have learned that each
one can be addressed to the satisfaction of the volunteer,
the agency and yes even to myself.
The service agreement is easily completed and emailed, the
billing is done monthly and sent by email, customers can
pay by paypal, checck or money order. Volunteers can
always call me or contact me by email for assistance and I
send out regular messages regarding updates.
The most fun I have is congratulating the volunteer coordinator
on a job well done. When I see 10 new volunteers trained in a
month, I know that coordinator has put in lots of hours,
blood, sweat and tears to make it happen. I want them to
know I have noticed.
It's been one of the most fulfilling years in my life. A
new business, a new grandson, and a motivation for creating
the best product I possibly can to assist in an economical
investment for hospice agencies and to enable in others
the power of being of service.
Next time we will discuss how to set up your site for your
agency. This includes
1. Getting administration to approve participation in the program
2. The service agreement
3. What's needed to get your site up and ready for training.
4. How to create a new user account and receive administrative privileges.
I would like to end with one of the stories that has gotten
the most attention this week on my blog posts. With
Memorial Day being observed at the beginning of the week,
the story was very appropriate.
http://volunteertraining.posterous.com/cornerstone-
salutes-honoring-us-veterans
Join me next time for "Setting Up Your Personalized Site".
Anyone interested in utilizing the hospice volunteer
training online program can join in and ask questions. The
number to call is (724) 444-7444 and the Call ID: 37502
The live call is scheduled for Fridays at 12 noon.
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