App-Garden Releases New Features to Aid in Volunteer Recruitment in New School Environment

Hickory, NC, August 25, 2020 --(PR.com)-- The App-Garden, a leading cloud-based software company who works with K-12 administrators nationwide, has released new updates to the Volunteer Tracker to aid school districts with including volunteers in the new school environment. The new features provide an automated safety review process that can be customized. While many districts across the nation have announced that volunteers will not be allowed in the building until further notice, the App-Garden CEO Tammy Cook states, “As we start schools we understand that volunteers are not at the top of the list right now, but we do want to emphasize that they can be so important during this time.”

With many restrictions on who can enter the building, volunteer recruiting efforts could be moved to virtual options instead. Tammy Cook shares, “Volunteers can still provide a tremendous resource remotely such as one on one reading tutoring over zoom, or at home prep for classroom activities.”

While many districts are restricting in-person volunteers initially, at some point, the schools will open their doors again to volunteers. The App-Garden’s focus was to provide tools that would allow districts to get ahead and aid in bringing volunteers back into the schools safely. It is going to be important for school districts to communicate safety policies and procedures and educate their volunteers and educate them on safe practices. Additionally, it is going to be important for districts to document the volunteers understanding of these policies for reducing liability exposure to the district.

The new features built into the Volunteer Tracker provide a completely automated process to ensure that all potential volunteers complete a customizable safety review process. The new safety review process provides:

- A customizable page that includes the organization’s safety policies and procedures
- A COVID-19 safety video that volunteers will watch that includes an overview of safe practices. Optionally, organizations can provide their own video.
- An overview of signs and symptoms of COVID-19
- A customizable area for the district’s volunteering policies and procedures
- A customizable Liability Review and Agreement

These new features remove extra work for administration by providing consistent online training and a seamless process for volunteer recruitment. With the increase in safety requirements, district staff and teachers will be overloaded and utilizing volunteers can be a tremendous and valuable resource to help offload district staff.

The Volunteer Tracker is a cloud-based software that allows school districts to connect volunteers with opportunities they are interested in either in person or virtual opportunities. Additionally, the Volunteer Tracker provides an online application process and approval process and provides robust reporting for end of year reporting that school districts can utilize for additional funding.

In response to these challenging times the Safety Review Agreement addition is offered at no additional cost with a Volunteer Tracker subscription. To learn more about the Volunteer Tracker please visit www.app-garden.com or view a recent webinar that provides an overview of the new features here.