Nonprofit thrift stores enjoy plenty of benefits that for-profit retail stores don’t, chief among them access to a volunteer workforce. But as valuable as volunteers are, they’re far from hands-off — for managers, they come with a unique set of challenges. Between wildly varying skill levels, high turnover rates, and unpredictable shift attendance, they’re not without their tradeoffs.
With the right volunteer management software, though, you can iron out those wrinkles and create a smooth experience for both you and your store’s volunteers. Here are five features to look for when choosing software for your store.
Before committing to volunteer management software, make sure it includes these five valuable features.
When all your volunteers and employees aren’t on the same page in terms of shifts and schedules, an otherwise organized day can quickly descend into confusion.
A centralized timesheet system brings order to such logistical havoc, so prioritize volunteer management software with robust shared scheduling features.
For instance, a point of sale (POS) system like ThriftCart has a built-in timesheets module, which includes:
Related Read: Thrift Store Time Management: 7 Actionable Tips
It can be a challenge to make sure that everyone in your thrift store only has access to the controls and permissions appropriate for their role, whether they’re a weekend volunteer or a full-time employee.
So if your chosen nonprofit volunteer management software has role-based permissions built into its functionality, that’s one less thing for you to oversee.
Pro tip: In ThriftCart, you don’t have to define each worker’s permissions individually. Instead, you can create user permission sets to quickly establish permissions for all volunteer workers at once.
Even with role-based permissions in place, there will undoubtedly be times when you want your volunteers to get explicit manager approval before proceeding — for example, when processing a customer return, voiding a transaction, or accessing the cash drawer.
Enter manager approval prompts. If you use a POS system like ThriftCart, manager approval prompts come standard, so you can have them up and running in minutes.
PIN-driven access gives volunteers a simple way to operate within their assigned permissions without waiting for manager approval at every turn. Once a volunteer is assigned a PIN, they enter it and proceed with their day — without a bottleneck or delay.
It's a small feature with a meaningful impact on daily operations. Volunteers stay productive, and managers stay focused on higher-priority tasks.
You can’t address problems you don’t know about. With in-depth custom reports, your volunteer management software can shed light on hidden issues and show you what’s really going on with your volunteer workforce.
For example, you can track volunteers to projects and see how many hours each volunteer is working. When you use ThriftCart, all that data isn’t buried in a third-party app — it’s right in your POS.
Related Read: Thrift Store Sales Reporting: 5 Must-Track KPIs
Speaking of third-party apps, should you get one to manage your store’s volunteers? The answer depends on the POS software you’re already using.
If you use a generic POS system that’s not specifically built for thrift stores, then you probably need to rely on third-party apps for volunteer management features. After all, most generic POS software is designed to handle transactions and not much else.
For this reason, you may want to consider getting a separate app for volunteer management, or multiple third-party apps to handle various aspects of your management workflow.
For instance, you could build a stack of apps for:
But if you’re using a POS system like ThriftCart that’s purpose-built for nonprofit thrift stores, then you likely already have everything you need right in your POS.
In other words, you can simply open your ThriftCart dashboard, click into the section you’re looking for (like the timesheets module), and instantly start using volunteer management features that you’d otherwise have to log into a separate app to access.
Once you’ve settled on volunteer management software, whether it’s an all-in-one POS system like ThriftCart or a collection of separate apps, you need a strategy for onboarding new volunteers in a timely manner.
Use these tips to keep the onboarding process short and sweet:
Successfully managing your thrift store’s volunteer workforce means giving volunteers the tools and structure they need to stay productive, so you can focus on driving sales for a good cause. And the better your volunteer management software, the more time you can spend growing your store rather than guiding volunteers through the ins and outs of everyday operations.
If you’re looking to save both time and money with the software you choose, an all-in-one POS system like ThriftCart fits the bill. By blending a robust POS system with features tailored specifically for nonprofit thrift stores, ThriftCart makes it easy to keep your store running efficiently.
See how ThriftCart can change your store for the better and request a free demo now.