Keep Track of Your Volunteer Work With This New App

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Name: Reward Volunteers

Big Idea: An app for volunteers to log time, share what they’re doing and earn rewards for themselves and the organizations they serve.

Why It’s Working: Users clock in volunteer time so they can focus on doing more good and less on keeping track of hours. The more hours logged and activity shared, the greater chance both volunteers and organizations have to win cash and prizes.

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Volunteers deserve a bit of credit for their do-good attitude, and that’s exactly what Reward Volunteers aims to do — it is in the name, after all.

The iPhone and web app, created by Chalo Inc. in partnership with the Cabot Creamery Cooperative, usesFacebook Connect to help volunteers track their hours, share photos and post activity to Facebook. The social features make it easy for users to share photos and videos, which could be an added bonus for organizations if they are tagged in the process.

“Because the volunteer and philanthropy sectors lag behind other areas in apps and technological tools, we were excited to work with Cabot to launch Reward Volunteers in an effort to contribute to this oft-overlooked sector,” Nilima Abrams and Roger Goldberg, Reward Volunteers’ co-founders, told Mashable.

“Reach” points are the credits received for logging and sharing volunteer activity — more Reach equals more chances to win. This gamification style is a win-win for both parties: People are inclined to do more good, and organizations still benefit from the volunteer work and more.

Each month, volunteers are selected to win prizes ranging from a gift certificate to a vacation for four. To be eligible to win a $3,000 donation, organizations must be a U.S. 501(c)3 organization.

Although the app is fairly new, launching a little over a month ago, the co-founders say they are seeing steady expansion as organizations become familiar with Reward Volunteers. In less than one month, 6,000 volunteer hours have been donated at 300 organizations.

Could you see yourself using this social tool to keep track and share your volunteer hours? Let us know in the comments.

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