After School Programs Track Volunteer Hours

Carol Porter is the Volunteer Coordinator at Readers 2 Leaders, a nonprofit organization that works to develop and grow the reading skills of children in under-served communities of West Dallas, Texas. In the schools they work in, about 86% of students are economically disadvantaged and 2 out of 3 students aren’t reading at grade level. Data shows that if a child is reading at Grade Level by 3rd grade, then he or she is 4 times more likely to graduate from High School.

Readers 2 Leaders is closing the reading gap with volunteer-run after-school enrichment programs. “If children start school already behind, they just fall further behind,” says Ms. Porter.  “Not only do they need help with reading, but they need a mentor and a friend. These kids don’t have anyone else to help them.” She finds the kids eager to learn; they just need the tools. Volunteers help one-on-one with kids for 2 hours after school, providing essential tutelage and encouragement.

Readers 2 Leaders is an organization that wouldn’t exist without dedicated volunteers, and a very important metric for their organization is volunteer retention. Carol logs into Track it Forward on a monthly basis to see which volunteers are logging in hours regularly and nudges those who have become inactive to volunteer again soon. The robust data and reports available on the Track it Forward dashboard help her manage and retain volunteers. Below is a sample of their volunteer hours over time:

Carol’s favorite Track it Forward feature is the Mobile App. Sometimes she will have over a dozen volunteers show up at the same time and only one computer to sign in. “We don’t want anyone to wait and not be able to get started right away on their task,” she says. “I really love the app. It’s incredibly easy-to-use, even for someone who isn’t tech-savvy.”

Some volunteers are students from local charter schools who complete required service hours at Readers 2 Leaders. Volunteers can log into Track it Forward, see the hours they’ve completed, and even print out a page documenting their hours. Providing this service to volunteers and getting them to track hours in an interactive way is another important feature.  

Carol has a passion for reading and loves to help kids learn to read. She works with a great group of people serving in the best way they know, and their organization is showing some excellent data. About 96% of students accelerated their rate of learning this past year! This success is made possible by over 125 volunteers, and Track it Forward provides an essential technology for tracking and measuring these efforts.