eLearning For Charities: 7 Benefits eLearning Professionals Should Know
Raising funds and spreading awareness for a cause can be challenging, especially with so many organizations competing for their chance to be heard. Fortunately, a well-informed and properly trained staff and volunteer team can help a charity increase their odds of reaching the public, and eLearning is one of the most powerful training tools at their disposal. Members of the organization can get the resources they need from anywhere in the world, without having to travel to the nearest training center. Here are just a few of the most notable benefits of using eLearning for charities.
- Streamlines the onboarding process.
Training new volunteers and staff members can be a challenge, especially if they are located all around the world, which is often the case for global charities. However, it doesn’t have to be, as eLearning offers you the opportunity to streamline your onboarding process by putting all of your training resources, manuals, and tutorials online. No matter where your new team members are, they can access the employee online training orientation program to immediately get the knowledge and skills they need to become a productive part of the organization. This also applies to international employees who speak another language, as eLearning allows you to add subtitles and translations to your eLearning content quickly and conveniently. - Stay current with rules and regulations.
Charities have to work within the confines of local, national, and international rules and regulations, which typically change over the course of time. When using traditional training methods, charities must then update all of their printed materials and retrain their instructors to stay current with the latest laws. However, eLearning makes updating hassle-free. When the compliance regulations change, you simply update the respective online content in your learning management system and then deploy the new version of the eLearning course or add on an online module that reflects the changes. Your employees or volunteers will always know how to work within the legal boundaries, because they constantly have access to current online learning resources. - Offers flexible eLearning experiences.
Your charity, just like any other organization, is a microcosm of the world. Everyone has their own unique personal experiences, skills, talents, and backgrounds that have a direct impact on how they learn and what motivates them to do so. With eLearning, you can design eLearning courses that are custom tailored to the specific needs and preferences of your staff members. Online learners can view images and graphics to absorb the knowledge, while interactive learners can engage in branching scenarios and online presentations to fulfill their learning objectives. - Reduce training costs.
Charities, especially smaller organizations and startups, typically work on tight eLearning budgets. eLearning gives your organization the opportunity to reduce training costs that can then be allocated to other important endeavors. You no longer have to pay for instructors to be on-site, or rent a training space where all of your team members can meet. There is also no need for printed learning materials. Online training also cuts down on the seat time employees will have to devote to the process, which decreases your training hour wages. Though you will have to pay to setup your eLearning platform and maintain it, the savings can still be quite significant when switching from a face-to-face corporate training strategy. - Increase volunteer retention.
If volunteers have easy access to online resources and can stay up-to-date with the latest information, they will feel better equipped to be a productive part of the team. Keep in mind that these individuals are not receiving any monetary reward for their hard work. As such, you want to make sure that they feel as though all of their time and effort is being acknowledged, and that you care enough to keep them up to date with the latest information and tools. Even volunteers who wholeheartedly believe in a cause may choose to leave the organization if they don’t get the knowledge and skills they need to make a difference and be an active part of the team. - Keep track of employee progress.
Ensuring that all of your employees and volunteers are staying current with compliance protocols and sharpening the skills they need on the job, can be a difficult task, especially when you follow a traditional corporate training strategy. The good news is that eLearning gives you the ability to keep track of how they are progressing, which skills and knowledge they have and what they still need to acquire, and determine if certain members of your team may be struggling. You can then offer them additional resources to get them back on track, so that they don’t jeopardize the efforts of your organization and can meet their personal and professional goals. - Quickly organize online workshops and virtual training events.
If you are preparing for a big fundraiser event or planning on expanding your outreach to other parts of the globe, you can quickly organize online workshops to keep your team members in-the-know. You don’t need to spend valuable resources on having an instructor fly out and stay at different locations to train your employees on new procedures or processes. You can simply notify each of your staff members by email or update the organization-wide calendar online to let them know about the upcoming webinar or online presentation. They can then log on to the eLearning platform to attend the virtual event or even watch a recorded version of it, in case they aren’t available for the live workshop.
Charities have the power to save lives and change the world. eLearning has the power to give them the information and skills they need to do this. Making our planet a better place begins with knowledge, and online learning provides a wealth of vital knowledge for every member of your organization.