hr

Human Resource & Volunteer Coordination

HR Team – Tasks & Subtasks (OpenGov Africa)

The HR Team at OpenGov Africa focuses on volunteer coordination, retention, impact tracking, and internal culture. Since volunteers receive automated onboarding emails, the HR team primarily acts as liaison officers ensuring volunteers are properly integrated into teams and supported throughout their journey.

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1. Volunteer Intake & Verification

Objective: Ensure every incoming volunteer from Idealist is properly documented and connected to the correct team.

Tasks

• Monitor Idealist volunteer applications
• Verify submitted onboarding forms
• Confirm volunteers have joined Discord
• Confirm volunteers understand the project they applied for

Subtasks

• Review onboarding form submissions daily
• Maintain a Volunteer Intake Tracker (Google Sheets)
• Verify that volunteers:
  • Joined Discord
  • Selected correct roles
  • Indicated preferred project
• Assign volunteers to the correct Project Manager / Team Lead
• Send confirmation messages introducing them to their team lead
• Flag incomplete onboarding forms for follow-up

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2. Volunteer-Team Liaison Management

Objective: Act as the bridge between volunteers and project teams.

Tasks

• Introduce volunteers to project managers
• Ensure volunteers understand project expectations
• Monitor early-stage engagement

Subtasks

• Send introduction messages to PMs when a new volunteer joins
• Create a handover note summarizing:
  • Volunteer name
  • Skills
  • Time availability
  • Preferred project
• Track whether the PM has acknowledged the volunteer
• Follow up after 3–5 days if volunteer has not been engaged
• Escalate inactive assignments to Operations Lead if necessary

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3. Volunteer Hours Tracking

Objective: Track volunteer time contributions for transparency, reporting, and future funding applications.

Tasks

• Implement volunteer time tracking
• Maintain hours log
• Generate monthly contribution reports

Subtasks

• Create Volunteer Hours Tracker (Google Sheets)
• Request weekly time submissions from volunteers
• Validate hours with Project Managers
• Track hours by:
  • Volunteer
  • Project
  • Team
  • Task category
• Produce monthly volunteer contribution reports
• Identify top contributors

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4. Impact Metrics & Reporting

Objective: Track the real impact of volunteer contributions across projects.

Tasks

• Define impact metrics
• Collect data from project teams
• Compile periodic reports

Subtasks

• Track metrics such as:
  • Volunteers active per month
  • Hours contributed
  • Projects supported
  • GitHub contributions
  • Research outputs
  • Community events supported
• Create a Quarterly Volunteer Impact Report
• Work with the Strategy team to translate metrics into grant-ready impact data

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5. Volunteer Retention & Engagement

Objective: Maintain a motivated and active volunteer community.

Tasks

• Monitor volunteer engagement
• Recognize contributions
• Prevent volunteer drop-off

Subtasks

• Track inactive volunteers
• Send monthly engagement check-ins
• Organize recognition initiatives such as:
  • Volunteer of the Month
  • Project Contributor Highlights
• Maintain a Volunteer Recognition Board
• Support community managers with volunteer morale initiatives

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6. Exit & Offboarding Management

Objective: Maintain clean records when volunteers leave or become inactive.

Tasks

• Track volunteer exits
• Conduct exit feedback

Subtasks

• Mark volunteers inactive after 30–60 days of inactivity
• Conduct short exit feedback surveys
• Document reasons for leaving
• Maintain alumni list for future collaboration
• Archive volunteer records

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7. HR Documentation & Records

Objective: Maintain organized documentation for operational continuity.

Tasks

• Maintain volunteer records
• Document HR processes

Subtasks

• Maintain a Volunteer Directory
• Document onboarding workflows
• Maintain HR guidelines for:
  • Volunteer expectations
  • Code of conduct
  • Participation guidelines
• Ensure all documentation is stored in Google Drive

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8. Coordination with Operations & Strategy

Objective: Align volunteer management with organizational needs.

Tasks

• Report volunteer capacity to leadership
• Identify staffing gaps across teams

Subtasks

• Provide monthly volunteer capacity reports
• Flag teams needing additional volunteers
• Coordinate recruitment posts on Idealist when teams need support
• Share volunteer insights with Strategy team for program planning

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9. HR Process Improvement

Objective: Continuously improve volunteer management systems.

Tasks

• Identify workflow inefficiencies
• Propose improvements

Subtasks

• Audit onboarding completion rates
• Analyze volunteer retention trends
• Suggest improvements to:
  • Onboarding forms
  • Team assignment process
  • Volunteer tracking systems
• Test new HR workflows before organization-wide rollout

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Core HR Tools

• LinkedIn Jobs, Open Source Communities, Volunteer Platforms – Volunteer recruitment
• Google Forms – Onboarding data collection
• Google Sheets – Volunteer tracking and hours log
• Discord – Volunteer communication
• Zoom – Optional team meetings
• Google Docs – HR documentation

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Key Outputs of the HR Team

• Volunteer Intake Tracker
• Volunteer Hours Tracker
• Monthly Volunteer Contribution Report
• Quarterly Volunteer Impact Report
• Volunteer Directory
• Volunteer Recognition System