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Establishing: Collecting Engagement and Utilization Data

Because the MRC is a volunteer-driven initiative, collecting information about volunteer activities always is advisable. Volunteer statistics can include professional background (for medical or health volunteers), skill sets (for administrative and other support volunteers), and specialty knowledge offered by volunteer experts (e.g., lawyers, financial consultants, public relations experts, etc.).

When collecting engagement and utilization data:

Record the number of volunteer hours given during the year. This information can be categorized by professional types and would show how many hours had been volunteered by each of the different volunteer types (e.g., public health workers, mental health professionals, or administrative support personnel).
Track of the type of activities your volunteers participate in. This will provide a clear picture of their overall involvement and utilization. An understanding of the average volunteer’s involvement can help during recruiting efforts to give prospective volunteers an accurate picture of what will be expected and the available opportunities. Activities could include meetings, trainings, training exercises with response partners, actual deployment or utilization, post-event activities, etc.
Track the details of particular volunteer engagements or utilizations. Specifically:
- Record the circumstances of the deployment or utilization, the sequence of events from start to finish, dates and times, other organizations involved and their role(s) and participation, and all involved personnel.
- Record difficulties encountered in communication or other activation systems, effective procedures, resources consumed during the engagement, resources that could have been useful, and those that were unnecessary.
- Design a form for information to record each time—this list can remind you of which data to collect during stressful engagements when it may otherwise be difficult to remember.

This information will allow you to:

Provide feedback during post-event feedback sessions following the utilization of MRC volunteers and in the creation of after-action reports
Redesign ineffective procedures
Access readily-available, specific information about an engagement for future use

Ideally, everyone involved in your MRC, including your partners, will be operating in a system of accountability in which responsibilities are clearly defined, realistic, and trackable, and this information will allow you to verify this.

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Last Updated on 8/23/2006