The Altru volunteer platform started as a side-project by me and a handful of Advisory Board employees. We believed we could make volunteering easier and provide a more simple, engaging way for employees new to the company to make an impact through connecting with likeminded individuals.
Making Volunteering Easier By Connecting Employees With Volunteer Opportunities
Process & Presentation
Initially billed as a “social app for corporate volunteerism,” this initiative started as an idea a few Advisory colleagues had with some rudimentary screens. After joining the group, I formalized their processes, providing creative direction to ensure they had solid goals, requirements, and measures in place. I leveraged my marketing background & design expertise and rebranded the product Altru, then began conceptualizing visuals that would better correspond with the business goals.
Part of these early deliverables included refining the pitch deck and crafting the screens. Our team crafted the story of Rivka, a new employee who is interested in getting involved in volunteer efforts at the company, but was unsure where to start. Competitive Analysis was also done to better understand the volunteer space, while data was pulled to get clarity around volunteer participation at the company. Our presentation was entered into the the company’s Community Impact Innovation Challenge – a competition showcasing creative ways to improve communities, and won first place.
Recognition from across the company
After our victory, we were given the option of executive mentorship and thousands of dollars in seed capital, or continue to build the tool organically. We decided to combine both by maintaining mentorship and working with our colleagues to meet our goal of 50% employee adoption in the Austin office.
Vyas Swaminathan
“Anthony made huge contributions on our product strategy and UX design. he also designed a gorgeous slide deck for our final presentation to the ABC policy committee.”
Mary Van Hoose
“I was blown away by your level of professional execution in what seemed like it at taken a fully time job but was, in truth, a volunteer effort.”
Wireframes And Expansion
In order to meet our other 2 other objectives (employee adoption + an integrated mobile platform), we needed to grow the team. I reached out to two UI/UX colleagues at the company to contribute. I refined some of the wireframe flows, while my colleagues contributed to the a refresh of the look and feel. It was important that the application speak from the same visual language as the company, therefore efforts focused on consistency. As we were working on the visual language, our PM colleagues reached out to our front-end engineers for development assistance.
V1 Launch & User Testing
After winning the company’s Innovation Award challenge and securing funding for the project, we attracted the attention of the Crimson Community Impact team. They were interested in re-designing their internal Portal and Altru seemed to correspond nicely with their goals and aspirations. At that point, we pivoted from a stand alone mobile app to something in which all 4000+ employees across the firm would have access to through the main Crimson Community Impact Portal. This allowed the project to extend past the initial vision and potentially beyond the company itself.
We used the launch as an opportunity to elicit feedback from users and to sign them up on the platform. With a party-like atmosphere, we built excitement around the possibility of meeting new people while volunteering for a cause.
Corporate Volunteerism Mobilized
Hackathon
Having a limited number of people using the platform wasn’t enough. We needed to expand functionality to support desktop and responsive mobile, and that’s what we did. Over a series of several hackathons, the development teams, UI/UX teams, and PMs worked in parallel to extend functionality to meet the needs of the organization – all while continuing their normal duties at the company. The product was rounding into shape, fueled by volunteers committed to making it the best experience possible.
Pivot To Scale
Going from a proof of concept to a compete platform took a collaborative effort. We outlined new objectives for the broader team and broke the work up into sprints and organized releases so that we could show progress to our sponsors. The key was treating it like any other body of work and holding one another accountable.
Community Impact Revolutionized
The team shed its humble beginnings and has grown to include a larger set of UX designers and developers. We conducted hackathons, invited guest speakers to talk about their own efforts in the volunteer space, and raised awareness through employee events and happy hours. What started out as a fun “what if” experiment has finally gained broad recognition and was even presented in our Corporate Social Responsibility Report, a printed publication shared in offices around the country. During the company’s annual “Week of Service” event , 3,500+ hours of service where completed and 2,700 employees contributed which exceeded our goal of more than half of company employees contributing. In addition, several of us received the The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizing our contribution:
By The Numbers
3,500
Hours of service completed
2700
Employees contributed, exceeding goals
14
President's Volunteer Service Awards