At vHelp, we regularly receive queries from organisations looking to streamline how they reimburse volunteer expenses. We love hearing from you because it shows a clear commitment to supporting volunteers by ensuring they are paid back quickly and efficiently.
If you would like to see vHelp in action, get in touch and we can share a recorded demo with you or schedule a 30 minute session. We understand that larger charities often have a longer decision-making process involving multiple stakeholders. We want you to feel completely comfortable exploring the platform at your own pace, so please know there is never any pressure from our side.
If you are a charity ready to start using vHelp for your volunteer expense management, here are three simple steps to get you started.
1. Register Your Organisation With vHelp
What do you need? Your organisation’s payment card
The person registering your organisation with vHelp will need access to the organisation’s payment card. We refer to this person as the Main Admin. You can use a debit, credit, or even a pre-paid card. This card allows vHelp to process and reimburse your volunteers’ expenses. If you have the card ready, the registration process usually takes 5-10 minutes.
Questions we get asked:
Q. Do you charge vHelp’s fees to this card?
No, we do not. We only use this card to charge your organisation for the total value of approved expenses at the end of each day. For example, if you approve five expenses at £10 each, we will charge the card £50 at the end of that day and distribute the funds to the relevant volunteers.
For vHelp’s fees, we send an invoice at the end of the month and expect payment via bank transfer.
Q. Is there a set-up fee?
No, there is no set-up fee. vHelp is a Software as a Service platform, meaning it is easily available on the web for organisations to sign up and start using immediately. Because of this, we don't need to charge for setup.
2. Invite Your Volunteer Managers
Once the Main Admin registers your organisation, they can easily send email invites to colleagues like volunteer managers and finance admins.
Volunteer managers can review and approve volunteer expenses. Finance admins can access and download expense reporting, set up cost code and mileage values.
If you are a large organisation using vHelp Teams, you can also set up distinct teams within your account and assign specific volunteer managers to each one.
3. Invite your volunteers to Claim Expenses
Once your organisation is registered and your volunteer managers are set up, you can start inviting your volunteers to join vHelp. Volunteer registration only takes a few minutes, and they can make an expense claim immediately.
There are several ways to invite your volunteers to register:
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Individual Invites: Invite volunteers one by one using their email addresses.
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Mass Invites: Send a registration link via email to your entire volunteer group at once.
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Organisation Code: Share your unique organisation code with volunteers and ask them to register at vHelp.co.uk. This code ensures the volunteer is linked correctly to your organisation.
For larger organisations using vHelp Teams, you can invite volunteers directly to the specific teams you created and move them between teams as needed.
We also provide an information leaflet you can share with your volunteers. This informs them about the collaboration with vHelp and provides simple instructions on how to claim their expenses.
Whether you are a small team or a large organisation with thousands of volunteers, these are the only steps you need to get started.