Instant success

When Virginia's furnace burned out last winter she didn't know what to do.

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She did her best to keep warm by shutting all the doors and sleeping in a chair in front of her cook stove. Outside it was 26 degrees below zero.

Within a few hours, Mike Koecheler, director of Crow Wing County's RSVP program, got a call about Virginia's furnace. Mike contacted his 1,067 RSVP volunteers with a request for help. Within eight minutes, Koecheler had a volunteer. He messaged back and said he was on his way to meet Virginia. An hour later Virginia, who is in her 70s, had heat again.

Mike Koecheler, director of Crow Wing County's RSVP program, recently placed a phone call from his office. New technology now allows RSVP to contact all of its volunteers with a single phone call.

The real story is not as much about Virginia's furnace as it is about how Koecheler managed to contact more than a thousand volunteers in a matter of minutes.

Last fall, Koecheler received a request from the Crosby Eye Center for a driver to return an elderly patient to their home. So Koecheler did what he spent most days doing - he scrambled to find a volunteer. With a list of nearly 1,200 potential drivers, Koecheler had his work cut out for him. Unless he could somehow reach all of his volunteers at one time. That's when it clicked.

There had to be a way to contact everyone at one time. Koecheler was right. And he found a way.

On Nov. 1, RSVP launched its "voiceblast program" called Legacy. New technology, powered by GroupCast, allows RSVP to contact all of the volunteers with a single phone call. The system is similar to the technology used by schools to communicate urgent information to parents.

GroupCast, based in St. Louis, specializes in mass communication solutions for the education, government and health care agencies.

"The Crow Wing County RSVP program's use of our system is a perfect example of how effective our technology is at allowing organizations to do more with less," said Paul Langhorst, chief marketing officer for GroupCast. "Our system enables one person to do the work of many in just minutes."

Koecheler said it takes only a few minutes to create an outgoing GroupCast and Legacy volunteers respond within seconds. For each outgoing request, Koecheler receives about 40-45 yes responses. "It's nearly instantaneous," Koecheler said. Once a need has been met, volunteers are contacted with an update through GroupCast.

RSVP's mission for the last decade has been to mobilize volunteers with opportunities to serve the community within Crow Wing County.

"Our goal is to provide people who want to volunteer an opportunity to serve without feeling like they have to make a lifetime commitment," Koecheler said. "Our service opportunities allow people to make a real difference by stepping into a person's life for just a few moments and then step out again."

Brainerd resident Tom Bickford, 57, has volunteered with the Legacy program since it was launched last fall. "It's outstanding the way it works," Bickford said. "You receive the call and respond right away. You know within a few minutes whether or not you get to do the job."

Bickford recently received a call asking for a volunteer to drive an elderly patient to the hospital in St. Cloud. "We have a huge number of volunteers and everyone is ready and willing to help," Bickford said. "We're just trying to do what we can for those who can't always do it for themselves." Bickford also volunteers with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, the American Red Cross and Minnesota Teen Challenge.

RSVP is funded in part by Crow Wing County's Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to county funding, RSVP relies on grant funding and private donations. Koecheler says he often finds that "people want to give, but they have a hard time giving to an agency that leaves them wondering how much of their dollar actually makes it to the person in need." For RSVP, donations are "a matter of matching the right person with the right need." In 2009, RSVP volunteers provided $2.4 million in service to Crow Wing County residents.

The first six months have proven positive for RSVP's Legacy program, Koecheler said. "Our data shows we are giving the right opportunities and gaining volunteers."

RSVP currently has more than 1,000 active volunteers and has the largest percentage of senior volunteers in the state. The Legacy program partners with more than 80 area nonprofits and requires volunteers to serve with another organization while they volunteer with RSVP. "We don't want to compete with area nonprofits - we want to help them. GroupCast allows us to do just that," Koecheler said. " It allows us to be part of the solution."

SARAH NELSON may be reached at sarah.nelson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5879.