A conversation with Christchurch Cathedral on Transforming Volunteer and Community Management
Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, also known as the Cardboard Cathedral, is an architectural landmark and a thriving community hub. We spoke with Susan, the Cathedral’s Volunteer Manager, about their challenges before infoodle, how they implemented the system, and the impact it has had.
Can you tell us a bit about Christchurch Cathedral?
Christchurch Cathedral was severely damaged in the 2011 earthquake, rendering it unusable. The Transitional (Cardboard) Cathedral, designed by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect who specialises in post-diaster designs, was opened in 2013. This building is very different from any conventional cathedral building and has a wonderful backstory. It attracts thousands of tourists each year who are drawn to it for a host of reasons.
The Cathedral has a shop which provides an important revenue stream, helping cover operational costs. They also offer pre-booked guided tours through tour operators and private groups. A team of over 50 volunteers work shifts, engaging with visitors and working in the shop.
In addition to catering for their visitors, the Cathedral has a vibrant worshipping community, with 70-80 volunteers assisting in a variety of liturgical roles.
What challenges were you facing before infoodle?
Susan’s predecessor first set up infoodle, and had only been in the role for six months at that time. Prior to infoodle, volunteer management had been organised through spreadsheets and Word documents. Information was not centralised, and volunteer information was limited to an email distribution list.
In addition to the limitations with volunteer management, there had not been an accurate or up-to-date database of regular or transient Cathedral service attendees. It had been a source of frustration to the clergy not to have ready access to people’s information for pastoral care, for example.
While there had been workarounds to overcome some limitations, it was taking an unnecessarily long time to achieve the desired outcome. The biggest issues facing staff were; out of date information, battles to find what was needed, and a lack of visibility on pastoral care updates, notes, and more.
How has infoodle helped?
Susan’s predecessor did a stellar job of getting all the volunteer’s information into infoodle. While Susan didn’t experience the issues that preceded infoodle first hand, she can definitely see how it has benefitted their community.
Using infoodle, they now maintain accurate volunteer information, are able to create and send monthly newsletters as well as other bulk emails; with elegant layouts using the email designer, and explore other areas in the Cathedral where it can be used to help. With upcoming plans to focus on the pastoral care of their service attendees, infoodle will enable them to centralise and update their pastoral care statuses as needed, avoid duplication of activities, and alleviate the frustration of not having access to information and wasting precious time looking for it.
What has been the impact so far?
Christchurch Cathedral’s infoodle journey is still a work in progress. However, the benefits are undeniable. Not least, the monthly newsletter has made an enormous difference with people feeling connected.
The next step is to get the clergy using it as well, which will make a big difference to how they manage people in their community and save time in the process.
How would you sum up the difference infoodle has made?
“Life before infoodle wasn’t bad, it was just rather haphazard and less organised. Life with infoodle allows us to be organised, proactive, and efficient and deliver better ‘service’ to the people in our community. It means fewer people falling through the cracks in the system and better care for all.”
