WaterAid: Bringing volunteer management and fundraising together to raise￡23k in donations

Introduction

WaterAid is dedicated to making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene a normal part of daily life – for everyone, everywhere. Volunteers play a crucial role in raising awareness and funds to support this mission.

Each year, around 700 volunteers join WaterAid’s volunteer programme at major festivals like Glastonbury and Shambala to deliver essential WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services.

Volunteers act as brand ambassadors, inspiring festival-goers to support WaterAid through campaigning, donations, and future volunteering.

With Rosterfy, WaterAid offers a seamless volunteer experience, making it easier to recruit, engage, and retain volunteers while ensuring they feel connected to the cause.

The Challenge

WaterAid offers a variety of volunteering roles at festivals and events, which can present a complex scheduling challenge. Rosterfy’s scheduling tools ensure that every event and activation is fully staffed with the right people in the right roles.

The Solution

While scheduling and communication were top priorities, WaterAid selected Rosterfy as their volunteer management software because of the platform’s unmatched capability to set up customisable user permissions.

Rosterfy gives WaterAid the ability to:

• Schedule volunteers with ease to ensure full coverage across all roles.
• Manage visibility and permissions for different volunteering opportunities.
• Customise communication to volunteers based on roles and specific needs.

Collecting volunteer deposits with the Rosterfy & Stripe integration

WaterAid streamlines deposit collection for volunteer opportunities at various events and festivals, leveraging the integration between Rosterfy and premier payment processing service, Stripe.

This integration allows WaterAid to:

• Request and collect deposits within Rosterfy.
• Attribute deposits to individual volunteers, ensuring seamless tracking.
• Offer volunteers the opportunity to donate all or part of their deposit back to WaterAid.

This frictionless process makes it easy for volunteers while saving valuable time for the WaterAid management team.

The impact is significant – over £20,000 was raised in 2024 through donated deposits and fees, which will help WaterAid reach more communities so they can change their lives for good.

The Impact

Engaged volunteers, stronger impact

WaterAid volunteers are more than just supporters – they are a dedicated community driving real change. At the UK’s biggest festivals, you’ll find them refilling water bottles, keeping toilets clean, and engaging with attendees to spread awareness of WaterAid’s mission.

By leveraging Rosterfy to foster a strong sense of community, WaterAid ensures long-term engagement:

• 96% of volunteers feel they ‘belong’ at WaterAid.
• 97% rate WaterAid’s communication as good or better, with the right level of frequency.
• 60% of volunteers have volunteered for WaterAid before.
• WaterAid’s fundraising has helped millions of people have access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

Using technology to tell WaterAid’s story

The WaterAid team knows that people connect with stories. That’s why they use Rosterfy’s features – news updates, banners, and training modules – to communicate their impact effectively.

From the moment a volunteer signs up, WaterAid integrates messaging about their mission, reinforcing the importance of their role and the difference they help make.

By using Rosterfy to streamline operations, WaterAid continues to maximise volunteer engagement, increase fundraising, and ultimately, bring clean water to more communities around the world.