SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Transition Preparation Guidance for Branch Chairs

Updated on

This document contains guidance, and required actions, for Branch Chairs prior to the transition into NDP. As a Region transitions into NDP each branch will move on a set week - you will have been provided with this timetable approximately 2 months before the move.

Key Information

To prepare for a smooth and accurate migration process there are a few actions you will need to take during the 2 month preparation phase, these are detailed below. Throughout this preparation phase, and the migration process, you will be supported by your Regional Manager, Volunteer Development Manager and your Community Engagement Manager. The NDP Project Team are also available to support.

Preparation Actions

Volunteer Data Prep

The data for each volunteer will be migrated onto GoAssemble on migration day. It is essential to use the most up-to-date and accurate data possible to avoid any issues setting up each volunteer’s profile.

Your VDM will contact you during the 2-month preparation period before your branch migrates to review the data we currently hold. They will confirm with you that the volunteers listed are active in their roles. For any that are not, we will offboard them appropriately. Additionally, we need to identify if any active volunteers are missing from our list.

We also seek to identify all Branch Honorary Life Members during this period. Moving forward we will maintain a record of BHLMs to ensure that we accurately capture and celebrate the outstanding contributions of these volunteers; the relationship with these individuals will be maintained by the branch, as it is currently. 

Branch Contact Nomination

Hopefully, you will have seen the previous communication sent on June 19th relating to the Branch Connection link, which is live on GoAssemble, which allow caseworkers and visitors to stay connected to their branch post migration.

As Branch Chair you can select which of your volunteers is most appropriate to be allocated the Branch Contact permissions. Please review the guidance for Chairs and the guidance for Branch Contact Volunteers and consider who you would like allocated the Branch Contact ‘role’ for your branch. For this initial set up please send the name of your Branch Contact to [email protected], if you wish to change the Branch Contact in the future, your CEM will be able to support with that. A reminder email will be sent 2 weeks before migration.

Casework Preparation

A critical part of the transition process is the smooth handover of cases from the branch to the RO. Having a clean and well organised handover will minimise any potential impact on beneficiaries and caseworkers. Please share the guidance below with your Branch/Divisional Secretaries and Treasurers and support them with the necessary actions, as this will help them prepare for casework moving over to the Regional Office. 

Guidance for Secretaries

Guidance for Treasurers

NDP Briefings

We will hold face-to-face briefing sessions within your region, open to all volunteers. This will be an opportunity to share updates specific to the region and answer any questions from regional volunteers. The briefings will cover the same content that you previously received at your Chairs briefing session. Please encourage your volunteers to attend. Email invites will be sent directly prior to the sessions.

GoAssemble Training

Prior to transitioning please sign up for GoAssemble training to help familiarise yourself with the new system, information on how to sign up to the training is in the Signing up for GoAssemble Training guide.

You will need to also attend the GoAssemble for Managers training, run by the L&D team. This training will talk through additional functions you will need to use on GoAssemble in your executive role. It can be accessed once you have been set up on GoAssemble.

To sign up for this training please follow the steps below:

Log into your GoAssemble account and click on your Initials in the top right corner, the View Profile Details.

Click on the Training tab

This will bring up your required and optional training courses. Select the eLearn-GoAssemble for Managers course to book onto the course.

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