Austin, TX - Sept. 20, 2013 - When the Akins High School Band was approached by the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix with the largest fundraising partnership possibility in their band's history, they jumped right in. Then, as the partnership grew, they discovered just how difficult coordinating hundreds of volunteers could be. That's when SignUpGenius, the leading online sign up site for coordinating events and volunteers, stepped in to help.

Initially, the Grand Prix was looking to find hundreds of workers to man concession booths. Tate Fincher, Director of Bands at Akins High School, immediately recognized the great opportunity for fundraising. The concept was simple - band parents would work concessions stand shifts, and the money earned would go toward the band activities for the year.

While the concept was simple, managing the volunteer schedule became overwhelming as the opportunity mushroomed into additional work. Beyond the annual Grand Prix volunteering, the Band Boosters started receiving offers for shifts for sporting events, concerts and other special events. After two months of using spreadsheets and emails to coordinate, Fincher searched online for a better scheduling tool and came across SignUpGenius. Fincher found he preferred the tool to others for its "user-friendly" system and "variety of options in creating sign ups."

Band mom Elisa Delph-Barnes, who serves on the Band Booster Board, says, "I offered my assistance and Mr. Fincher showed me how [SignUpGenius] worked. I slowly began to take over organizing volunteers. The site has eliminated the numerous emails that used to drive us all crazy. With this system, there is no confusion and it gets right to the point," she says.

Now the group has divided up responsibilities across four qualified administrators. Delph-Barnes is impressed by just how much they are able to plan with SignUpGenius. "We use SignUpGenius to coordinate volunteers for all of our fundraising opportunities," she says. "We have also used it to sign up for desserts after a performance, TABC certification classes... really, anything where we need a large number of people to help."

SignUpGenius has made it simple for parents to get involved in the fundraising efforts by allowing Akins High School Band parents to easily view new opportunities as they come in. The Band Boosters have posted a web button on their site that takes parents directly to a list of all active sign up opportunities. In fact, the system has been instrumental in helping the group raise $70,000 in just nine months. The fact that the basic sign up tool is free and accessible to all schools, nonprofits and sports leagues means the Akins High School Band is not the only organization playing songs of praise for this online tool.

About SignUpGenius:
SignUpGenius simplifies the process of coordinating events and people by providing online sign ups for non-profits, schools, sports, churches, families, colleges, businesses, and organizations. By enabling 3.5 million unique visitors per month to sign up for tasks online, SignUpGenius has done away with the need for paper sign ups, "reply to all" emails, and phone trees.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SignUpGenius
Twitter: @SignUpGenius

Posted on Sep 20, 2013 by Kate White