Five Easy Ways for Your Group to Save Paper and Move to the Digital Age!

Most groups are run using the most rudimentary of tools (like paper, postage, envelopes) While there’s something satisfyingly real about using physical pieces of paper, it not only is bad for the environment, but also makes it difficult for the organizer to get things done efficiently.

When using paper, it becomes the only, generally inaccessible, copy instantly creating a bottleneck for whoever currently owns it. Managing changes to the document also is painful as every change must go through the current owner of the paper. Putting the paper into a word processing document or a spreadsheet doesn’t solve the whole problem. While you can distribute copies of it through emails, it doesn’t solve the “latest copy” issue. Whoever owns the latest copy still owns the management and communication of the information.

The Internet can help make this process so much easier. We include 5 things that any group organizer should use to make their life easier.

The contact list- As a group organizer you need an updated list of the members of your group with all of the information that you need when you need it. Some groups need cellphone numbers, some teams need preferred positions, others want to know what skills their group members possess and some groups like playgroups need to know who has what life-threatening allergy. When you put it up electronically, everyone knows it’s the most up-to-date version of the list. Also, it can be self-updating by having the members own the information.

The event calendar- Publishing an event calendar via a paper newsletter or sending it around by email has its problems. They become out of date as soon as they are sent. Updates and changes to the event have to all be followed up with separate communications and soon, you don’t know what version is the latest. By publishing a calendar and its information you can always be sure that everyone has the latest with all of the most recent changes reflected.

The sign up sheet – Putting up an electronic sign up sheet has the obvious advantage of eliminating the crumpled piece of paper passed around at the meeting. It enables everybody to instantly see what the latest even those people who missed the meeting to sign up. What’s less obvious are the advantages like, being able to easily add to the list at any time and allowing everybody to see what others have signed up for.

Invitations and RSVP’s – Some groups rely on paper invitations and RSVP’s to let people know of an event and how many will attend. Using paper wastes a significant amount of paper and postage. Paper invitations and RSVP’s have to be prepared and completed all up front as there is little opportunity for communicating changes after everything is sent out. In addition, paper invitations usually take more effort. With physical invitations you often find yourself desiring a little bit better graphic design than an electronic invitation. In addition, you must spend time either in front of the printer or at the neighborhood Kinko’s printing the invitations and mailing labels. There’s also the time stuffing envelopes and going to the post office to mail them out. In addition, you have to also worry about any mistakes that may have been made.

The newsletter – Paper newsletters will likely increase the chances that they’ll be read but not necessarily by a lot. Electronic newsletters are much cheaper to construct and to distribute and can include interactive content as well.

While it’s hard for many to wean themselves from paper, using digital tools like Qlubb can solve these types of problems with ease. As the general population continues to become familiar with Internet technologies, in fact even preferring them, many are finding that moving from physical tools not only a nice thing to do for the environment, but also a necessity for efficiency.