Historically, around 25% of our events have been virtual, and the attention of our product, design and engineering team has been split between our in-person and virtual capabilities. 

Last week, virtual shifts accounted for over 90% of total volume.

This rapid shift in volunteer behavior has meant that, just as our partners are shifting their programs to focus on virtual organizing, we’ve needed to adjust our product investments to focus more on our virtual event tools.

What we’ve already observed

Many of the updates we’ve made to the volunteer experience recently continue to increase signups for virtual events. Event suggestions and new social recruitment features accounted for ~10% and ~14% of shifts on March 22, respectively, when 92% of the signups were virtual..

Additionally, volunteers continue to show an appetite for organizing events and taking action within their local community, despite the restrictions on meeting in person. We’re seeing traditionally neighborhood-based house parties, meetings, and community events all moving online. Organizations are using Mobilize to keep their in-person volunteer networks connected and engaged.

How has our roadmap changed?

Virtual organizing will be a major part of our roadmap considerations for the foreseeable future.

We have already made a number of changes to the Mobilize product, listed below. These immediate changes have been focused on increasing the visibility of virtual events, making clear to supporters that the actions can be taken from anywhere, and highlighting important virtual event details like videoconference links. We’ve also made several improvements to the workflow for creating and managing virtual events for both organizers and volunteer hosts.

Longer-term, you can expect to see us continuing to invest in:

• Helping people recruit their friends through social tools optimized for the virtual experience
• Communication tools to help organizers and supporters connect more effectively online
• Further integration and API capabilities to support remote tools
• Additional event creation updates to better support virtual-first advocacy and organizing

For a running list of recent updates, visit our helpdesk.