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Volunteer network app 'Waves and Woods' proposed to centralize sign-ups, rewards and hours across North Coast
Summary
A local volunteer organizer presented Waves and Woods, an app and rewards program to track volunteer hours, centralize sign-ups and offer digital badges, weekly/monthly drawings and business-donated rewards to boost volunteerism countywide.
Christie Waits, a Seaside resident and volunteer organizer, presented a pilot digital platform she developed — Waves and Woods Volunteer Network — to the council as a tool to increase volunteer recruitment, tracking and recognition across Clatsop County.
Waits said volunteerism is declining nationwide and locally and that the app’s goals are to centralize sign-ups, standardize hour tracking and diversify volunteer rewards, from digital badges to weekly and monthly gift-certificate drawings provided by participating businesses. “You give time and you get rewards,” she said, describing the system’s levels and badge mechanics.
The app collects a short volunteer profile, allows users to log hours, and aggregates opportunities from multiple organizations so residents can search by location, activity type and skills. Waits said the platform can produce verified volunteer-hour reports that small nonprofits could use when applying for grants. She demonstrated screenshots that included a dashboard showing hours, organizations, and levels, and an opportunities feed populated with local groups’ public listings.
Waits asked the council for support to publicize the app, for organizations to post opportunities into the system, and for local businesses to consider donating small weekly or monthly rewards (gift cards) to motivate participation. She said the app currently accepts volunteers and would later add features such as signatures for hour verification and aggregate reports for nonprofit grant applications.
Why it matters: Many local nonprofits report volunteer shortages. A central sign-up and tracking tool could lower friction for residents to discover opportunities and for nonprofits to document volunteer time in grant applications.
Next steps: Waits will continue onboarding partner organizations and businesses; councilors encouraged the project and suggested coordination with existing volunteer-recognition proclamations and programs.
