Creating Connections: How Portals Help Nonprofits Engage Clients and Volunteers

You’ve launched your nonprofit. The paperwork is filed, goals are set, and your first event is on the horizon. But now what?

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Many legal aid groups hit a common wall at this stage. They have a service to offer and people ready to help, but no easy, efficient way to connect them. Volunteers miss opportunities. Clients stay in the dark. Staff get overwhelmed managing it all manually. 

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This is where portals come in for the win.

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Portals are websites or web pages that provide access or links to other sites. Portals collect useful data about who and how the technology is used, which can be used to help legal aid funders and policymakers make better decisions about where to spend money to improve services. Depending on who will use the portal, legal aid groups can choose what information to share. For example, they might use the portal to update clients about their cases or provide self-help resources about the law. They might also use the portal to tell volunteers about upcoming events, new training, or ways to help. 

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When legal aid programs use portals for clients, they make it easier for people to understand and work on their legal problems. Portals act like a central hub where everything can be found in one spot, they are easy to use, and help people work together with program staff, volunteers, and court workers.

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A good client portal guides people to important legal information and find updates about their case(s) quickly. It also gives them safe places to store important information and case documents. Portals give clients more control over their legal issues which boosts their confidence and helps them feel involved. 

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For example, Civil Justice is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding legal services for low and moderate-income Marylanders facing life-altering legal issues, using innovative solutions (like portals) to create positive changes. 

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With the help of A2J Tech, Civil Justice launched a client-facing portal for its Maryland Justice Passport project. Justice Passports are digital folders that hold applicants’ case information and documents to help them stay organized and on track. To get started, people experiencing legal problems in Maryland complete the brief intake form to request free legal help. 

After completing the digital intake form, applicants receive a Justice Passport and custom to-do list, so they know what steps to take next. Each Justice Passport includes case information and copies of case-related paperwork to help people organize and securely store their data and documents. Portal users can give full or limited access to legal aid staff who then review the information shared with them to help them know who they are helping and what that person needs.

Portals are also powerful tools for supporting volunteers. Legal aid groups like the Austin Bar Foundation’s Veterans’ Legal Assistance Program (“VLAP”) rely heavily on volunteers to run successful events. VLAP uses a dedicated portal to stay connected with its volunteers, share updates, communicate needs, and provide resources. Through the portal, volunteers can view and sign up for upcoming events, accept cases, and track their hours for state bar reporting, all in one place. 

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VLAP’s Volunteer Portal sends automatic emails to inform volunteers about new events they might want to join and reminders about events they signed up for. The messages include a link to the volunteer portal that the user can click to go straight to the event sign-up page, which saves time and keeps everyone organized.

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Automated tasks like these help program staff save time to work on more important legal work, which saves the program money and allows them to serve more people.

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This portal also features dedicated pages that promote pro bono events and opportunities to help the user’s community. Volunteer attorneys can search through applications and filter them based on skill, availability, whether they want to help in-person or online, and by the kind of help needed (ex: brief advice, limited-scope representation, or extended services). These features help volunteers find the right match and make it more likely that they will continue helping in the future.

In short, portals help people connect. They connect applicants to helpful resources. They connect volunteers to people in need. And they help legal aid staff manage their programs more smoothly. Although portals will not solve the justice gap alone, they are a powerful tool that can be used to guide people to helpful legal resources and services and can make a big difference in access to justice.