Community members – what are you asking for?
In late 2021, we asked you to give feedback on your experience as part of the community. In the 2020 survey, we learned that we had a lot of new members join us that very year, and that you were all keen to work with us more.
Let’s see what changes we’ve made, and where there’s still room for improvement. We’re using your feedback to shape our plans for this year and beyond, because we want to make our community work well for you. So tell us, what is your number one priority for 2022?
The results
Here are our key takeaways from our 2021 community survey:
You can also visualize the dashboard here.
We shall keep on listening, learning, and working together as a community – because, managing, building, and engaging with this community is a never-ending process that we hope to keep improving. Thank you for your continued support and feedback.
Our survey highlights are below, and you can also watch this 3-minute video summary:
You are asking for more content to translate.
This is something we have heard consistently across the years and we are still looking for strategies to satisfy this popular request. In 2021, we created more chances for speakers of many languages to interact and engage with each other in our initiatives. We know that this isn’t enough, so we’ll keep working on it. If you know of an NGO that could benefit from our community’s language services, ask them to fill in our form. We’re committed to ensuring that all language communities have dedicated materials to translate.
“More tasks in my language pair would go a long way in helping me gain experience and upskill.”
Female, 18-24, from Cameroon
You kept volunteering through the COVID-19 pandemic
Most of you feel that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t changed the way you volunteer with TWB. Some of you have more free time or are more motivated to volunteer. And for some, volunteering has become complicated because of lifestyle changes.
“My husband lost his job and I had to engage myself in earning more which made me more exhausted. Struggling for a decent survival of my own family that has kids, I somehow lost the time, commitment, and tenacity to help others for free.“
Female, 35-44, from India
No contribution is too small or too big for us and for people in need. Ten percent of community members volunteer every week. Others volunteer once or twice per year (14% and 12%, respectively). It’s important that you feel you can contribute as much as your schedule allows, and that there are no expectations in terms of how much or how often you volunteer with us.
You are staying with the organization longer. Thank you.
Retention rates are up. In 2020, most of our respondents (62%) had been volunteering for less than a year. In 2021, just 47% of you had been with us less than a year. We have more “veterans” who have been volunteering for more than 5 years (6% of respondents), as well as many people who have already been in the community for 1-2 years (24%). Whether you joined the organization just yesterday, or you have been with TWB for years now – thank you for your support. Your knowledge and skills are and always will be appreciated.
“I am happy to be a TWB translator. I do not regret for a single time that I chose to be one of your volunteers. Let’s keep that good work we are doing.“
Male, 25-34, from Haiti
You are eager to learn more.
Two-thirds of respondents indicated that you have a regular day job. We truly appreciate your desire to include TWB in your busy schedule. At the same time, we also get a lot of requests for more training and resources.
“I am very happy as it is. I would like more courses to improve the level of the translators and the tools. I really enjoy when we have a gathering in which we analyse some topic!!“
Female, 55+, from Uruguay
We already have plans to share new and exciting training and webinars in 2022. Seventy-one percent of respondents have used our resources already. Thanks to your feedback, we are expanding our training offers for the new year – stay tuned for more information.
Overall, you are happy with your TWB experience.
Eighty-five percent of community members reported that you were “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with your TWB experience. Your main motivations for continued support are the satisfaction of helping people in need, and the ambition to gain professional experience and enrich your profiles.
“TWB offers a wonderful platform for freelance translators to build up themselves.“
Male, 35-44, from Kenya
It’s a pleasure to hear from you, and to work with you to help people get information and be heard, whatever language they speak.
Thank you for being part of this amazing journey with us.
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Written by Ambra Sottile, Senior Community Officer