Case Study: Streamlining Volunteering across a Parish and School

At Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, volunteers are an important part of both the parish and school community.

The parish already uses Ministry Scheduler Pro to coordinate liturgical ministries. But beyond the Mass schedule, volunteers serve in many other areas—and the church wanted a simple, straightforward way to bring those opportunities together.

James Pike, Director of Parish Life, shared how Our Lady of Peace got started with Unison, and what excites them most as they roll it out to their community.

Ready for a simpler signup experience

Our Lady of Peace used SignUpGenius for years, particularly for school volunteer opportunities, but the parish sought a more modern approach: simple for volunteers, intuitive for staff, and better equipped to connect the community to their mission.

When Our Lady of Peace found Unison, it checked several of the boxes they wanted: a clean, intuitive experience and expanded opportunities to communicate with volunteers.

“One of the pain points with SignUpGenius was that we were looking to text people reminders. Aesthetics are important too, and I like how clean Unison is. It’s very easy to use.”

That simplicity is especially valuable in a busy parish and school, where volunteer coordination reaches far beyond one person or department. Multiple leaders can manage opportunities in Unison, giving the people closest to each program the ability to organize their own volunteers.

Our Lady of Peace first used Unison to organize its annual Parish Picnic celebrating its Feast Day.

The celebration brings the community together for food and fellowship, with volunteers pitching in and parishioners contributing dishes to share. The parish used Unison to organize both the people helping with the event and the potluck that brings everyone around the table.

Because volunteers and parishioners alike found it so easy to use, the parish quickly began adopting Unison to organize more events:

• Summer Nights brings together volunteers to set up, greet guests, serve, and clean up
• Alpha relies on a team to prepare, pray, welcome, and serve
• First Friday Eucharistic Adoration gives parishioners an ongoing way to commit to an hour of prayer. 
• Music Ministry has even used Unison to organize gatherings.

In a matter of weeks, Our Lady of Peace expanded Unison from a single event and into more parish volunteer needs. 

One volunteer hub for parish and school

With a new school year beginning, Our Lady of Peace saw even more potential for Unison.

The parish’s vibrant Catholic school relies on volunteers throughout the year. The beginning of a new school year brings a new wave of opportunities for families to participate. Now, those opportunities live alongside the parish signups in Unison.

Together, that includes everything from:

• School volunteer programs like guest readers, teacher appreciation, and Catholic Schools Week
• Parish ministries and events like Alpha, Adoration, and music ministry

Community traditions like the annual Parish Picnic, Christmas Market, and fall Pumpkin Patch, one of the parish's largest volunteer efforts

For churches already using MSP, Our Lady of Peace offers a model for how the two tools can work side by side. MSP coordinates the specialized scheduling of liturgical ministries, while Unison supports every other volunteer opportunity in the parish community.

Two Directory Pages, one connected community

Our Lady of Peace needed more than a system to organize opportunities. They also needed to make it easy for volunteers to browse and sign up to serve at events and programs.

That's why James is especially excited about Unison's Directory Pages.

Our Lady of Peace created a dedicated Directory Page for both the parish and the school. Each gives people a single place to see relevant opportunities, while both directories remain connected within the same Unison account.

“I appreciate having unique links we can share in our newsletters, so people have one place to see the opportunities available to them.”

For a parish with a Catholic school, that opens up possibilities beyond simpler signups. Families and parishioners may come across opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have known about, making it easier to get involved.

A school family might discover a parish event they'd like to join. A parishioner might see an opportunity to lend a hand at the school. Directory Pages in Unison keeps those opportunities visible throughout the year, making it easier for the whole community to find ways to participate

Using data to understand and share volunteer engagement

James also appreciated the reporting tools in Unison. By reviewing engagement metrics, Our Lady of Peace gets a tangible sense of how many members of their community step forward and contribute their time and talent. 

“We want to be able to see how many people are getting involved, where they're serving, and share that participation with our community.”

With Unison’s reporting tools and dashboard, Our Lady of Peace can gain greater visibility into engagement across the parish and school—and celebrate the many people giving their time throughout the year.

Building momentum with Unison

Our Lady of Peace quickly found a wide range of uses for Unison, with even more expansion planned.  

For other busy churches with parochial schools, Our Lady of Peace offers a practical example of how volunteer coordination can come together across one community. MSP continues to coordinate liturgical ministries, while Unison organizes all of the other opportunities to serve.

With Unison, Our Lady of Peace created momentum for their service opportunities, helping more people find their place in a community with countless meaningful ways to participate and make a difference.