When bringing a new employee on board, NationBuilder training is a key investment that is sure to pay off. That being said, we know you may not be able to offer a 1-day training session for each new member who joins your team.  

That’s why we’ve compiled a handful of our resources to help make onboarding your new control panel user a smooth (and dare we say exciting!) process for times when our formal training is not an option. 

Before their first day 
Think about your new teammate’s current knowledge of NationBuilder (if any) and which areas of the product will be most important for them to learn. Ask yourself:  

• Which elements of NationBuilder will this person be responsible for? Will they be sending emails, managing the content of your website, creating or updating people records, etc.?
• Are there recurring meetings they will need to attend? Are there any other people within or outside of your organization that they should meet to complete their NationBuilder tasks? 
• Do you have any NationBuilder reference documents of your own? For example, you might consider creating a tag library or a document outlining standard operating procedures for each section of the platform. 

Once you have an understanding of what they need to know, you can provide them with information that aligns with their learning objectives. 

And finally, before their first day, add them as a control panel user and create or assign their permission set. 

As they’re getting started 
When your new hire starts, clearly communicate how your organization uses NationBuilder and how they will be expected to use the platform as a part of their role and daily tasks. Be as specific as possible when telling them why it is important, so that later they can seek out the information they need. 

No matter what role your new hire is stepping into, encourage them to take the following steps for additional guidance at the start of their NationBuilder journey:  

• Complete our Intro to NationBuilder Course. This free online course has been designed to teach new users the basics of how to use the software in less than an hour.  
• Attend a NationBuilder Live session. These are weekly virtual events that provide an overview of NationBuilder’s features with an opportunity to ask a NationBuilder team member questions live. Be sure to note the time zone since there are a few options!  
• Review our Knowledge Base. Our full support documentation is helpful as new hires get familiar with their role. We recommend using the search functionality with specific keywords, and beginning with the following guides: 
  • Intro to NationBuilder 
  • Learn your Role 
• Watch a Recorded Webinar. Recorded webinars can be a wonderful way to dive deeper into the specific areas of NationBuilder functionality. While they are a greater time commitment (most run between 30 minutes and 1 hour) we think the following strategic webinars will help new hires understand these product areas in greater detail: 

  • Email communications: Email strategy 101 

  • Recruiter links: Recruiter tools and campaigns: Acquire new supporters at no cost

  • Social capital: Grow your supporter engagement with gamification

  • Email automation workflows: Scale your impact: Email automation strategies

Practice, practice, practice
While understanding key concepts is a great place to begin, we’re big believers in how experiential learning can help us reflect on what we have learned. Once you feel your new teammate has a grasp of the basics, consider providing them with some practice tasks to give them a chance to put their knowledge to the test.

Try to think of tasks that they’ll need to complete as part of their role, and make your practice actions as close to those future assignments as possible. If you’re looking for inspiration, here are a few ideas: 

• Find or create your own personal profile and update it with your email address, phone number, and physical address
• Add a tag to your profile 
• Edit the NationBuilder notifications you would like to receive 
• Create and then save a filter of supporters who:
  • Are emailable
  • Have a primary address near your organization’s city 
  • Are volunteers
• Create a new (unpublished!) event page in the website section 
• Draft a new email blast:
  • Upload an image and add it to the content of the email
  • Add a smart field
  • Add a button with a clear call-to-action
  • Use the filter you saved earlier for your targeted recipients
• Mark yourself as a fundraiser in the nation with a goal of raising $25,000

Ongoing support for continued growth 
Their training doesn’t have to end with onboarding. Learning is threaded throughout the fabric of NationBuilder, from our value that “We’d rather be better than right” to how we deliver customer education. 

Be sure to keep an eye out for ongoing learning opportunities and invite your new team member to participate, like asking them to:  

• Contact our Support Team. Our team is available online and via phone during the week, and can be helpful if you're running into something that seems like a bug or quick technical fix. 
• Attend an Upcoming Webinar. Our strategic webinars cover topics like best practices, new functionality, and customer success stories. 
• Add on further Advanced Training. If the above resources aren’t enough and you think you’re looking for custom training tailored to your needs, we do offer the opportunity to add additional training to your current contract. Trainings can be 1 day, 2 day, or a timeframe of your choosing. These can be designed to cover a specific area such as Insights or Theme editing, or can be a repeat session for those who may be new to the organization. If you’d like to learn more about this, reach out to your Enterprise Account Manager or our Support Team. 

We hope the above helps streamline your new hire process and gets your new team member excited for all that’s possible with NationBuilder!