Amplifying impact by using Zoom and Workvivo to align volunteers, colleagues, and students with one central mission

During World War I, a group of US citizens traveled to Europe to begin the American Ambulance Field Service, treating wounded soldiers as close as possible to the front lines. Today, American Field Service (AFS) is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, nonprofit organization providing intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills, and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. 

But with over 30,000 active volunteers, more than 800 paid staff across offices in 57 different countries, and around 10,000 students every single year, keeping everyone connected and aligned is no mean feat. And with the news that Workplace from Meta – the organization’s sole internal communication platform – was being discontinued, the AFS digital team needed to act fast. Keeping up with the rapid release of new technology and content from tech companies can feel overwhelming at the best of times, and that’s before you consider the additional pressures faced by many nonprofits. So, to help cut through the noise, we recently sat down with AFS’s Chief Digital Officer, Pedro Junqueira, to talk through the key platforms the organization uses today to amplify its internal and external impact.

AFS partners with Zoom for all of its voice and video communications across its global student community and 30,000-strong volunteer base. The organization uses Zoom to deliver live sessions as part of an in-depth onboarding process for new students, guiding them through a three-month virtual experience of preparation, cultural training, and psychological support. AFS also proactively connects students from different countries who are going on the same program via the Zoom platform, enabling the cultural learning experience to begin before they’ve even packed their bags. 

“We’ve been using Zoom for more than six years now,” Pedro told us. “The fact that it has a global reach covering all of the countries we work in is super important."

Some programs are 100% virtual, hosted on Zoom. They enable students who cannot travel to learn a new language and connect in real time with people around the world. With more than 10,000 students getting involved with one or more AFS programs every year, Zoom has become a vital lifeline.

When Pedro learned Workplace from Meta was being discontinued, he knew he had to prioritize a sense of continuity despite needing to migrate to a new platform. “Our whole migration approach was about staying very similar to what we had – keeping the same habits, just in a different place," he explained.

Pedro was also looking for a platform that all AFS employees could access, which was a significant limitation of their previous system. After reviewing and considering nine options, Workvivo emerged as the clear choice. It offered a unified space for AFS’s dynamic global team of staff and volunteers, while improving integration with Zoom and expanding global accessibility, all without losing continuity from their previous platform. A major perk and a real confidence boost was knowing that Workvivo is backed by Zoom, a platform that’s central to AFS’s day-to-day operations.

The move to Workvivo also provided Pedro and his team with an opportunity to remove outdated content and old pages from the extensive knowledge base, which is used every day by staff and volunteers around the world. “We had a lot of outdated content that had been created and then forgotten about. We’d lost control of it, and no one had time to go back and clean up. So the migration was a good opportunity to sit down and improve it.”

Many nonprofits are often time and resource-poor, so finding a solution that offers a smooth onboarding process is vital. The solution for AFS was to work closely with LineZero, a Workvivo migration and accredited nonprofit partner, and take advantage of the migration tool. That meant transferring over all previous posts, reactions, messages, and content from Workplace from Meta. “The migration tool was a godsend!” Pedro laughed. “Starting from scratch would have been an absolute pain.”  Everything was moved over within a couple of weeks, and AFS began introducing the platform to its people. 

Despite some initial concerns that platform engagement would drop when the transition from Workplace from Meta to Workvivo happened, Pedro and his team have been pleased to see engagement holding steady. In fact, throughout the phased launch, there was no drop in the number of daily posts or interaction levels. Feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with the digital team now progressing into more advanced analytics to increase its measurement capabilities and begin benchmarking more comprehensively.  

Zoom and Workvivo have been a winning combination for AFS, and Pedro recommends them for other nonprofits looking to simplify and unify external and internal communication. 

Workvivo is now used as the primary global internal chat and file-sharing platform for AFS’s team of 800+ staff, while Zoom takes the lead for virtual meetings with features like breakout rooms, LMS integration, and automated captions. At a logistical level, working with a migration partner like LineZero is a great way to ease the administrative burden and help ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible. “The team at LineZero are great. They were our points of contact for everything we needed, helped us work through any technical questions we had, and they were available whenever we needed them."

When time and resources are stretched, platform simplification and unification make all the difference. Particularly for large-scale nonprofits that are geographically fragmented, like AFS, a central platform that aligns everyone with one central mission is one of the best ways to amplify impact. 

The best part? The new Workvivo for Good program offers a 50% discount to all qualifying nonprofits and free implementation via an accredited nonprofit partner like LineZero. Small-sized nonprofit organizations can also get access to Zoom at 50% off on select products to further create community through the Zoom for Nonprofits program. 

Pedro’s advice to other nonprofits migrating to a new platform is to do the work ahead of launch, getting staff and volunteers engaged from the start. Communicate early and often, and consider a phased launch to move teams over. 

And remember… “Single sign-on is also very important,” he added. “People sign in with the same credentials that they did before – it worked really well for us.”

If you’re thinking about making a change and would like to learn more about Workvivo for Good, come and say hello to our team!