Grcs Launches Digital System to Professionalise Volunteer, Membership Management

The Gambia Red Cross Society has launched its new Volunteer and Membership Management System to end paper registers and bring order, speed and accountability to how it manages thousands of volunteers nationwide.

The launch held Monday at GRCS Headquarters in Kanifing marks the start of a full digital shift for the Society’s largest asset: its volunteers.

Ebou Faye-Njie*, Secretary General of GRCS, said managing a nationwide volunteer network with different registers had become unsustainable.

“Paper records made it hard to know who our volunteers are, what skills they have, and how to deploy them fast,” Faye-Njie said. “That delay costs lives in emergencies.”

The VMMS centralises everything from digital registration, membership management, volunteer profiling, branch assignment, validation, deployment, and direct communication.

“This system gives us one source of truth,” he said. “We can now identify, confirm, and mobilize volunteers in minutes, not days.”

Faye-Njie stressed this is not just about technology. “Digital transformation means better processes, stronger accountability, less duplication, and information in the hands of people who need it.”

Fabakary Kalleh, President of GRCS, said the launch is about governance and respect for volunteers.

“For 60 years, volunteers have carried this Society through emergencies, disasters, health campaigns and community support,” Kalleh said. “The VMMS ensures they are properly registered, validated, trained and supported.”

He said the system will strengthen planning and decision-making by giving leadership real data on capacity, skills and deployment across all branches.

“This is about accountability. When we know our people, we can coordinate better and serve communities better,” he added.

Kalleh called on management, staff, branches and volunteers to own the system: “Keep data accurate. Use it responsibly. Make it work for our volunteers.”

Officials said VMMS is the first major step in GRCS’s wider digital transformation agenda. The goal is a more efficient, coordinated and responsive Society that can act faster and serve better.

The message is direct: GRCS is moving from manual to modern. From guesswork to data. From delays to deployment.