Care Friends
Caring People know Caring People
For the Out of Home Care Sector
How it works
A better way to drive referrals and recognise carers.
The Care Friends portal makes it easy for coordinators to manage carer referrals and celebrate them for the incredible work they do.
Through the app, carers are empowered to talk to their networks about being a carer, helping you reach the right people through voices that matter most.
Why Care Friends?
There’s a growing and urgent need for more foster carers, and the best way to find them is through the people who already understand what it takes.
Research shows that word of mouth is the most effective and trusted source of new foster carers.
So why not make it easy and rewarding for your carers and supporters to become ambassadors?
Why carer referral via Care Friends works!
The portal
The portal manages everything referral and recognition related.
The app
The app is co-designed with clients and users for simplicity and fun.
Notifications
Once a notice is made available, relevant carers are notified.
Share notices
Easily share notices via the phone's native share function; SMS, WhatsApp, Social Media, email and more!
Rewards and fun
Care Friends uses reward psychology and gamification to make referring fun and keep referrals coming.
Stay informed
The referring carer can optionally get referral updates, often leading to an informal buddy system.
Redeem rewards
Rewards can be redeemed for gift cards, cash, certificates, donations, experiences or something else entirely. It's up to your agency!
Insights
Track the number of shares, views, and referrals, along with rewards, app sign-ups, and more!
Testimonials
Recognise and Reward your carers
Care Friends can also be used to recognise and reward carers for non-referral related
activities via Bonus Points.
Reward categories
Create reward categories with fixed points and suggested wording or keep it variable.
One or more
Reward an individual, multiple carers, by location or everyone in one go.
Budgets
Allocate monthly bonus point budgets for autonomy with oversight.
Instant reward
The carer is notified instantly of their reward with a personalised message.
Benefits
For your agency
- Give your carers the permission and avenues to share and refer others
- Attract more high-quality carers
- Reach into the networks of your carers and tap into your local communities
- Rewards are spent on your carers instead of externally
- Boost carer engagement and retention
For your carers
- The app enables carers to talk about being a carer and share opportunities to become one too
- Easy-to-use and fun app
- Be recognised for all that they do
- Easily keep track of how many points they have earned
For your recruiters
- Harness the power of word-of-mouth to find new carers
- Easy-to-use portal to keep track of the referral’s approval process
- Save time through automation
- Easily share notices with carers
- Never miss a referral
In the News
FAQs
Can I customise the reward points?
Yes, you can! Care Friends increases referrals by rewarding carers for the action that matters most: sharing opportunities. Most clients start by offering 1 point for sharing a notice, with increasingly larger rewards as the referral progresses through the approval process.
This micro-reward approach not only boosts referral numbers but also makes the process enjoyable. You’re in complete control and decide how to distribute the total reward across different stages or whether a stage receives a reward at all.
Care Friends also gives you the flexibility to set different rewards for different types of foster care opportunities.
Can rewards vary by foster care type?
Yes, they can! This is super handy if you feel that certain foster care opportunities can use an extra boost.
Can the system be misused?
Great question! Not really. There are a variety of safeguards that prevent misuse, including capped share points, candidate verification, screening questions, different authorisation levels and an audit log. In addition, your scheme rules are always accessible from within the app.
Does Care Friends integrate with my other systems?
Likely! We already have several integrations in place and are open to building custom integrations as well. Contact us to explore this further.
Can try before I buy?
We do not offer a free trial of Care Friends as most of the work is front-loaded and most successful if our guided launch planning is followed. However, we do offer paid trials for enterprise clients who want to trial Care Friends on a smaller part of the oragnisation. Contact us to discuss this.
How do I launch Care Friends?
With our help. We will guide you through the launch planning and the launch itself via simple and structured regular emails as well as a couple of (fun) planning meetings. Your Client Success Manager is by your side, supporting you when needed. This guided launch planning takes a lot of the work away from your desk and ensures all aspects are covered for a successful launch.
How much time does it take to launch Care Friends?
The launch of Care Friends has two easy steps:
- The launch planning. This is the time where, with our guidance, you start to communicate internally about Care Friends. You will introduce the new referral program to your carers and build excitement for the app. Our step-by-step guidance planning ensures you cover all bases for a smooth and complete launch planning. This step can take from two weeks to a bit longer, depending on your organisation.
- The launch itself. This is the moment your carers can download the app and start sharing!
How secure is Care Friends?
Very secure! Care Friends is built with the latest security protocols in mind. The platform can be set up with different sites and different permissions. You also control who can take part in your referral scheme.
Can I change the look and feel of the app?
The app can be customised in your colour scheme, and you can add your own text, images, videos and logos. You can also customise the notifications that go out to app users and add your own referral policy rules. We will guide you through this to ensure that the app feels totally “yours” for your carers.
How can carers refer?
Easily, via three taps on their phone. They choose the notice for which they want to refer a friend and share it using the built-in share function on their mobile. Most often this is via a text message, WhatsApp or social media. It’s all supported! Their friend can then read more about the opportunity and choose to complete the short expression of interest form. The moment they submit the form, their friend is notified as well as the recruiter.
Pricing
Care Friends is offered on an annual licence, with pricing based on the number of carers who need access to the app. Simple, scalable, and designed to grow with your agency.