How DKHV Digitized Its Volunteer Council Election with NemoVote

Chapter

1. DKHV election at a glance

2. Reaching volunteers across Germany

3. From local ballots to manual effort

4. Why digital voting became the next step

5. Finding a clear  and secure voting tool

6. Preparing voter lists with support

7. Making voting easy and reliable

8. Faster results and broader participation

9. What other organizations can learn

10. A simpler future for volunteer elections

1. Quick overview

When the Deutscher Kinderhospizverein e.V. (DKHV) prepared the 2026 Volunteer Council election, the organization wanted to move away from a process that had become time-consuming and difficult to manage.

Previously, votes were collected locally using paper ballots and then counted manually.

With almost 1,500 volunteers involved in different forms of support, public relations, and office work across Germany, DKHV needed a process that was easier, more accessible, and less dependent on in-person meetings.

With NemoVote, the election was conducted digitally, securely, and with much less administrative effort.

The result:

• volunteers could vote online
• each person could vote only once
• votes were counted automatically
• results were available immediately
• the organization received official PDF documentation

2. The challenge: Electing a Volunteer Council across Germany

DKHV was founded in 1990 and supports families with children, adolescents, and young adults with life-shortening illnesses.

The organization provides support in areas such as:

• psychosocial care
• everyday relief for families
• grief support
• support for siblings
• political and social advocacy
• nationwide networking with volunteers, professionals, and institutions

For its volunteers, the Volunteer Council plays an important role. It represents the interests of the volunteer community and acts as an advisory body for the board and the staff unit responsible for volunteering.

The election takes place only every three years, which made the 2026 election especially important.

The main challenge was clear: DKHV needed a reliable way to reach volunteers across Germany without relying only on local in-person meetings.

3. The old system: Paper ballots and manual counting

In the past, the Volunteer Council election was conducted in a very traditional way.

Paper ballots were collected locally in the ambulatory children’s and youth hospice services and then counted manually.

This meant:

• preparing and distributing ballot papers
• collecting votes at different locations
• depending on local attendance
• manually counting the votes
• documenting results afterwards

The process required a lot of coordination and was strongly connected to whether people were physically present.

Mirjam Landmesser (Responsible for the Staff Unit for Volunteering at DKHV): “Analogue voting was organizationally quite demanding, time-consuming, and strongly dependent on the presence of everyone involved.”

4. Why DKHV decided to move the election online

The decision to use a digital voting tool was not sudden. According to Mirjam, the idea had already been considered for some time.

Because the Volunteer Council election only takes place every three years, DKHV saw this election as the right moment to take the next step.

The organization wanted to:

• modernize the election process
• reduce the workload for local professionals
• make voting easier for volunteers
• create a clearer and more transparent process
• reach more people than before

For DKHV, digital voting was also a way to move with the times.

Mirjam Landmesser: “We said we have to consciously deal with the digital age and take this step.”

A digital election also helped reduce the workload for the professionals on site, who previously had to support the paper-based voting process.

5. Choosing NemoVote: Clarity, support, and data protection

Before choosing NemoVote, Markus Knöß - DKHV volunteer, researched several online voting tools.

The selection process was not easy because many platforms were available. However, DKHV had clear requirements.

The platform needed to be:

• understandable
• suitable for data protection (GDPR) requirements
• flexible enough for the election setup
• easy to manage
• transparent in its structure
• affordable

Markus also tested other options, including Microsoft Forms. However, the tool did not offer enough configuration options for the election and made it difficult to add all voters without a lot of manual effort.

Markus Knöß: “Some tools were so confusing that you did not even know what they wanted from you.”

In the end, NemoVote stood out because it offered the required settings, a clear structure, and direct support.

Markus Knöß: “It fit perfectly with what we needed and wanted. And because it was very clear, everything was basically fulfilled.”

6. Setting up the election: Voter lists, Excel upload, and support

One important part of the setup was uploading the voter lists.

For DKHV, this included adding information such as:

• usernames
• email addresses
• display names
• voter lists for different smaller elections

At first, the Excel formatting and upload process was not fully clear for Mirjam, especially because she described herself as not being an Excel expert.

After contacting NemoVote, she received direct step-by-step support.

Mirjam Landmesser: “You were able to help me directly and guide me step by step. That made it easy to understand and process quite quickly.”

One point of feedback was that managing several voter lists for multiple smaller elections could be more intuitive. DKHV had to upload or assign voter lists again for different elections.

At the same time, the support made the setup manageable.

Mirjam Landmesser: “Through your personal support and guidance, it was quickly doable and easy to understand.”

This feedback also helped us from NemoVote identify where the import process could be improved further and we are already working on it, with the first improvements already released.

7. Secure and simple voting for volunteers

For DKHV, security and simplicity were both essential.

The organization needed to make sure that:

• every voter could vote only once
• votes remained anonymous
• access was secure
• the process was easy for first-time digital voters
• the election could be trusted by the organization and its members

Markus emphasized that NemoVote offered many useful settings while still remaining easy to understand.

Markus Knöß: “It was very important for us that every voter could only vote once.”

The voting process was also simple for members. According to feedback Markus received, many participants found the election easy and clear.

They described it as:

• only two clicks
• very clear
• easy to understand
• difficult to do wrong

Markus Knöß: “They said it was two clicks and very clear. You could not really do anything wrong.”

For many volunteers from all age groups, this was the first time participating in an online election. Good preparation helped make the transition smoother.

8. Results: Faster counting, official documentation, and wider reach

One of the biggest improvements was the counting process.

Previously, votes had to be counted manually. With NemoVote, the results were available automatically and could be saved as official documentation.

For DKHV, this was important because the election results needed to be shared and documented properly across the organization.

Markus Knöß: “You can save the results as a PDF and then you simply have them in black and white.”

The biggest benefits were:

• automatic vote counting
• immediate results
• official PDF documentation
• less manual work
• no risk of counting errors

Mirjam Landmesser: “Several elections at the same time, results immediately and without errors: It saved time and personnel resources.”

Digital voting also made it easier to reach more volunteers. Instead of depending on attendance at local meetings, DKHV could contact volunteers directly by email.

Markus explained that local meetings often reached only a small part of the volunteer community. With online voting, the organization could reach a much larger group.

9. Lessons for organizations switching to digital elections

DKHV’s first digital election also showed which factors are important for organizations moving from paper voting to online voting.

1. Prepare voters before the election

One participant reported that the voting email looked like spam at first.

However, DKHV had already informed members in advance that they would receive an email from NemoVote. This preparation made it possible to quickly clarify the situation.

Mirjam Landmesser: “Our communication in advance was really decisive here.”

For future elections, using the organization’s own logo in the voting email could make the message even more recognizable.

See also: NemoVote White Label

2. Choose a platform that is easy to understand

Markus compared many tools before choosing NemoVote. A confusing platform would have made the process harder, especially for a first digital election.

3. Make sure support is available

For Mirjam, direct support during the Excel upload was especially helpful.

Mirjam Landmesser: “Many fears, whether about spam, technical problems, or Excel in my case, are quickly resolved through your support.”

4. Do not underestimate the value of official results

Automatic counting and PDF documentation made the election feel more official and easier to communicate.

5. Digital voting can reduce workload significantly

For DKHV, the biggest difference was not only the voting itself, but the reduction of manual work around the entire process.

10. Conclusion: Digital voting made the Volunteer Council election easier and more transparent

DKHV’s first digital Volunteer Council election showed how online voting can simplify an important democratic process inside a nationwide organization.

The move from paper ballots to NemoVote helped DKHV:

• reduce organizational workload
• reach more volunteers
• avoid manual vote counting
• create official result documentation
• make voting easier for participants
• run the election more transparently

For Mirjam, going back to a fully analog process is now difficult to imagine.

Mirjam Landmesser: “A large election with so many volunteers without a digital tool would now seem much more vulnerable and less transparent to me.”

Markus also emphasized that returning to paper voting would no longer feel up to date.

Markus Knöß: “It is simply no longer contemporary.”

For organizations with many members, distributed teams, volunteer structures, or paper-based voting processes, DKHV’s experience shows that digital elections can make the process easier, faster, and more reliable.

With good preparation, clear communication, and the right support, switching to online voting is not only possible — it can become a major relief.

More success stories:

How Caritas Rottenburg-Stuttgart digitized a church election

Goodyear Retail Sytems' digital election: From paper to online voting 

Dublin Front Runners' digital AGM: Seamless elections for LGBTQ+ club

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