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  • 1.  Volunteer management platforms

    Posted 11-06-2018 04:16 PM
    Hi,

    I am the volunteer manager in our museum and we have been using Volgistics for volunteer scheduling etc. and generally it is working out ok, but I wonder if in there are other systems that are a bit more user friendly and contemporary. Ideally it would also include a newsletter function that can be easily updated. I'd love any input about other platforms as well as your experience with Volgistics.

    Thank you very much, I'm looking forward to your thoughts!

    Katharina

    Katharina McAllister
    Manager of Interpretive Volunteers
    Computer History Museum<http://http://www.computerhistory.org/>
    1401 N. Shoreline Blvd
    Mountain View, CA 94043
    T: 650-810-1884
    kmcallister@computerhistory.org
    <https://exchange.computerhistory.org/owa/#>
    (in office: Tuesday-Friday)

    Volunteers, to sign up for shifts please visit: Volgistics log-in<https://www.volgistics.com/ex2/vicnet.dll?FROM=19647>

    Follow Us:
    CHM Blog<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.computerhistory.org_atchm_&d=DwMFAg&c=iVyFbx9TtkoGWXYs40w9MA&r=AtUJmSLjPS0aseKr3qtNgNOyhJJutas8nDpzNrdx05k&m=yoaDF3esJhmTJsm97-VpsrPO8QywxFqP7tPFhaNkTRo&s=9UKagG5QPfayqqSQukz3xIhoeZFZbmVkgaYcB7eezGg&e=> I Facebook<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_computerhistory&d=DwMFAg&c=iVyFbx9TtkoGWXYs40w9MA&r=AtUJmSLjPS0aseKr3qtNgNOyhJJutas8nDpzNrdx05k&m=yoaDF3esJhmTJsm97-VpsrPO8QywxFqP7tPFhaNkTRo&s=F42ZCE8r1NreiLeUGeMoWa0JOrrpbNCS_qTqzxD3Y-A&e=> I Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.twitter.com_computerhistory&d=DwMFAg&c=iVyFbx9TtkoGWXYs40w9MA&r=AtUJmSLjPS0aseKr3qtNgNOyhJJutas8nDpzNrdx05k&m=yoaDF3esJhmTJsm97-VpsrPO8QywxFqP7tPFhaNkTRo&s=tokBHa7uiizWq89VFGvMRZmB8ttNiE3cYF_r8BQYTsQ&e=> I
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 2.  RE: Volunteer management platforms

    Posted 11-07-2018 10:56 AM
    We use Volgistics and I agree, it is clunky and fairly rigid. However, our volunteers find it easy to use and really like it. Since most of the frustration is on the administrative end, not the volunteers, I continue to work with it.

    I have also found the help line to be very responsive. A few times they have made improvements to the program after I (and I am sure others) have complained. Use them. Even if their response doesn't directly answer my question, it often directs me to explore areas that will lead to the information I need. 

    I have created Newsletters using Publisher in past positions, however, not currently, as things change too frequently and announcements are needed too often here for a Newsletter to be practical. I maximize use of the Volgistics Homepage and find it wonderful for announcements, Help Wanted requests, and providing links to training materials and important documents. I can see how it could be set up and used as a newsletter in itself. 

    I will be interested in hearing how others respond to this question and learning from them.

    ------------------------------
    Nancy Schomburg
    Manager, Volunteer Services
    Grounds for Sculpture
    Hamilton NJ
    ------------------------------

    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 3.  RE: Volunteer management platforms

    Posted 11-08-2018 08:59 AM
    Edited by Jacqueline Altreuter 11-08-2018 09:01 AM
    We have been in the process of a transition from Volgistics to Digital Cheetah. Preliminarily, we are getting more of what we need from DC in terms of quick and clean ways to pull data and build out reports. Volunteers have direct access to their profiles and can update their contact info, etc. The biggest challenge for us is that you have to assign shifts and once a volunteer logs into the shift, they can not log in and out throughout the day unless you build in multiple shifts. Otherwise, we are delighted with the functionality, the clean operations and it is less clunky than volgistics-you can use the back arrow in your browser and there is an app. :) It allows for scheduling, has a plug-in for survey monkey and mail chimp and has an API. I think it just depends on your needs. Volgistics served us for many years and was fine but we got to a point of growth where we needed more out of our database in terms of accessing data.

    ------------------------------
    Jacqueline Altreuter
    Director, Volunteer Engagement
    Denver Museum of Nature & Science
    Denver CO
    ------------------------------

    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


  • 4.  RE: Volunteer management platforms

    Posted 11-08-2018 04:05 PM
    Katharina,

    Here at Space Center Houston, we just switched to Better Impact and will be rolling it out to our volunteers in 2019.  I have experience with Better Impact from my past position at the Houston Zoo, where we were managing up to 2100 volunteers per year.  When we switched to Better Impact at the zoo, we chose it over Volgistics and Samaritan because the system is incredibly flexible and easy to use on the administrative side, and very intuitive on the volunteer side.  Generating reports, schedules, and extracting information is easy and quite literally freed up hours of staff time over the systems we had prior.  Our volunteers loved it, as well (even my tech-averse volunteers came around).

    Furthermore, the staff at Better Impact are extremely accessible.  If you have an issue, they are there 24x5 and quickly return calls on weekends (yes, you talk to a real person).  I called once for guidance after hours and the CEO of Better Impact called me back to walk me through the solution.  Their customer service is impeccable.

    That's my two cents!  If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them.




    ------------------------------
    Paul Bishop
    Volunteer Programs Supervisor
    Space Center Houston
    1601 NASA Parkway
    Houston, TX 77058
    (281) 283-4726
    pbishop@spacecenter.org

    ------------------------------

    Original Message
    AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, Baltimore, May 16-19, 2024, click to learn more


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