We are happy to announce a new update to VolunteerMatters!

VolunteerMatters is very excited to announce the latest release of our software platform.  Our goal has always been to provide our customers with everything possible to support a proven recipe for extraordinary volunteerism.  As such, we’ve developed a comprehensive suite of tools and services to help promote volunteerism, eliminate barriers to engagement, empower staff and volunteers, give gratitude, get feedback, and measure impact.  Consequently, VolunteerMatters has grown into a beautifully balanced enterprise solution to provide robust functionality with a focus on simplicity and ease-of-use.  While there are many smaller organizations that utilize our service, the full suite of features, in some cases, has been out of reach for many organizations that were either just getting started or were looking to grow. In an effort to better serve purpose-driven organizations of all sizes, we are implementing new product plans with varying capabilities at different price points.

This release has included the ability to deliver basic, advanced, and enterprise versions of the product so that smaller organizations or those with limited budgets can benefit from the most needed features and services, with a path to grow when their needs become more robust.  

You may notice a new menu item (if you are listed in our records as the account owner) for your “Account”.  You will notice that your subscription likely says “Legacy Plan”.  This is because all of our current customers fall somewhere in between our new “Advanced” and “Enterprise” plans depending on whether or not you have kiosk check-in/out, volunteer training requirements (our Learning Management System), reference check automation/integration, or have a custom integration using our APIs and webhooks.  

This is a major change under the covers, however your experience should remain identical with a few exceptions listed below.  We changed a lot (again, under the covers) on how the styling and layout of the system is configured.  We have been testing throughout, but if you see something inconsistent with your brand, please let us know.

We were able to sneak a few AWESOME features into this release that you had been asking for as well including:

1. Turn On/Off Need Types per Project
   For each project, you may add any type of need (shifts, items, tasks, and positions).  However, for some projects you may never use one or several of the types.  We now provide the ability to exclude one or more need types.
   
   
   
   Click the following for more information on creating and editing project settings.
   
   
2. Turn On/Off Feedback per Project
   While obtaining feedback from your volunteers is a critical ingredient to an extraordinary volunteer program, sometimes you may prefer to hold off for a specific project.  Turning this feature off on a project not only eliminates the prompt when a volunteer logs into the portal, but it also removes the language from the thank you email (if you’ve configured the project to send automated thank yous).
   
   
   
   Click the following for more information on editing project settings.
   
   
3. Turn On/Off Thank You Emails per Project
   Thanking our volunteers is also a critical ingredient to an extraordinary volunteer program.  However, sometimes we may prefer to thank them in ways other than an automated email.
   
   
   
   Click the following for more information on editing project settings.
   
   
4. Separated System Configuration from the Admin Role
   Not all admins are alike.  You can now separately assign admins with a ‘Configuration’ role so that some admins may or may not be able to change system configuration settings (custom fields, application form, project tags, credential rules, etc.)  Admins without the ‘Configuration’ role will have the same ability to manage volunteer contacts, credential adjudication, volunteer projects, and user permissions.
   
   
   
   Click here for more information on how to add or remove administrative access roles for a contact record. 
   
   
5. Add an Owner Role
   Those users designated as an owner can currently view the ‘Account’ page, where they may view their account status and plan information.  Future releases will allow for the owner to monitor licensing, manage payments, and upgrade the service as their needs grow.  We set the owner to the best available contact we have.  The ‘Owner’ role is set by our support team so if you’d like someone new to have the authority to manage your account with us, please let our support team know.
   
   Adding the role to a contact:
   
   
   
   Click here for more information on how to add or remove administrative access roles for a contact record. 
   
   Accessing the "Account" page: 
   
   
   
   
6. Updated Organization/UI for Product Configuration
   We have re-organized and prettied-up the product configuration screens so that it is more obvious where to go to customize the service.  We’ve generally made it much easier to manage custom fields, contact views (application, my profile, kiosk registration, etc.), your logos (for use in the volunteer portal, check-in kiosk, and email header), and more.
   
   
   
   
   • For more information on managing the "Organization" section of the "Configuration" area, click here (coming soon!)
     
     
   • For more information on managing the "Database" section of the "Configuration" area, click here (coming soon!)
     
     
   • For more information on configuring credentials, click here.
     
     
   • For more information on managing the "Projects" section of the "Configuration" area, click here (coming soon!)
     
     
7. A Lot of Other Stuff
   We also implemented a number of other improvements and fixes that you may not “see”, but you might “feel” including improvements in how we send emails, underlying security mechanisms, and minor adjustments to how the system “remembers” your preferences for certain list views.

There are also some recent updates that you may have missed from last month’s version release:

1. Text/SMS Notifications
   Volunteers can verify their mobile numbers to opt-in to receive assignment confirmations and reminders via text message.  They will also be able to set their preferences for the automated assignment notifications to get both text and email notifications, one or the other, or none at all.
   
   Click the following links for more information on verifying your mobile number to receive text messages and setting your automated assignment communication preferences.
   
   
2. New Volunteer History Reports (My Profile and Contact Database)
   We have improved the volunteer history reporting (per volunteer) available to administrators in the contact database and for the volunteer under ‘My Profile’ to improve the detail for each interaction, total/sum hours, and expanded filtering.
   
   Click the following links for more information on my profile volunteer history reports and volunteer history by contact.