Virtuous Volunteer is designed to make volunteering and managing opportunities super easy. Many of the terms in the app are universal to the world of volunteering. However, there are some that are used in specific ways in Virtuous Volunteer. To help you out, below is a glossary that will provide explanations for words you see as you begin to learn the app. Very soon you'll be able to "speak Virtuous Volunteer" like a pro!
Admin Dashboard
The Admin Dashboard is a portal where Organizers and Admins log in to manage their Opportunities and volunteers. The Admin Dashboard also has tools to set up the Check-In Kiosk, create Forms, and dive into analytics.
Announcements
A customizable popup bar that can be added to the top of an organization's Hub. Add a short title, longer text description as well as a hyperlinked button. These announcements can be customized to communicate important information to anyone that navigates to your Hub.
Anytime Opportunities
This refers to the second type of Volunteer Opportunity which does not have an established schedule of serving dates and times. Instead, Anytime Opportunities allow for interested volunteers, after approval by the organization, to come back to its sign up page to log hours served or items donated.
Apply
Some Opportunities require additional approval from the organization or require a cleared background check before officially joining the serving time. These Opportunities will ask volunteers to apply for approval to serve instead of joining.
Background Checks
In Virtuous Volunteer, background check statuses and their expiration dates can be tracked for each user (Admins, Organizers, and Volunteers). The actual background check on the user is performed outside of Virtuous Volunteer using one of our third-party integrations (Checkr or Sterling) or a background check company of the organization's choosing.
Causes
Causes are 30 universal volunteering categories available to every organization using Virtuous Volunteer. They create continuity across all of Virtuous Volunteer by giving organizations a set list to choose from for people to see which ones are part of Causes they support. Causes are not editable and new ones cannot be added. For that, Tags will be helpful.
Channels
Channels are customizable sections on the Hub with titles that feature Initiatives and Opportunities. They are used to organize your Hub into clearly labeled sections so that volunteers can see how you have structured your volunteer Opportunities.
Economic Impact
This metric shows how a single hour of volunteer work has financially benefited the community within which that organization exists. It can be found throughout Admin Dashboard in Analytics, on Initiative Dashboards and in a user’s personal resume as well. Virtuous Volunteer has a built-in Economic Impact dollar value that is updated annually based on the research of Independent Sector, but this value can also be customized by Admins to tailor the metric to their specific community. This Economic Impact metric can also be customized for specific Volunteer roles inside Opportunities. So an organization can either rely on the general default value from Independent Sector or customize their own value within specific Volunteer roles.
Fields
Fields are the building blocks that make up Forms and allow you to collect information about your volunteers, like their name or t-shirt size. By default, a user is only required to provide their first and last name, email, street address, birth month and year, and a phone number. This information is stored in each user’s profile along with additional Fields collected through a Form. Organizations are able to create their own custom Fields on Forms and require the volunteer to fill them out.
Forms
A Form is a collection of Fields used to gather additional information from users. Each organization can have one general Registration Form that all new users fill out when they join an organization. Also, organizations can have other types of Forms to gather information from volunteers when they join Volunteer Opportunities, check in at a Check-In Kiosk, or donate through a Giving Form.
Giving
Giving in Virtuous Volunteer refers to financial donations made through the Virtuous Payments integration. Giving has its own internal dashboard to see and manage incoming financial donations through Giving Forms created by Admins.
Groups
In Virtuous Volunteer a Group is a collection of any type of user that has a Dashboard for Admins and Organizers to manage, send messages and Opportunities, and export participation data. Groups are also helpful for reserving serving times on Opportunities.
Hub
The Hub represents your organization and features all of the volunteer Opportunities available to join. The Hub consists of 3 parts: a series of channels that feature the Opportunities, an About section that displays the mission and contact information for the organization, and a calendar that displays the Opportunities happening each month.
Initiatives
Initiatives are groups of Opportunities that represent an organization’s programs, locations, and categories of serving. Initiatives have front-facing landing pages to display relevant Opportunities that volunteers can sign up for. They also have internal dashboards where Admins and Organizers can see analytics generated by the Opportunities inside it.
Invite
On the People page of the Admin Dashboard, staff can send a custom email invite to a list of new volunteers. On that email invite is a link for volunteers to join your organization and fill out your registration Form. When they complete the Form and become a volunteer, they will show up in the Members list on your People page.
Join
In Virtuous Volunteer, signing up for a volunteer opportunity or becoming a member of an organization is described as joining. You can Join an organization and also Join Opportunities to serve.
Opportunities
This is the main feature of Virtuous Volunteer that your organization uses to track volunteering events and schedules. Opportunities have public-facing sign-up pages for volunteers and internal-facing dashboards for Admins and Organizers to manage. They can have pre-established Serving Dates and Times or they can be Anytime, allowing volunteers to log their own hours. Opportunities are the foundational tool that everything is built on in Virtuous Volunteer.
Opportunity Owner
This person, or persons, are Admins or Organizers designated in the Admin Dashboard as the ones who are managing the Opportunity. As an Owner, they can edit the Opportunity, add and remove volunteers, and Assign and Reserve Groups.
Point Person
This person is designated on an Opportunity as the primary point of contact for volunteers if they have questions or need help. Their name and contact information will be displayed to approved volunteers in the follow up confirmation emails sent after they join.
Privacy
Privacy in Virtuous Volunteer asks the question, “Who is allowed to see this?” An organization can be Public or Private depending on how visible they want their Hub to be to the outside world. Opportunities and Initiatives also have privacy: Public, Private, or Unlisted. Public means that they are open and available to anyone outside and inside the organization. Private means they are only for approved members within the organization. Unlisted hides the Opportunity or Initiative from everyone—the public and the organization’s members. Unlisted items must be shared directly with the individuals whom the Administrative staff wants to have access.
Serving Dates and Times
An Opportunity in Virtuous Volunteer can be published with a schedule of dates and times that volunteers sign up for. A Serving Date refers to a specific day (i.e. Sunday, January 1st) and the Serving Time refers to a specific time slot (i.e. 9am to 12pm).
Tags
If Causes are broad, universal categories of volunteering, Tags are a fully customizable way for organizations and volunteers to display the skills, talents, and general terms that are relevant to them in their user profiles and on Opportunities.
User Roles
Virtuous Volunteer has three different User Roles, each with their own purpose and level of access in the system. Admins have full access to join Opportunities, create and manage Opportunities, invite and manage new users, and access everything in the Admin Dashboard. Organizers have limited access to join, create, and manage Opportunities, and to invite new volunteers. Volunteers only access the Hub to join Opportunities and share those Opportunities to join with friends.