Note before reading this article:
In a product update on 3/14/2023,
Projects were renamed to Opportunities
Campaigns were renamed to Initiatives.
Emails are Fine but Texts are Divine
Email reminders are fine, but what if your supporters want to get more timely updates on the go? Well now, volunteers can opt-in to receiving text alerts as well!
When a volunteer visits your Hub, they will see a pop-up to let them know about he option to sign up for text alerts.
These alerts can include notifications of volunteer assignments, updates or cancellations related to Serving Dates, and Serving Date reminders.
Volunteers will see a toggle to opt-in to text alerts when editing their profile.
Volunteers will be prompted to verify their phone number by entering a code texted to them.
And then they will be all set! You'll know if a volunteer has elected to receive text alerts when viewing their Volunteer Resume—just look for the green check by their phone number.
Volunteers can opt-out of getting text alerts any time by replying "Stop" to any text message. Once someone has opted-out, ONLY they can opt back in, by texting the word "Start" to 1 (866) 988-1039.
Now, if you're a fan of superhero movies, you know that there are always secret little "Easter eggs" hidden in those movies, special little touches to surprise and delight longtime fans. Well, we decided to break out the cape and tights and add our own little Easter egg. No major character reveals here, just a nice little touch that we hope will surprise and delight.
Curious?
Well, once you've opted in to receiving text alerts, just text "Upcoming" to 1 (866) 988-1039 and you'll see what we cooked up.
Giving With a Purpose
(No thank you, spell check, we did not mean "Giving with a Porpoise," though that might be fun...)
Previously, on Release Notes, we introduced the ability to set up transaction processing with Virtuous Giving and feature a giving form on your Hub. Which is great! Now, you can activate volunteers and convert volunteers to financial donors, all in one place.
But we...don't stop at "great."
So, we've made giving even better!
Now, donors can give to specific Projects, giving them the ability to direct their dollars to the programs that matter most to them, and helping you gain more insight into what your supporters are most passionate about.
Once you have created a giving form, from the advanced settings on a Project, just select that giving form and then you'll see a "Fund this Project" button displayed when viewing the Project on your Hub.
*Infomercial announcer voice*
But wait...there's more!
When adding a Giving Form to a Project, you can also set a funding goal so you can easily measure your progress.
And when viewing transactions, you'll see the Project listed with all of the giving details too.
...And the Rest
As with every release, this latest update also includes a number of other fixes, tweaks, minor modifications, and assorted nudges. Among this month's assorted fixes:
- Many of you requested the ability to see empty Serving Dates that have Reservations attached when hiding empty dates in a list. And since you all asked so nicely, we've made that a reality!
- Time to nerd out about APIs! (If you don't know what an API is, you're probably safe to skip this one). BY popular demand, we've added the ability to get phone numbers and addresses when getting user data via the API. Because who doesn't want more data?
And that's the list! Phew! As always, if you have any questions about these or other features, feel free to contact our support team.