Volunteer Services

Hi Melissa,



You can definitely track volunteer information without the module - you just need to be a little creative in how you do so.  To that end, my first recommendation is going to be to have a really solid policy & procedure document once you decide how things should work so the info is always consistent.



I would add the volunteers as constituents, and give them a constituency code of "Volunteer" so you can easily include/exclude from reports & mailings.



If there is specific information you need to know about them (assignment interests, job suitability, qualifications, etc.) you can create & add attributes.



To track volunteer time, I've seen organizations do two things: 

1. Use Actions. You can create an Action Type of "Volunteer Time" and record the dates & times the volunteer worked. If you need to know specifically what they were doing, that can be added as an attribute like "Volunteer Task" or a Note
2. Use "Other" gift type.(First make sure you know what else this type is being used for in your database)  If you want to be able to report out on the value of the volunteer time given, you can multiply the hours worked by the average value of a volunteer dollar for your state using this website: https://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time  and then use a combination of gift attributes & notes to record what task they were performing. 

Since you need to keep track of hours and other details, not just they they volunteered.  My suggestion would be along the lines that others have mentioned, utilizing Actions.  That way you have the flexibility of using the Action Attributes and building drop downs for different duties/jobs and the Notes