Frequently Asked Questions

Nonprofits FAQ

How much does VolunteerMark cost?

VolunteerMark offers quality services at a competitive price. Our easy to use software offers quality volunteer scheduling, reporting, and communication at a competitive price. We provide not only volunteer management, but a network function as well. Allowing volunteers to access all nonprofits within our network. Other VolunteerMark features our competitors lack are ad free event management, powerful reporting, text messaging, group emailing, flexible scheduling, and a donation tool. All data is protected and customer service is available to all nonprofits and volunteers, no strings attached. This top-notch volunteer management network is competitively priced at $999 yearly.

There is no real price one can put on the importance of quality volunteer experience. The opinion of volunteers is not only important but absolutely vital to the continuation of the organization itself. VolunteerMark puts the upmost importance upon a quality volunteer experience. Our service streamlines the volunteer process and makes the lives easier of volunteer managers as well. Giving organizations and volunteers more time to do what they love; give back.

What exactly does VolunteerMark software provide?

VolunteerMark is an online software application that helps nonprofit organizations and their volunteers maximize the volunteer experience through communication, scheduling, and reporting tools. Using the mobile-friendly software, nonprofit organizations can easily manage volunteer events, schedule multiple shifts at once, recruit new volunteers, communicate through multiple platforms and track volunteer data. VolunteerMark is perfect for any organization that oversees volunteer operations including nonprofits, businesses, schools, churches and civic groups. And the service is, and always will be, free for volunteers.

How can I contact VolunteerMark for help?

We offer support every step of the way. You can come chat with us at VolunteerMark.com. If you are a volunteer, e-mail us at [email protected]. Nonprofits may email us at [email protected]. Visit our support page or volunteer management blog to find the best ways to optimize your account. Check out our live support chat at http://www.volunteermark.com. Experts are standing by ready to answer any questions or concerns you have in your VolunteerMark experience. Follow us on these social media outlets if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to learn more about VolunteerMark.

Can more than one person run a nonprofit account?

Yes! The individual who created the nonprofit account for an organization has the ability to add multiple other administrators. Just follow these quick steps, and you can give multiple people within your organization with the ability to perform volunteer management and networking tasks.

• 1. Visit the organizational information tab and select “Add Additional Users”
• 2. Insert the full name and email of the desired “New User”
• 3. Select “Add User” to complete your request

What exactly is a tag and how can it help me organize my volunteers?

A tag is a flexible way of grouping volunteers together. Tagging is a superior way to associate files to one another by using keywords, rather than rigid folders. You can associate files of different types to one another with ease and without creating duplicates. Imagine always finding all the files you need instantaneously, by simply being organized revolutionary way with VolunteerMark tags!

What does it mean to log service hours?

While there are many different ways to log service hours at VolunteerMark we believe the easiest way is through our online service. We make it very simple, giving volunteers the power to manage their own free online account. Our team reminds the volunteer after he/she completes each volunteer opportunity. The nonprofit organization sees all volunteer service hour requests and gives them the ability to approve or deny the submission. If the organization approves a volunteer's request, the hours are credited to the volunteer's account. Volunteers can keep track of their own individual service hour history and upcoming commitments with multiple nonprofits on the same system. Nonprofits see only the volunteer service hours as it relates to their activity with their nonprofit.

Why would a volunteer use VolunteerMark?

Do you want to get started volunteering right now? Not a month or two from now, after you’ve spent your precious time scheduling, signing, emailing, tracking down individuals, and waiting for responses. You a volunteer! Freely giving your time and talent to help out a cause you care about. Why waste your time with everything BUT volunteering. VolunteerMark makes it easy to sort, filter, and search through a variety of volunteer opportunities so you can find out about new opportunities that interest you.

Find employers, nonprofits, schools, and government agencies that promote and encourage volunteerism. Perhaps the biggest benefit of VolunteerMark is our service hour validation service.

You can easily print off your approved service hours and be rewarded through your company's corporate responsibility program, your school's service-learning program, or even the government's tax credit for gas mileage spent driving to/from volunteer opportunities!

Needless to say, VolunteerMark streamlines the volunteering process, so you can get busy making your mark on the world!

Why would a nonprofit organization use VolunteerMark?

Volunteers are extremely valuable to nonprofit organizations and they carry roles in fundraising, marketing, research, grant writing, operations, administrative support, and even leadership/staff management positions. It is critical that nonprofit organizations have the proper infrastructure, support, and technology to run an efficient volunteer management program. VolunteerMark is an affordable solution for running such a program.

Recruiting is made easy with VolunteerMark, allowing you to share volunteer opportunities. Not only do organizations have access to the VolunteerMark volunteer network, but also have the ability to simplify and share opportunities via social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and even your own e-mail marketing campaigns.

Collaborate and get more done. The burden of logging hours is no longer entirely the responsibility of one centralized staff position. Volunteers log their own hours, making it much easier for a staff or volunteer position to track volunteer hours. The process is simple and easy, no need for extensive training and relying on one person, and volunteers can even record hours via our mobile app. Multiple administrators are available helping organization communications and action move along seamlessly.

Save time by freeing up the volunteer coordinator's time on administrative functions, organizations can invest and grow their volunteer orientation, training, and management resources. Nationally, one-third of paid nonprofit staff who manage volunteers have never had any formal training in volunteer administration, such as coursework, workshops, or attendance at conferences that focus on volunteer management. This spare time can allow your team to work on improvement and not just keeping up.

Who has access to volunteer data and contact information? Is it safe and secure?

We take privacy and data security very seriously. Sensitive information is encrypted over secure socket layer (SSL) and we never sell, distribute, or share any individual information. Only the organization(s) that a volunteer chooses to work with will be able to view the volunteers contact information. Organizations can only see volunteers’ service history with their specific organization. Volunteer users have the ability to change their privacy settings. We do reserve the right to compile anonymous service hour statistics for the purpose of understanding patterns and trends in volunteerism rates as we aim to increase volunteerism and foster a culture of helping worthy causes. To find out more please read our privacy policy.

Can volunteers sign up for more than one organization?

Yes! Frequently individuals will volunteer with multiple different causes and organizations. Before VolunteerMark, this used to be a cumbersome problem with a lot of time and frustration spent coordinating and exchanging information, signing paperwork for each organization, etc. Volunteer accounts at VolunteerMark are always free, and volunteers create a private profile one time. Only the organizations you sign up for will see your private contact information. If you ever need to update anything, it is fast and easy, and instantly this information is updated for the nonprofit organization(s) you work with! No more returned mail, wrong phone numbers, and lost communication. Plus, we think its really cool that each volunteer account has a complete log of how many hours you volunteer, where and when. We hope our volunteer dashboard will motivate volunteers to reach new goals and stay involved with the charities they love and find new ways to volunteer.

Help! I can't login. How do I reset my password?

Passwords are very important to user accounts, but there may come a time when you need to change your password or maybe you forgot your password. We are here to help.

Change Your Password

If you know your current password and would like to change it to something different follow these steps:

• 1. Once logged in, click on your first and last name in the top left and choose "Change Password"
• 2. Type your new password in both boxes and click the Update Password button when you are done.
• 3. Your password has been updated!

Lost Password

It is very important to keep your passwords secure and to remember them, but there might come a time when you forget a password. Follow these steps if you need to reset a forgotten password. We will have you back into your account in no time!

• 1. Visit the Log in page and click “forgot password”
• 2. Enter your email address into the text box and click Reset Password
• 3. We'll send an email to your email address to help you recover your account.
• 4. An email will be sent to your Primary Email Address that includes a password reset link.
• 5. Click the link in the email, and you'll be able to enter a new password. Enter your new password and you'll be ready to go!

Is my account information safe?

Your security is important to us at VolunteerMark. You have dedicated a lot of time and energy volunteering and logging your hours, and using a strong password will help you to keep your account safe. The best way to keep your online identities secure is to use strong passwords, and a unique password for each account.

Am I notified if a new or existing volunteer follows my organization?

Yes, volunteers are able to click "Follow" on your organization’s landing page. This bookmarks your logo in the volunteer's dashboard and at the same time adds the volunteer's profile to your list of volunteer and notifies you with an email letting you know you have a new person express a general interest in your organization. At that point you can email the volunteer of any account information specifications, and any volunteer checklist items they must complete before volunteering at your organization.

Schools FAQ

Can schools indicate if a one-time or recurring event is private or public?

Yes! You can indicate if a one-time or recurring event is private or public. Private events are not indexed on our website and the outside world will not be able to see this sign up page. Private events have their own URL and you are able to e-mail this sign up sheet to the people you choose. Also you are able to assign specific people to the private event or you may select from your volunteer pool the people you'd like to invite to sign up for the event.

Do I get charged more money by having more individuals/groups?

No! You can create unlimited number of positions and events with the same flat fee on VolunteerMark. We make keeping track of high volumes of volunteers/students easy. Giving you the ability to schedule everything on calendar and you can specify jobs shift time and if it repeats daily, weekly, monthly, weekdays, weekends, etc.

How do students sign up and schedule their shift?

Student creates account, signs in, and the administrator enters job descriptions that appear on a calendar. The student schedules themselves and the system tracks how many hours each student is signed up for, with the ability to export their volunteer data at any time.

Can students rescind their assigned groups / programs / departments ?

No, right now we do allow people to un-assign themselves at any time for anything they are signed up for. You will always receive a notification when this has happened and you would be able to re-assign them or save a private note about this happening. We will be happy to create a feature that controls the available time-period for students to un-assign themselves, if you'd like this to function differently.

Do student’s receive reminders before they volunteer?

Yes! Our system sends emails automatically the day before to all registered people who will be volunteering the next day.

Can programs, departments, schedules and groups overlap?

You can create unlimited number of positions and events on our site and they can overlap. We have the ability to schedule everything on calendar and you can specify jobs shift time and if it repeats daily, weekly, monthly, weekdays, weekends, etc.

Can I set limits on volunteer opportunities?

Yes! When you create a position you specify the number of people who are needed and then once this number is reached, the sign up is locked and nobody else can sign up. The number of people needed is shown on your sign up page, so people can see how many more people are needed before the position is filled. Students are able to back out of commitments at any time if they need. You, as the organization, can also remove students from a position if needed.

How can I track students?

We show a calendar and a list view of all the positions at your organization and you are able to see which students are signed up for each position. And you also have a view to see a list of all students. And when you click on a student's name you are able to see their profile that includes all of the positions they are involved with at your organization.