To print mailing labels on a partial sheet of labels, specify the starting label with the Select button at the bottom of the Print/Export Options screen.
Print a volunteer's emergency contacts with the Volunteer Description report. Be sure that "Contact's Addresses & Phones" is checked in the list of selected fields.
Use the Print button at the bottom of the Volunteers, Stations, or Jobs screen to get a report specific to that one record.
When you want to enter a custom date range for a report, don't bother to select "Custom" from the drop down list. Instead, just enter the starting and ending dates and "Custom" will be selected for you.
If your fiscal year is July through June, select "Last July-June" in the date range drop down list on any report to get data for last year. You can also choose from Last Month, Last Quarter, and Last Year.
Name filters, skills, and reference codes in alphabetical order to make them easier to find and organize. For examples, instead of naming language skills as English, French, and Spanish, name them Language - English, Language - French, and Language - Spanish in order to have them grouped together in the list of available skills.
Let go of that mouse! To scroll through a list of volunteers, use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard instead of your mouse. Also try the Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End keys. You may find it much more efficient than scrolling with the mouse.
When creating filters containing names, type the first letter of the name to move to that section of the list. It doesn't matter that there's no "find field" showing, just type a letter and the Reporter will jump. Then use the Page Up, Page Down, Up Arrow, and Down Arrow keys to find the right name.
On any date field, type the letter "T" to enter today's date. Other shortcut keys for date fields are "Y" for the first day of the year, "M" for the first date of the month, "H" for the last day of the month, and "R" for last day of the year. Also, the plus sign (+) advances the date by one day and the minus sign (-) moves it back by one day.
When adding hours, use the Tab and Shift-Tab keys to move forward and backward between fields. Used in combination with some mouse clicks, this can really speed up data entry.
You can use the Reporter to track a completely separate group of people from your volunteers by setting up additional data sets.
The best filter has the fewest limitations, usually just one or two. Additional limitations in a filter often start to cancel each other out giving unexpected results.
Under Reference Codes, use Assign Field Names to change the name of any of the coded fields on the screen. If you don't want to track "Past Employer" change it to "Education Level".
When you want to find all volunteers who are missing an ethnicity code, prepare a spreadsheet. Those with missing codes really stand out.
When you want to know how many hours were served at one particular station, use the Print key at the bottom of the Station screen to print a Station Hours report for just one station.
