Volunteer Software

People Helping People

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64bit Architecture

In a Windows network environment, Reporter should be installed in [C:\Program Files (x86)\Reporter\] on all 64-bit workstations. The Volunteer Reporter’s

Active List

Which report you run depends upon what you mean by active. By default all reports in the Reporter are about

Active Reports

You do not need a filter to get a birthday or other list of active volunteers. By default all reports

Add a Volunteer

To add a new volunteer, open Volunteers. In v6.0 you will first see the Profile screen. In older versions the

Age Limit of Volunteer

You can customize the youngest volunteer age allowed in Preferences. If it’s set to check birth dates you can only

Alternate Address – Snowbirds

Terminate Volunteer v6.0 | Terminate Volunteer v5.9 | Alternate Address v5.9 | Alternate Address v6.0 Terminate the Snowbird Volunteer, Reporter

Attributes, Read Only

Full Read & Write Access Required: Data folder [usually on a server] Ideally entire C: drive [where Reporter is installed]

Attributes, Settings

Change to Detail View – Windows 7 Start button | Computer | Change Your View menu | More Options |

Availability

If you assign each volunteer the times or shifts they are available on the Awards/Avail tab, you can produce a

Availability Using Skills

The Volunteer Reporter has an availability feature for volunteers on which you can search. With a filter you can bring

Awards – Edit the Order

Numerical Order The Reporter and computers in general put lists in order alphanumerically, so you can rename your award levels

Awards Reporting

One method to view volunteers’ incremental hours or years alongside a list of awards already received is to compare the

Backup Data Set to Desktop

Backup Data to Desktop Open the Volunteer Reporter It’s good insurance to close everybody else out of the Reporter, including

Birthday Labels

The Mailing Labels report is ideal for organizing birthdays. It lets you choose the birthday month and display the month

Birthday List by Month

Some organizations like to print volunteers’ birthdays in their monthly newsletters without the birth year. You can produce a report

Birthday List without Year

Some organizations like to print volunteers’ birthdays by month without the birth year. You can produce a report with that

Bulk Replacements

We created a new, easy to use wizard which enables you to update a single field for many (or all)

Canada Customization

The Reporter allows you to customize or turn off various fields in Preferences. Canada Country Settings The Reporter allows you

Canada Dates Settings

The Volunteer Reporter displays dates according to each Windows user’s settings in the Region and Language control panel. Set the

Canadian Addresses

There are a couple of different ways to enter Canadian addresses when you work with a predominantly U.S. database. Either:

Canadian Specs

The Reporter allows you to customize all the geographic requirements for Canada. You can change City, ST, Zip, as well

Citrix

Our customers tell us that the Volunteer Reporter works fine on Citrix/terminal server applications, but we have no direct experience

CNCS – Preferences

If you are a program affiliated with Senior Corps, set up your Preferences to customize for your program. File |

CNCS – Primary Focus Area

Use this report to help determine your primary focus area. The gives the number of volunteers, jobs, and hours served

CNCS – Primary Focus Area

New reporting requirements for Senior Corp programs affiliated with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) were released late

CNCS – Primary Job Placement

There are three areas where you can select a volunteer’s Primary Job Placement in Reporter version 6.1: Volunteers, Placements, and

CNCS – Station Roster

The Station Roster in version 6.1 fulfills the CNCS 2012 format which categorizes stations by Focus Areas and Objectives. Every

Codes

This page covers setting up custom Volunteer codes for version 5.9 and previous. The procedure is similar for Station and

Codes -Volunteer Field Lists

List Fields – Volunteer Profile Tab The List fields (version 6.0) let you choose multiple selections, the same way that

Copy Data Manually

Copying Data from One Data Set to Another An easy way to get data from an existing data set into

Copy Record

Copy and Paste Keyboard Shortcuts to Copy and Paste In the Reporter you can copy and paste from single fields

Couples Mailing Labels

Couples Mailing Labels: Only those marked as needing a label The Reporter defaults to the Mailing Name when you do

Cursor Stuck

People have reported that their keyboard seems to “stick” sometimes and that they can free it up by pressing and

Custom Reports

Customization Our program, the Volunteer Reporter, offers an array of powerful features that will help you create custom reports, spreadsheets,

Custom Reports – Canada

The Volunteer Reporter database, offers an array of powerful features that will help you create custom reports, spreadsheets, templates, mail

Customization for Canada

The Reporter is quite flexible, with custom code fields for Volunteers, Stations and Jobs. Each of those sections has a

Data Entry List

The Reporter does not provide a way to track changes specific to a user per se, even though you can

Data Security

The Volunteer Reporter database runs on your own system, not the Web. The data folder is typically located on your

Data Set – Create

First Create a New Data Folder You may need to create a new data set after you first install the

Data Set – Create

First Create a New Data Folder You may need to create a new data set after you first install the

Data, Copy Manually

Copying Data from One Data Set to Another An easy way to get data from an existing data set into

Dates Hierarchy

When you add new Volunteer, Placement and Hours records, keep in mind that certain dates you enter will restrict other

Dates Preferences

You can customize date checking in Preferences. Date Preferences are accessed via the File menu | Preferences | Date Limits

dBase

The Volunteer Reporter is a standalone program designed for volunteer management, built on Visual dBase, version 10, so it does

dBase ODBC

As far as we know, there is no ODBC driver for dbf files, version 10. The only programs we know

Delete Old Data

A utility built into the Reporter enables you to delete the files attached to terminated volunteers in order to further

Delete vs. Terminate

Q: How do you end a placement or job of a volunteer without deleting them or the hours they volunteered

Demo

How to Download a Free Trial Instructions for Firefox | Instructions for Internet Explorer Downloading and installing the Volunteer Reporter

DEP

Microsoft Windows uses DEP for memory allocation for data. Refer to Windows Help file for more information. It seems that

DPI Windows versions

You cannot make the font larger in the Reporter per se, but a way to make fonts larger overall is

Email Messages

Individual Email To start an email message to a Volunteer or Supervisor, open the appropriate record in the Reporter in

Email Picture Unblocking

Microsoft Office Help Topic Outlook 2003 You can choose to download pictures and other blocked content on a per-message basis

Email Station Report

Hours Report for a Single Station Stations | choose the station | Print button | Station Hours by Volunteer Set

Error Log – Email to Us

The error log resides inside the Reporter’s Program folder. Locate the Error Log In the Reporter click on the Help

Excel Export Totals

Problem May 13, 2008. When I was exporting Hours Served Summary by Volunteer to Excel I noticed that the totals

Excel Tips

How to Delete Extra Columns in Excel Click column D (Stipend in the screen shot) or whichever your first column

Export Reports

The Print/Export button enables you to print specific pages or the entire report, export the report as another file type,

Export WA Hours to Excel

Export Web Assistant New Hours to Excel In the Web Assistant screen, New Hours tab, click Print to export the

FGP & SCP Clients as Jobs

Stipends | Stipend Reporting Sometimes volunteers serve with a particular person instead of at a job. We have modified Jobs

Field Lists Setup

Field Lists Setup for Volunteers Version 6.0 introduces the Volunteer Profile which offers great flexibility for viewing and tracking volunteer

Filter for Clients

Version 5.7 Filter for Clients or Jobs Use these two filters on any reports to single out just the Clients

Filter for no Email Addresses

Mailed Newsletters to Those Who Do Not Have an Email Address When sending newsletters some organizations email a digital newsletter

Filter for Web Jobs

In order for Volunteers and Supervisors to login to the Web Assistant, they need to each have an active placement.

Filter Lifetime Hours

Lifetime Hours Filter for 4000 Hours Filters | Add Filter Add a filter and name it something like Lifetime Hours.

Filters Quick Overview

Filters Quick Overview The filters included in the Reporter installation are samples you can delete. You can easily make any

Find Grid

How to find a volunteer by first name: From the volunteer screen click on the Find button. Click on the

Font and Theme Colors

Change Font Size You can choose to increase the size of the screen fonts used throughout the Reporter. Change the

Font Size

Change Font Size You can choose to increase the size of the screen fonts used throughout the Reporter. Change the

Groups

GROUPS TAB Volunteer Groups is a tab on the Volunteer screen. A person can belong to one or several groups.

Groups – delete value

Sometimes when you try to delete a value in the Reference Codes you get the message that you cannot delete

Groups/Skills tab

Add a Group Name – Reference Codes First you will add the group name Click the Reference Codes menu Volunteer

Hours Grid

You can now enter a volume of hours for a single date into a large grid. After you activate the

Impact Jobs

Impact Jobs An Impact Job is one where volunteers are making an impact on your community. It’s a job where

Import Assistant FAQ

Q: Can I import more data later? A: No, because each time you import data with the Import Assistant it

Import Assistant Fields

Download the Import Assistant (Import.exe) into the Reporter’s program folder which is probably c:\reporter\program. After downloading, run Import.exe and follow

Import Assistant Instructions

Our website explains about the Import Assistant at volsoft.com/support/utilities.htm. The Import Assistant runs in two steps, one for Volunteers and

Import Station Roster

If you have the CNCS Station Roster in the Excel format the Corporation provides, you can use that as the

Import Volunteer Works Data

Import Volunteer Works data directly into the Volunteer Reporter with a free utility on our website. Below the middle of

Importer for Volgistics Data

Preparation Export your data from Volgistics making sure to choose a separate column for each phone number. Include every field

In use by Another

Other Printing Solutions Q: Every time this one workstation tries to pull volunteers hours or address labels on stations we

In-Kind Reimbursements

The Reporter is set up to handle In-Kind Reimbursements automatically after you set it up with that in mind. On

Inactive Volunteers Reports

There is a report on Terminated Volunteers, but the Inactive Volunteers reports are about non-terminated volunteers during a particular period

Installation

Click Next. Click “I accept the agreement” and Click Next. The Reporter knows to reinstall over the original location, so

Installation User Rights

Minimum User Rights for the Reporter to Run Every Volunteer Reporter user [and Touch-Screen Assistant] needs full read/write access to:

Issue Areas

Issue Areas in the Volunteer Reporter are groupings of service categories for reporting statistics to the Corporation for National and

Job Naming by Shifts

Scheduling by Job Shifts We have a few customers who set up their jobs creatively by naming their jobs as

Labels – Birthdays

Birthday Labels The Mailing Labels report is ideal for organizing birthdays. It lets you choose the birthday month and display

Labels – Name Badges

Labels – Name Badges This will help you get started creating name badges. Reports | Volunteer Reports | Labels |

Language Driver

In the rare case that you will check the Language Driver, find it on the BDE Administrator Control Panel. Click

Letters and Envelopes

Word Letters and Envelopes Overview The Reporter enables you to print form letters for individual volunteers, stations, and jobs as

License

Our license constitutes our contract with the customer. The license and warranty information are located in the Reporter’s Reference Manual

Lifetime Hours Filter

Lifetime Hours Filter for 4000 Hours Filters | Add Filter Add a filter and name it something like Lifetime Hours.

Lifetime Hours Fix

Lifetime Hours Fix The Lifetime Hours on the volunteers’ info tab calculates as of today by adding all the hours

Live Update

Live Update Instructions You can run Live Update from the Help menu any time. Your computer must be connected to

Live Update Manual

Live Update usually runs automatically at the time interval set in Preferences. In addition, you can run Live Update from

Live Update Patches

Live Update appends the next alpha letter to the current version number of the Volunteer Reporter. Since version 6.0 you

Macro for Excel 2007

Enclosed is a section of Microsoft’s help file in Excel 2007, verbatim, with the addition of some screen shots to

Mailing Labels for Couples

Mailing Labels for Couples Couples Mailing Labels: Only those marked as needing a label The Reporter defaults to the Mailing

Manual Live Update

Live Update usually runs automatically at the time interval set in Preferences. In addition, you can run Live Update from

Manual, Reference PDF

Inside the Reporter, on the Help menu, you will find a link to the Reference Manual PDF and the Help

Merge – Certificate

Merge Certificate – Change Text Direction This is an unusual request—to be able to merge volunteers’ names and the date

Merge Labels – Word 2007

Merging in Word 2007 First make either a Merge File or Spreadsheet in the Reporter. If you produced a spreadsheet

Migrate Data

This describes migrating data from the local drive to a network folder. Create a Data Folder First make a shared

Move Placement

Change/Move Placement v6.1 You can now manage a job’s volunteers right from the job screen. This mirrors what you can

Network Troubleshooting

Trouble Connecting to the Data If you are having trouble connecting to the data on the network, here’s a setup

Networking Share Data Folder

VolSoft support is exclusively for the our programs, the Reporter and modules. We are not network experts and cannot help

Number Filled is Zero

Number Filled is Zero – Volunteers Assigned to Clients To find jobs and clients who do not yet have a

Numbering System Fix

Numbering Abnormalities Sometimes people put an O in the numbering scheme instead of a zero, as in Station numbers SO1221

Numbering Zero

Numbering System Fix Numbering Abnormalities Sometimes people put an O in the numbering scheme instead of a zero, as in

Passwords

Password protection in the Volunteer Reporter is set up right inside the Reporter. You can do it yourself. Go to

Patches

Live Update appends the next alpha letter to the current version number of the Volunteer Reporter. Since version 6.0 you

Pay Online

Online Purchases Renew Your Support/Upgrade Package Go to volsoft.com Click on Support | Technical Support and Upgrade Bundle If purchasing

Permissions

Minimum User Rights for the Reporter to Run Every Volunteer Reporter user [and Touch-Screen Assistant] needs full read/write access to:

Photos

Volunteer Photos You can insert photos from your computer onto the volunteer’s record, then print, rotate, crop, and export them.

Placements

Placements and Hours Whenever you click Add in the Hours screen in the Volunteer Reporter, the Add button changes to

Preferences

Preferences (File Menu) The Screen tab, Customize tab, Performance tab, and the Hours Display on the General tab apply only

Preferences Dates

You can customize date checking in Preferences. Date Preferences are accessed via the File menu | Preferences | Date Limits

Preferences for CNCS

CNCS Customization in the Volunteer Reporter – v6.1 If you are a program affiliated with Senior Corps, set up your

Preferences for Reimbursements

Preferences for Reimbursements File | Preferences | Reimbursement Limits Reimbursement Limits Tab Do you reimburse volunteers at all? Check this.

Preferences Reimbursements

Reimbursement Limits Tab Do you reimburse volunteers at all? Check this. Do you reimburse for this? Check each one you

Presidential Service Award

President’s Volunteer Service Award – Manual Procedure Three ways to tackle the report Paste into the Certificate Build a Custom

Preview Spreadsheet Problem

Station Roster Can’t Open – “already open” Q: I am trying to create a Station Roster spreadsheet and it keeps

Print Timesheets

Print and Preview Timesheets Timesheet for Single Record Preview, Print, Export and Email Procedure You can print timesheets specific to

RAM and OS

You can determine what version of Windows you have and how much RAM by finding MY COMPUTER on your computer

Read Only Error

This ‘Table is read only’ error always indicates a lack of user rights. Every Reporter user-workstation needs to have full

Reference Codes

Here’s an example for adding a reference code for stations that are faith based. Go to: Reference Codes | Assign

Reimbursements In-Kind

In-Kind Reimbursements The Reporter is set up to handle In-Kind Reimbursements automatically after you set it up with that in

Reimbursements Preferences

Preferences for Reimbursements File | Preferences | Reimbursement Limits Reimbursement Limits Tab Do you reimburse volunteers at all? Check this.

Reindex Data

The first thing to do when you get a database engine error is to reindex. Reindexing is very easy to

Remote Access

Overview: The Volunteer Reporter works on any Windows network as a database using Windows file sharing. The only problem people

Remote Desktop Connection

Disclaimer: We are not Windows or networking experts, but we offer our take an RDP as an overview, below. Refer

Rename a Backup File

If you have occasion to send us multiple backup files made on the same day, you can modify their names

Renew Support Online

Online Purchases Renew Your Support/Upgrade Package Go to volsoft.com Click on Support | Technical Support and Upgrade Bundle If purchasing

Resize Screens

This issue addressed in this tutorial was fixed with a patch in version 5.7, but the method for resizing secondary

Restart Placement

Restart a Terminated Placement To restart a placement, open Placements from the main menu. Find the Volunteer. You can use

Restart Terminated Volunteer

Restart a Terminated Volunteer Restart a Terminated Volunteer v6.0 Restarting a Volunteer in version 6.0 is simplified. Volunteers | Profile

Restart/Reactivate/Un-terminate

Reactivate Reactivate Placement You can reactivate a Volunteer’s placement by going to the Placements section from the middle button on

Restore – Migrate Data

This describes migrating data from the local drive to a network folder. Create a Data Folder First make a shared

Schedule Availability

Scheduling / Availability Q: Is there a way to schedule the volunteers repetitively for the same job type and same

Scheduling Reports

Scheduling Reports Schedule and Timesheet reports display in a list format of the available time slots and volunteers scheduled for

SCP & FGP Clients as Jobs

Stipends | Stipend Reporting Sometimes volunteers serve with a particular person instead of at a job. We have modified Jobs

Server Hosting

Occasionally we are asked about server hosting. The Volunteer Reporter works on any Windows network as a database using Windows

Server Permissions

Server Permissions The Volunteer Reporter works on any Windows network as a database using Windows file sharing. The data resides

Share Data Folder

VolSoft support is exclusively for the our programs, the Reporter and modules. We are not network experts and cannot help

Shopping Cart

Online Purchases Renew Your Support/Upgrade Package You can renew your yearly tech support and Web Assistant subscriptions on-line using a

Skills

Overview To match a volunteer skill to a requested skill by a Job/Client, e.g., volunteer shoppers with clients requesting shoppers,

Skills Deletion

Deleting Skills First make a Filter for all skills you wish to delete. Filters | Add Filter | give the

Skills for Scheduling

Using Skills for Scheduling The Reporter is very flexible for accommodating different organizational needs. This is one unique way to

Snowbirds – Alternate Address

Terminate the Snowbird Volunteer, Reporter v6.0 With the Reporter you can start and stop volunteers at any time—for example, snowbirds

Spreadsheets – Do-It-Yourself

Do-It-Yourself Station Spreadsheets You can create a Do-It-Yourself Spreadsheets for Volunteers, Jobs and Stations. Create an unlimited number of custom,

Startup Options

When you first start the Reporter, you can press one of several F keys quickly to force the Reporter to

Station Roster Combine

Combine Station Roster Some agencies need to submit roster for more than one data set. Create the stations roster on

Station Roster FAQs

Station Roster Date FLASH! October 2012 – Version 6.0k patch for the new version of the Station Roster. The Station

Station Types Utility

After upgrading the Reporter to version 5.5, you may get a message to upgrade your Station Types, too. You may

Stipends

Stipends [Version 5.7 and later versions] You can choose to pay a stipend to some or all of your volunteers

Stipends Screenshots

Stipends | Stipend Reporting Sometimes volunteers serve with a particular person instead of at a job. We have modified Jobs

Templates – Create & Add

Create and Add Word Templates There is some good written info on creating and adding Word templates in the Reference

Terminate in the Future

Terminating in the Future Terminating in the future does not work for later adding hours. If you terminate a person

Terminate Jobs/Clients

Terminate Jobs/Clients Q: How do you end a job or client without deleting them or the hours served for their

Terminate Placement

Terminate a Placement Open Placements from the main menu. Find the volunteer by name. Select (highlight) the appropriate job placement.

Terminate Stations

Terminating Stations The ideal way to handle a station which is no longer contributing hours is to Terminate it. Terminating

Terminate Volunteers Temporarily

Tracking Temporarily Terminated Volunteers Temporarily Terminated Volunteers You can terminate your volunteers who are temporarily inactive. And then restart them

Terminated Volunteers-Include

Include Terminated Volunteers By default, the Reporter includes only active volunteers on most reports, with the large exception of Hours

Termination Cause – Add

Adding Cause of Termination Fields Lists – Version 6.0 Close Volunteers Click on the File menu Click on Field Lists

Termination Causes

Terminated Volunteers In general, the Reporter excludes terminated volunteers from reports. The exceptions are reports about Hours—those reports include those

Termination Filter Limitations

Active and Inactive Filter Limitations Since Version 5.7 you can easily include or exclude terminated volunteers. After you name a

Thumbnails – Reports

How to Reveal Thumbnails in Reports When previewing a report, thumbnails of each page are displayed in a column on

Timesheet Column Reformatting

Word Timesheet – Reformatting Columns Reference Manual: Help | Reference Manual (PDF) | Reference | Reports | Timesheets | 5.10.07

Timesheet Printing

Print and Preview Timesheets Timesheet for Single Record Preview, Print, Export and Email Procedure You can print timesheets specific to

Touch-Screen Assistant Auto-Start

Touch-Screen Assistant Auto-Start To make the Touch-Screen Assistant software open automatically when the computer is rebooted, during installation check the

Touch-Screen Assistant Calibration

Touch screen calibration explanation borrowed from three sites: Touch-screen input devices are actually entirely separate devices from the display screens

Touch-Screen Assistant Logout

Touch-Screen Assistant Logout The TSA cannot automatically logout a volunteer. The Who’s Here screen is designed for, among other things,

Touch-Screen Assistant Modular

Touch-Screen Assistant Modular We shipped the Volunteer Reporter and Touch-Screen Assistant upgrades together on two discs prior to Reporter v5.8.

Touch-Screen Assistant Overview

Touch-Screen Assistant The Touch-Screen Assistant is an add-on module for the Volunteer Reporter which enables your volunteers to sign themselves

Touch-Screen Assistant PINS

PINS for Touch-Screen Assistant and Web Assistant The Touch-Screen Assistant enables your volunteers to enter their PINs and sign themselves

Touch-Screen Assistant Shut Down

Turn Off Touch-Screen Assistant When reindexing the Volunteer Reporter data or upgrading the Reporter data or the Touch-Screen Assistant software,

Tracking Prospective Volunteers

Tracking Prospective Volunteers Temporarily Terminated Volunteers Some organizations terminate their prospective volunteers temporarily until they fulfill their police checks or

Unduplicated Totals

Impact Jobs Example | Service Category Volunteers Example | Totall Enrollment and Hours Example | POG Example Impact Jobs Example

Value Wage

Value Wage – the Value of Volunteer Time Designate the value wage for all jobs. In File | Preferences |

Verify Data Entry

Verify Data Entry A date stamp on new records gives a clue if you are trying to track down an

Veterans Tracking

Tracking Volunteers Who Are Veterans The Senior Corp wants their organizations to track which Volunteers are veterans and which Clients serve

Veterans Tracking for CNCS

PRS Data for Veterans for CNCS – RSVPs On the 2013 Progress Report Supplement CNCS asks three questions about military

Volgistics Importer

Volgistics Importer Preparation Export your data from Volgistics making sure to choose a separate column for each phone number. Include

Volunteer Profile Overview

Volunteer Profile Screen v.6.0 Overview Your first view of the Volunteers section as of version 6.0 in the Reporter is

Volunteer Works Import Data

Import Data from Volunteer Works Import Volunteer Works data directly into the Volunteer Reporter with a free utility on our

VPN Issues

We never recommend using the Volunteer Reporter over VPN, but some organizations successfully use the Reporter that way. Although we

Web Assistant Admin: PINS

PINS for Touch-Screen Assistant and Web Assistant The Touch-Screen Assistant enables your volunteers to enter their PINs and sign themselves

Web Assistant Firewall

When people first do a send-and-receive in the Web Assistant, they sometimes get a message to make a firewall exception:

Web Assistant Hours Management

Managing Hours Downloads in the Web Assistant Do a Send-and Receive routinely. Approve hours. Do a Send-and Receive including volunteers

Web Assistant Jobs List

Web Assistant Jobs List Specified Jobs List Filter You can decide just which jobs to publish on the Web Assistant

Web Assistant Specs & Security

Web Assistant Requirements Management from within the Volunteer Reporter. We send your links for you to incorporate into your existing

Word Letters and Envelopes

Word Letters and Envelopes Overview The Reporter enables you to print form letters for individual volunteers, stations, and jobs as

Years of Service Report

The following method works for Volunteer Reporter versions before 5.9. As of version 5.9, both the years of service and