VMS Email Reporting

Under the Reporting section of your VMS Administrator Dashboard is the "Email Deliverability" page. This reporting option allows for a much greater level of insight into your volunteers’ outreach efforts. The Email Deliverability section of your VMS reporting shows how many emails your volunteers have sent, as well as how many of those emails have been delivered or opened. Also highlighted are any emails that bounced or were deferred in delivery.

 

Filtering Your Results

Beyond this aggregate information, the Email Deliverability reporting also gives you the ability to focus these insights on specific subsets of your volunteer base, allowing you to

Use filters to refine your report by email template, volunteer, or email event.

Click the Download CSV button at the top right of the page to export your data.

The report is generated in the background. You’ll receive an email with a download link at your VMS login address within 30 minutes.

The CSV file includes the following columns: Volunteer ID, Constituent Name, Constituent Email, Volunteer Name, Volunteer Class Year, Email Template, Subject, Latest Event, and Date Sent.

. As you add filters and narrow down your list to a specific group of volunteers, the email deliverability tiles will update automatically, reflecting the statistics for your chosen group. Using the filters will also update the list of individual emails to only those that match the filter criteria.

 

Clicking on "Subject Line" for any email will take you to the specific email's details where the content of the email, full log of delivery & open events, as well as other details can be seen.

 

Exporting Information

The new Email Reporting also provides an easy way for you to export a chosen set of emails as a CSV file. Once you’ve used filters to hone in on a specific volunteer group’s statistics, simply select the “Download CSV” button at the bottom of the screen.  

 

How do my Email Deliverability stats measure up?

The industry average for open rates is about 25%.

Below are the platform-wide email deliverability averages for additional context:

### Q: Are emails sent by volunteers who were later deactivated included in Email Deliverability reporting? A: Yes. Emails sent before a volunteer is deactivated remain in the Email Deliverability report and CSV exports. Deactivating a volunteer only stops future outreach and removes their login access—it does not delete historical email records such as sends, delivery events, opens, or bounces. - **Report details:** Emails from deactivated volunteers are included in the aggregate numbers and email lists for the selected date range. However, with the volunteer’s account inactive, the Volunteer name and Volunteer ID fields will show as unavailable. - **Volunteer filter:** The **Filter by Volunteer** dropdown lists only active volunteers. To view sends from deactivated volunteers, use the unfiltered list and search by date range. - **Export behavior:** Clicking **Download CSV** exports all records, including those from deactivated volunteers. The volunteer name and ID fields will indicate unavailability for deactivated accounts. To identify records from a deactivated volunteer, search the CSV using the constituent's name or email address.

FAQ — How can I tell whether a specific volunteer actually sent any emails?

To check if a volunteer sent any emails, the Email Deliverability report shows per-volunteer activity and lists individual messages sent.

1. Open the Email Deliverability report:

   • In the VMS admin left navigation, click Home and select Email Deliverability from the sub-menu. The page breadcrumb reads: Home > Reporting > Email Deliverability.

2. Reveal the filter panel:

   • Click the Filter Results button.

3. Filter by volunteer:

   • Use the Filter by Volunteer dropdown to choose a volunteer by name. Note: This dropdown lists only active, registered volunteers. To view emails sent by a deactivated volunteer, remove the volunteer filter and search by the date range, or export the CSV and search it by constituent name/email.

4. Review the messages table:

   • The table updates to show emails that match the filter. Each row includes: Subject Line, Constituent, Volunteer, Volunteer ID, Email Template, Date Sent, and Latest Event.

5. Interpret the results:

   • If rows are present, the volunteer has sent emails. Click a Subject Line to view the email’s details, including delivery logs and events.
   • If the table is empty (and the date range and filters are set correctly), the volunteer has not sent any email outreach through the VMS.

6. Download or audit sends:

   • Click Download CSV to export the filtered records. The CSV will include only the selected volunteer’s sends. To include deactivated volunteers, remove the volunteer filter, export all records for the date range, and then search the CSV by constituent name or email.

7. Reset filters:

   • While filters are active, click Reset Filters to clear all dropdowns to All Volunteers / All Templates / All Events while preserving the selected date range.

Troubleshooting if no emails appear:

• The volunteer may not have sent any outreach yet.
• The selected date range might be too narrow; try widening it or clearing the date filter.
• Note that toggles disabling system notification emails do not affect volunteer-to-constituent outreach records.
• The report only shows volunteer-to-constituent emails. Emails sent from the Email Volunteers tab are not included.

For a complete audit of all emails sent by a volunteer—including those from deactivated accounts—export a CSV covering your desired date range and search by the volunteer’s name or the recipient’s email.

Every single VMS school has an open rate significantly higher than 45%. Peer-to-peer communication works! Curious about how your volunteers’ email outreach efforts compare to those of your fellow VMS partner schools? We’ve got you covered! Below you’ll find our platform-wide email deliverability averages between March 2020 and January 2021: 

• Emails delivered: 92.0%
• Delivered emails opened across all schools: 52.5%
• Delivered emails opened for schools sending >10,000 emails: 50.9%
• Delivered emails opened for schools sending 1,000-10,000 emails: 57.0%
• Delivered emails opened for schools sending <1,000 emails: 63.7%