An overview of the VMS onboarding process, and what to expect along the way
Congratulations on officially becoming a GiveCampus VMS partner! We’re thrilled to welcome you to our community, and excited to get your VMS up and running. In this article, we outline the six primary phases of the VMS onboarding process, giving you an idea of what to expect every step of the way.
The Onboarding process is largely dependent upon your team's ability to decide about what data to send and export that data in an expected format. The timelines below are based on typical experience, but may vary.
Phase 1: Data Decisions (<1 week)
Given that the VMS is a data-intensive tool, the first phase of the onboarding process is deciding what specific datapoints to upload to your VMS. This phase comprises three short surveys, all found within the Data Management tab > Onboarding section of your VMS dashboard. These surveys allow you to determine the content, structure, and formatting of your VMS data.
Phase 2: Foundational File Creation (1-2 weeks)
Once you’ve completed the surveys in Phase 1, the VMS will automatically generate a set of sample CSV files for you to download. These sample CSVs are meant to serve as a guide for how you should format and structure your Foundational Files (the first set of files that the VMS will use to upload & process your data). These sample files will contain a list of suggested column headers, which you can copy to a new CSV file, and populate with the appropriate datapoints. You do not have to use the same column headers that come out of the system -- they can be whatever comes out of your database for that relevant datapoint.
Phase 3: Foundational File Review (1-4 weeks)
After building out your Foundational Files based on the sample CSVs, you will need to send them to GiveCampus’ VMS team via SFTP for review. Typically, the files will be returned with a few comments, suggestions, and questions that need to be addressed. Once you address these comments, the file is sent back to GiveCampus for another round of review. Typically 1-2 rounds of review are common. This part of the process is the most variable in length, as it depends on how much feedback you receive, and how quickly those comments are resolved.
Phase 4: Configuration Creation (3 weeks)
Once all feedback has been incorporated into your Foundational Files, they are then sent to the GiveCampus Engineering team. The Engineering team spends up to two weeks configuring the VMS to fit your data specifications, and then uploads all data from the Foundational Files into your VMS.
Phase 5: Post-Configuration Settings & Testing (1-2 week)
After all your data has been successfully uploaded to the VMS, you are then able to customize your settings to shape the volunteer experience. In this stage of the process, you can make decisions about Volunteer Roles, Assignments, Gift Configurations, and more! We also encourage you to confirm that data is appearing as expected before providing volunteers access to the VMS.
Phase 6: Training & Launch
Now that your data has been uploaded and your settings have been customized, it’s time to begin preparing for launch! You can contact your Partner Success Manager to schedule both Administrator and Volunteer trainings, which can be recorded for future use. You can also check out helpful resources like this GCU article on How to Prepare for a Successful VMS Roll-Out, and this VMS Volunteer Training Slide Deck!
For any questions you have along the way, be sure to check out the VMS Help Section of GCU, or to write into our support channel at support@givecampus.com. Again, welcome to the VMS community!