Volunteer Management FAQ

Use built-in email tools to easily email your volunteers to drive activation.

An essential part of a strong volunteer program is regular communication to volunteers. To facilitate this outreach, Administrators in GC Volunteer Management are able to use the "Email Volunteers" tab do do outreach to volunteers - both registered and unregistered.

This will allow you to create templates, filter volunteers based on things like registration status, role, class year, last activity, and then email volunteers right within GiveCampus -- making it easier than ever for you to motivate and activate your volunteers.

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Step 1: Creating Templates

Under the "Email Volunteers" tab in your GC Volunteer Management Administrator Dashboard there is an option for "Email Templates". These email templates are intended for administrator use and are not shared with volunteers. However, they are visible and able to be used by other Volunteer Management administrators at your school. 

To get started, click the "New Email Template" button.

Necessary Fields and Content: 

• Template Name
• Template Description
• Sender Name
• Reply-to Email Address
• Subject Line
• Content for the body of the email

Merge Tokens: 
Just as with email templates created for volunteers, you'll be able to include imagery, links, and merge tokens. There are some new merge tokens available to use when communicating with volunteers: 

• Volunteer Name
• Volunteer Class year 
• Volunteer Role
• # of Assignments
• # of Assignments who have given
• Last activity date

Once you've got your content in place, click "Save Email Template" to be able to use this when communicating with volunteers.

 

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Step 2: Emailing Volunteers

From the "Email Volunteers" tab you'll see all volunteers for your school, pre-filtered to those that you manage. The page is automatically split into two sections  - those volunteers who are registered and those who are unregistered.

 

Use Filters: 
If you'd like to filter the list further , you can select the "Filters" button and refine the list to see only volunteers which meet those filter criteria, which include:

• Class Year
• Role
• Assignment Giving
• Volunteer Activity

Emailing Selected Volunteers: 

• Filter Your List
• Select all volunteers in that list or you can select only certain volunteers from that list. 
• Press "Email Selected Volunteers.
• Choose a template and make any adjustments to the email subject or body. 
• You can send yourself a test of the email or just send the email to your volunteers! 
• Celebrate and monitor email statistics in aggregate and for individual volunteers! 🎉

Managing Administrator Email Notifications

Switching from Individual Emails to Daily Digest

If administrators are receiving too many individual email notifications when volunteers add notes to assignments (sometimes hundreds per volunteer), you can switch to a daily digest format:

To change notification settings:

1. Navigate to the Administrators page in your VMS: https://www.givecampus.com/vms/[SCHOOLNAME]/admin/administrators
2. Locate the administrator in the table
3. In the "Digest Email Notifications" column, change the dropdown from "No" to "Yes"
4. The administrator will now receive a daily summary email instead of individual notifications

What this controls:

• Individual email notifications when volunteers add notes to assignments
• Other volunteer activity notifications
• The setting applies only to that specific administrator

Note: You cannot completely disable these notifications, but the digest format greatly reduces email volume while keeping administrators informed of volunteer activity.

Why Constituents Don't Appear in Email Tab

Missing Email Addresses

If volunteers report that constituents who appear in their assignments don't show up when trying to send emails, this is typically because those constituents don't have email addresses on their records.

How the email filtering works:

• The Email tab only displays constituents who have valid email addresses (containing "@")
• Constituents without email addresses are automatically filtered out
• This prevents volunteers from trying to send emails to non-emailable contacts

Common scenarios:

• Deceased constituents with email addresses removed
• Historical records missing contact information
• Constituents who have specifically requested no email contact

Solution: Check the constituent records in question to verify they have valid email addresses. If email addresses are missing, update your constituent data file to include them, or remove those constituents from email-focused volunteer assignments.

 

Troubleshooting Email Issues for Volunteers

Volunteer Getting Logged Out While Composing Emails

If a volunteer reports being logged out when trying to send an email through the VMS (getting a login prompt when clicking send), try these troubleshooting steps:

1. Check session timeout settings - Sessions may expire during long email composition periods

2. Verify volunteer registration status - Ensure the volunteer has fully completed account registration

3. Clear browser cache and cookies - Old session data can cause authentication issues

4. Try a different browser or incognito mode - Browser-specific issues can interfere with session management

5. Have the volunteer log out completely and log back in before composing emails

Email Replies and Notifications

Q: When volunteers send emails through VMS and assignments reply, does the volunteer get notified in their dashboard?

A: No, replies to VMS emails are sent directly to the volunteer's personal email inbox. The VMS does not track or display email replies in the volunteer dashboard.

Best Practice: Ask volunteers to add Notes to the constituent record in VMS if important information is discussed in email exchanges.