Volgistics Reviews

Pros

I use Volgistics on a daily basis to manage our database of 300+ volunteers. It is the simplest yet most comprehensive volunteer management system that I have used...and I do have direct experience with other systems. Volunteer processing, report generation and database management are very straightforward. On the rare occasion that we need help, the support team is incredibly responsive. Our volunteers love it also. From online applications to self-scheduling, our volunteers have universally given very positive feedback. Volgistics is one of my most important productivity tools. It is great.

Cons

Although there isn't an app, the mobile site works for self-scheduling. To my knowledge, there isn't a mobile site for the "back end" which is what I use primarily. That would be helpful for times that I need to use the system while on the go.

Pros

It is a complicated system but having used in now in three different non-profits I have volunteered for, it seemed the likely choice. It has a lot of bells and whistles but you don't have to use them. The customizable fields really make this a nice system to work worth and make it your own.

Cons

The price, it is a bit on the pricey side but again is a great product.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Volgistics

Pros

The price point worked well for our organization. It has capacity to store a large number of volunteers.

Cons

Navigation is not smooth with the examples of location of save buttons, navigating back and forth between pages, the search feature is very specific and awkward, inserting graphics within emails is cumbersome, there is no live chat in order to troubleshoot, customer has to email back and forth to customer service which takes a long time, system logs you out automatically without saving so if you have to walk away from the computer to take an extended call, you will lose your work. If you don't enable pop-up windows on your computer, the system will act like you are still logged in so you THINK you are completing a task when in fact you are not. When voicing disappointment with the service, I was passively reminded that there is no extra charge to ask questions, this is not something Volgistics should be hanging their hat on, a paying customer should be able to ask questions on how to use a system they're paying for. The 3 times I did use that feature, they were "unable to help" me.
After losing a significant amount of work, customer service did not offer any compensation and were quick to let me know how to close out my account. The lack of user friendliness takes up a significant amount that for organizations that uses volunteers in order to operate most likely do not have.

Pros

The integrated data and information management processes are very intuitive and require very little manual control and guidance. Everything automatically moves where they might be required to successfully manage a task. Component features like the self service portal, volunteer kiosk and VicTouch work extremely well together to reduce the burden on project managers as much as possible. The trial event runs are also quite fun to simulate and does so much for team morale.

Cons

The long list of features can be a bit difficult to learn and incorporate into daily use. A lot more online resources and tutorial materials could be created to make the learning curve less tasking.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Volgistics

Pros

We use Volgistics to manage our yearly 2000 volunteers at 10 locations. We merged our databases together and use the site feature. This makes multi-site volunteers and volunteer transfers a breeze. We have customized our database to meet our needs.

The customer service team is incredible. I recently inquired about an error and got a response that it would take longer to investigate and fix. Eleven minutes later the issue was resolved. The team is incredibly responsive. When I request things that don't exist, they add me to a list and follow up when the change has been implemented, even if it is a year later.

Cons

There are two main drawbacks to Volgistics.

The first is the lack of daily automatic reports. We reconcile our hours daily and to do so have to manually print a report. It would save us a lot of time if we could have an automatic report run for yesterday every day.

Second, sometimes Volgistics will group shifts together, even when they are not entered together. When we need to change a single shift, it is difficult because all the shifts need to be ended and recreated so a single shift can change.

Pros

Relatively easy to navigate and the month-to-month option allowed us to upgrade from spreadsheets and antiquated software (VolWare) without fear of making a long-term commitment to software that might not work for us.

Cons

Unfortunately, we outgrew Volgistics due to the lack of ability to manage multiple jobs in multiple locations. We wound up having to utilize a lot of workarounds and in some cases couldn't find one. I was personally frustrated that -- while I could request help for certain things through an automated system -- I was never able to speak to an actual person. I wound up spending a lot of extra time trying to describe my issue/problem in writing when a short phone call would have sped things along immenselyl.

Pros

absolute time saver. with over 800 volunteers signing in and out every month, this has DRASTICALLY cut down the amount of time spent tracking hours, scheduling, gathering information, and communicating with volunteers.

Cons

The reporting piece is really solid for the most part, however there are some things I wish it had capacities for that are just odd. Like wanting to see who "typically" comes in on Friday afternoons from 2-5pm. The process to find that type of info is a bit clunky, but again, isn't really something you need to find often, so it's not that big of a con.

Pros

Thank you for a great product. I've been using Volgistics to help with my volunteers since I believe 2010 (two different facilities) and it is incredibly helpful and user friendly.
Grateful to have a system that works for our needs to ensure we account for volunteer time, recognize special days, and keep up with their required documents and such.
Thank you.

Cons

The application build is a bit cumbersome if you are not familiar with the formatting and building, but I appreciate the opportunity to customize to what we need for our volunteer applicants.

Pros

Scheduling, record keeping, reporting and communication - all of this is made possible. Help is ALWAYS helpful and extremely prompt.

Cons

No negatives to report - I've always had the best possible experience.

Pros

The number one pro is the reporting feature. Having the ability to synthesis the volunteer data at the click of a button is amazing. I also like the ability to schedule and communicate with volunteers as well as the application feature (can make multiple applications for various roles). The help screen is fabulous!

Cons

Cannot customize as much as I'd like. There is no "undo" button so all deletions are final. I wish there were more options to jazz up the vicnet screen for the volunteer's portal.

Pros

The feature I enjoyed the most was the ability to print mailing labels. The current system we use does not have that capability, which makes sending out invitations to our large volunteer pool much more difficult.

Cons

I felt like when I was using Volgistics that the software was outdated and not user-friendly in most areas. The overall visual look of the software looked outdated as well. I felt like software was not intuitive and there were ways to accomplish things that I didn't even know how to do because I couldn't figure it out and there was not a support team to e-mail, like we have with the current company we use. Overall, Volgistics needs an update and better customer service support.

Pros

In using the old PC based Volunteer Works and then Volgistics for 20+ years I have found that Volgistics support is outstanding. Fast response to questions and they listen to suggestions for improvements and features and respond when implemented.

Cons

I can't think of any issues that have not been resolved and currently we have not asked for any new functions.

Pros

I am a Volunteer Coordinator for a small non-profit with about 100 volunteers. My favorite thing about Volgistics is the ease of use and their technical support. The application is so intuitive, our volunteers can use it with almost no training - even the older volunteers who are not accustomed to using database applications. Our volunteers love that they can use Volgistics from their phone. The technical support team always responds within minutes. Their instructions are clear and thorough. I highly recommend Volgistics to other Volunteer Coordinators.

Cons

I wish the administrator version was easier to use on my smart phone. Other than that I LOVE Volgistics.

Pros

The product was intuitive and had many features

Cons

It could be difficult to find/create the report for the information that you needed. I did not like that the year drop down box give every year between 2010-2050 . . . I requested that it be limited to our current year and prior, but they could not change that.

Pros

Yes of course it's easy to communicate with people who where in need of it and guide themto use Volgistics

Cons

No, it's actually user friendly and easyfor every one to use.

Pros

Schedules are easy to see and set up. Tagging has been extremely helpful in organization.

Cons

I wish there was a back button. It would really help for when I'm assigning volunteers to specific assignments.

Pros

The Volgistics team has always been responsive, friendly and knowledgeable. The software is easy to us and the help areas explain 90% of what we need to do.

Cons

I really can't think of a "like least" for this software. For a package software that we use to fit our needs there really aren't too many constraints.

Pros

St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County has been blessed with the Volgistic Data System. I work part time making it almost impossible to run a program with 2000 volunteers. Thanks to the Volgistics services I am able to train volunteers, schedule their hours on line and keep track of which volunteers are at which sights, even when I am away at a conference. Volunteer team leaders have the access they need to run their programs effectively and every event has a clear outline and contact info. giving me more time to concentrate on our volunteers.

I have worked for 8 years at SVDP and I feel confident that when I leave the SVDP Society of Marin County on August 27th, 2011 that, as result of having this program, St. Vincent de Paul Society will continue to thrive with the aid of the Vic Net and Vic Touch program.

I would like to thank the Volgistics team for always answering my questions regarding your program in a timely effective manner.

Cons

Set up for the program was challenging

Pros

I evaluated various Volunteer database management products several years ago before doing the free trial with Volgistics. Once I trialed it, I knew I found what I needed. The software is easy to learn - not only for myself and my staff but for the Volunteers that put hours in and input Volunteer information. There are many options that come with the software but also room for customizing so that it can meet whatever specific needs your organization has. The "Help" feature is extensive and in 3 years, I think I have only had to send them a question a few times. It is a hassle free software product - they back it up, they maintain it, they update it. I think the cost is more than reasonable and well worth it for having such an easy software to work with. I really cannot say enough good things about it. I have recommended Volgistics to the other hospitals in our corporation and anticipate them switching to Volgistics soon.

Cons

None that I have encountered.

Pros

I get answers to questions very quickly through the e-mail system. I am able to generate monthly reports while I'm not at my desk (automatic every month), in the morning I come in and they are in my in-box! I am able to keep track of volunteers without a lot of data entry on our part. I am able to keep track of mandatory service for our service learning students. I like to be able to enter notes for each volunteer after phone calls have been made or e-mail correspondence is received or sent. We just started accepting on-line applications--this is awesome. I love this feature.

Cons

I wish that I could scan a document and save it in a volunteers record, but I do know that Volgistics says that they are working to get this to be something that we can do.

Pros

This is very powerful software with SO MANY features and options - many more than I could possibly use, but they are there if you do have a need and I keep discovering more and more useful features.

Cons

Initial set-up can be a little overwhelming and intimidating, but only because there are so many features and options.

Pros

-Web-based, can access database from home.
-Great features: online scheduling for volunteers, touch screen sign in, auditing, reporting, reminders, emailing sets of volunteers for recruitment.
-support is consistently efficient
-Billing is according to how much you use
-easy to learn and implement
-love the online applications with schedule feature

Cons

-help menu is sometimes overly simplistic
-no direct phone number to a help desk
-no training available other than the help menu

Pros

The database is very easy to use especially after using MS Access for years !! It is, for the most part, very intuitive.

Cons

Haven't found anything yet - once you begin to use the program, it's well laid out.