Frequently Asked Questions About Better Impact’s Software

Better Impact is a provider of comprehensive volunteer management solutions designed for volunteer-reliant organizations of all sizes and in all verticals. Our platform saves time and reduces administrative burden for volunteer managers while improving recruitment, engagement, retention, and the overall volunteer experience in your program.

Volunteer Impact is Better Impact’s flagship product, hosting the majority of its volunteer management features. Better Impact is the umbrella organization for the Volunteer Impact platform and several other solutions, including the Client Impact client services tool, Member Impact membership management module, Volunteer Link corporate volunteering software, and Get Connected Center agency management hub.

Volunteer management software is technology that helps volunteer managers allocate time and resources more effectively while boosting program outcomes and satisfaction. The best volunteer management platforms (like Volunteer Impact by Better Impact) include features that support every stage of the volunteer lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, engagement, appreciation, and retention.

Volunteer Impact users praise the platform for its ease of use, data centralization, robust reporting, simplified workflows, and helpful customer support team. Better Impact is also a fully integrated, self-contained system that works equally well for organizations of all sizes, from small community groups to enterprise-level nonprofits.

Any organization that relies on volunteer support to further a cause can benefit from Better Impact’s tools. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the verticals we serve:

• Animal shelters
• Aquariums
• Arts and culture
• Catholic charities
• Churches
• Community event programs
• Food banks and hunger relief
• Hospice care
• Hospitals and healthcare
• K-12 education
• Master gardeners
• Municipalities and cities
• Museums
• Parks and recreation departments
• Public media
• State and national parks
• Theatres
• Universities and colleges
• Zoos

No. Better Impact is designed for managing volunteers, members, and clients, but not donors. There is an API available for exporting data from Better Impact and into external databases.

Very! Better Impact allows your organization to adapt its platform for its needs in many ways, including:

• Incorporating your branding into volunteer-facing materials and communications
• Developing unique recruitment workflows and signup forms
• Configuring your own schedules and training resources
• Setting different user permissions for different locations and departments
• Pulling reports of the exact data you want to analyze

Note that different levels of customization are available with different platform pricing tiers.

Both! Volunteers can log their hours, access resources and schedules, and contact peers and leaders either through a responsive desktop portal or the MyImpact mobile app, both of which can be configured and branded to your organization.

Yes. Volunteer self-scheduling is an optional feature of Volunteer Impact, and we recommend enabling it only for experienced volunteers as a token of appreciation for their dedication. Even if volunteers aren’t allowed to self-schedule, they can view all of their upcoming shifts, contact managers about any necessary changes, and input their availability in the app or portal.

Volunteer Impact’s volunteer training features support both onboarding and ongoing education for volunteers through:

• An eLearning module where you can build independent online training courses
• Scheduling support for synchronous training sessions as well as shifts
• Onboarding progress tracking in individual volunteer profiles
• Customizable digital assessments with automatic scoring
• A resource library for storing documents, infographics, slide decks, videos, and other reference formats that’s accessible through the volunteer portal and app

Note that all Volunteer Impact plans include a basic online resource library, but only the Growth and Impact plans allow multimedia content uploading and access to the eLearning module.

Volunteer Impact includes built-in email and SMS communication tools that allow you to:

• Design branded email templates for all types of messages in minutes
• Text both individuals and groups with one-way, opt-in SMS
• Segment recipient lists so the right communications reach the right volunteers
• Automate shift reminders (in higher-tier pricing plans)

Your organization can also embed or generate links to open role descriptions, application forms, impact reports, and other essential volunteer program information on your organization’s website from Volunteer Impact. Then, you can share these pages on social media or in communications with prospective volunteers to spread the word about your program.

Yes. All public-facing aspects of Volunteer Impact comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA out of the box. It’s possible for individual customers to introduce accessibility issues during the customization process, but our Accessibility Pro Widget helps your organization easily adjust characteristics like color contrast and font sizing to keep your portal, forms, and communications accessible.

Better Impact can help your organization navigate nearly any volunteer management situation, from centralizing multi-location and multi-chapter management to engaging hybrid and remote volunteers, and organizing corporate volunteer groups. Check out our case studies for more information on the unique volunteer management challenges we’ve solved for real organizations!