Discussions - Recent Threads

Join Us! Managing Volunteers and Interns Community Group Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:54:58 GMT

Come join us for our Managing Volunteers and Interns Community Group meeting on Thursday, March 14 at 1:00 pm EST. In March's meeting we are thrilled to welcome Amelia Webber from Tessitura's support team to answer any questions or thoughts you have about how to utilize Tessitura in managing your volunteers and interns.

Be prepared to come with questions!

Looking forward to seeing you on the call!

VMS Recommendations

Brandi Shawn-Chaparro — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 20:16:24 GMT

Hello fellow volunteer management professionals,

I'm new here and to Tessitura. I am exploring different VMS options for a brand new museum, no current volunteers, and time to choose the right system. I need a system that can both serve as a database, communication and scheduling tool, plus have integrated tools for virtual training (assigning and tracking training progress, essentially an integrated LMS). Is this a mythical beast? Or does anyone have a recommendation of a system that does all this well and looks like it was made in the past 10 years?

What are you using? Are you using multiple systems to manage volunteers? Does your system integrate easily or well with Tessitura?

Looking forward to getting some feedback and meeting you all. Feel free to also to email me or to connect on LinkedIn.

Best wishes,

Brandi Shawn-Chaparro
brandi.shawnchaparro@lucasmuseum.org

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandi-shawn-chaparro-53140543/

Gearing Up for the Season - Training Meeting Discussion at VIPPCA today

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 13:36:13 GMT

Greetings All,

I am looking forward to our meeting later this month. If you have the opportunity today, I'll be presenting at the VIPPCA (Volunteer and Intern Professionals in the Performing and Cultural Arts) Meeting today at 1:00 pm EST. The subject is Gearing Up for the Season - Training. We will be continuing the conversation at our next meeting along with discussing details about the TLCC Orlando experience.

Hope to see you on the call!

Topic: VIPPCA Monthly Meeting

Time: Sep 6, 2023 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Every month on the First Wed, until Dec 6, 2023, 4 occurrence(s)

Sep 6, 2023 12:00 PM

Oct 4, 2023 12:00 PM

Nov 1, 2023 12:00 PM

Dec 6, 2023 12:00 PM

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Monthly: https://mnorch-org.zoom.us/meeting/tJAtdO2vrzksGNy0acdkEpKARQtBsIbm-K4m/ics?icsToken=98tyKuCsrjguHdWXthuPRowIAojCLO3zmHpdjY1EzB7mByt2cijXBNNWEKFWEtWd

Join Zoom Meeting

https://mnorch-org.zoom.us/j/94034712628?pwd=TVBkdnc2TWxCNUsyQW5mdjJQV1I3QT09

Meeting ID: 940 3471 2628

Passcode: 833162

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+13126266799,,94034712628#,,,,*833162# US (Chicago)

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The Volunteer and Intern Discussions Continue at TLCC Orlando!

Ashley Rieser — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 22:20:35 GMT

Greetings,

It was another great day here at TLCC Orlando for discussions on volunteers and interns. Nicole Smith created a community discussion focusing on turning volunteers into individual giving donors. She also highly recommended the book Wonder Drug by Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli. Here is the link to the book for those interested - Wonder Drug

Here are the notes from the session as well for your reference

Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn - Nicole Smith on LinkedIn

or me! - Ashley on LinkedIn

In addition to the session Krista Layfield has set up as a Community Discussion on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am, Nicole has added another Community Discussion for tomorrow, Wednesday at 10:15 am on Corporate Volunteering and Programs. Check out the details in the conference app.

Hope to see you at both!

Join Us for a Community Discussion at TLCC Orlando

Ashley Rieser — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 12:35:41 GMT

Greetings,

For those of you at TLCC Orlando, Krista Layfield has set up a Community Discussion on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am to continue the conversation. Check out the details in the conference app.

Hope to see you there!

Hello from TLCC Orlando!

Ashley Rieser — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 17:30:30 GMT

Greetings All!

It was wonderful to see so many people attending the Managing Volunteers and Interns Lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to say "Hi" to everyone, but I have tried to reach through the conference app to extend an invite to the group which I hope those attending received.

We had a lively discussion at my table, and I wanted to share some of the information Nicole and I mentioned.

1. If you missed our last meeting in July, Wanda Kanwisher provided a fantastic presentation on Annual Reporting. Here is a link to the annual report template she shared - /cfs-file/__key/communityserver-discussions-components-files/479/Volunteer-Services-Annual-Report--Template.docx

In addition to being with the Minnesota Orchestra, she also oversees the Volunteer and Internship Professionals in the Performance and Cultural Arts (VIPPC) group we mentioned during the meeting and Nicole brought up at lunch today. Their next meeting is Wednesday, September 6 at noon CST

As we mentioned during the meeting, we will be joining forces to bring you wonderful and exciting content that is different yet connected in both groups.

The zoom link for all VIPPCA meetings is here

Invite Link https://mnorch-org.zoom.us/j/94034712628?pwd=TVBkdnc2TWxCNUsyQW5mdjJQV1I3QT09

As Wanda is a member of the Tessitura community be sure to look her up!

2. Another great resource with a multitude of training webinars, mentor opportunities, networking and so very much more is AL!VE The Association for Leaders in Volunteer Engagement. As Nicole mentioned she and I have been members of AL!VE for a long time and can't say enough about this amazing organization. Here's the link to their website - Home - Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (volunteeralive.org)

For those of you who were at other tables during the lunch or have topics you'd like to discuss I highly encourage you to share them on the discussion board and please look forward to our next meeting!

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow for the Managing Volunteers and Interns Community Group Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 21:13:33 GMT

Greetings!

I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the Managing Volunteers and Interns Community Group Meeting tomorrow, Thursday, July 27 at 11:00 am EST. I'm thrilled to announce that the wonderful Wanda Kanwisher from the Minnesota Orchestra will be joining us to talk about Annual Reporting. This exciting program will give you insight into why annual reporting for your program is so valuable, what to include, and who to share it with. Whether you have never done an annual report, or you're experienced in them, there is something for everyone.

If we have additional time, we'll talk about gearing up for the season with various training topics and program planning.

And let us know if you're going to TLCC in Orlando. I'll be there and look forward to networking with everyone Monday over lunch. I'll share more details during our meeting tomorrow!

Hope to see you at the session!

Tomorrow, Thursday, March 23 Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community Group Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 13:55:06 GMT

Greetings Everyone!

I apologize for not having been active in our group over the last few weeks as I was battling an illness. I'm all recovered now and looking forward to our meeting tomorrow! As a reminder, it's from

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada). Be sure to reserve your spot through the Event calendar so we can look forward to seeing you there!

What's on Tap

Our Agenda tomorrow will focus on the upcoming Volunteer Appreciation Week which is April 16 - 22.

1. Ideas for any budget (or no budget at all!)

2. Ways to recognize volunteers based on their preferred recognition method (some volunteers prefer tangible items, some prefer no recognition at all - how do you sure your thanks to everyone when they all have a different preference)

3. Resources - where can you get to get even more ideas and materials.

4. Networking - share your success stories, challenges and ideas

Hope you can attend to join in the conversation!

In case you missed it! A recap with resources from our January Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 18:29:33 GMT

We had a wonderful Managing Volunteers and Interns Community Group meeting yesterday. Eight of us joined in conversation about volunteer platforms, chatted about our programs, and issues we were looking to explore. Special thanks to Michelle Stewart and Kaylee Clark for sharing their insights into using Tessitura as a volunteer program platform!

In addition to using Tessitura for volunteer tracking, some other platforms were mentioned in the meeting. These included:

Free - Volunteersignup.org and BetterUnite - Fundraising and Donor Management Platform

Better Impact - Better Impact Volunteer Management Software Donor Management Software

Volgistics - Volunteer Management Software Solutions | Volgistics

The topics that were mentioned are included below with some links to useful resources.

Volunteer Funding

The Leighty Foundation

This organization has put together a wonderful Case for Support that they provide to volunteer administrators to work with their development teams on finding new ways to tap into funding for volunteer initiatives. Highly recommended!

Home - The Leighty Foundation

Volunteer Engagement

Free Webinar offered by Volunteer Match – Developing a Strategic Plan for Volunteer Engagement Thursday, February 16 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST

Registration (gotowebinar.com)

Volunteer Recruitment and Retention

Free Webinar offered by Volunteer Strategies – Recruit and Rebuild Your Volunteer Base

Thursday, March 9 2:00 PM EST

Meeting Registration - Zoom

Organizational Buy-In

Free Webinar offered by Volunteer Match – Build Staff Buy-In for Volunteer Engagement Wednesday, February 15 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST
Registration (gotowebinar.com)

Other topics we discussed included; Young Volunteer Outreach and Program Design, Using Tessitura for Paid Internship Programs, and Volunteer Promotions.

Stay tuned for more resources and insights. I encourage everyone to share their suggestions, questions, and more on the board to get the conversation rolling.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 23 at 11:00 AM EST. Reserve your spot today!

(8) Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community Meeting - Events - Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community - Tessitura Network

Welcome to the New Year! Registration Open Now for our next community group meeting

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 15:05:38 GMT

Greetings all!

Registration is now open for our first community group meeting of the year on January 26, 2023 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada). Sign up through the event calendar. I'll be posting an agenda soon. If there are any specific topics you'd like to discuss with the group, please share in the feed and we'll include it in the agenda.

I look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Ashley Rieser featured in the VolunteerPro member spotlight!

Meredith Woolard (she/her) — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 18:12:49 GMT

Look who it is! The talented Ashley Rieser, Community Chair for the Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community, is featured in this recent member spotlight with VolunteerPro: https://volpro.net/designing-extraordinary-guest-experience/

Check it out and learn how Ashley supports her volunteers and creates magical moments for guests at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Benedum Center! Congrats, Ashley!

Managing Volunteer Worked Hours in Tessitura

Sara Funk — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 17:27:34 GMT

Hi gang,

Bringing this post over from the Ticketing and CS Forum.

Does anyone track volunteer working hours in Tess? If so, how? I'm trying to convert some functionality to be able to do it. Perhaps just a Research Note with type = Volunteer Note/Tracker, but that takes away much of the automation of adding hours worked from week to week.

We offer ticket vouchers after a certain number of hours worked, and right now our manager spends hours adding up these hours, and I'm looking for a way to make Tessitura the database they use to organize, rather than a spreadsheet.

Any tips?

Much appreciated,

Sara.

Happy International Volunteer Managers Day November 5!

Ashley Rieser — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 14:25:41 GMT

Greetings All,

Just a reminder that tomorrow, November 5 is International Volunteer Managers Day. I hope you have a chance to celebrate YOU this weekend and the tremendous work you do as a Volunteer Administrator.

Next Meeting: Thursday December 1 1:00 pm EST

Ashley Rieser — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 16:57:02 GMT

Greetings,

You are all cordially invited to attend the next meeting for the Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community. An agenda will follow shortly, but the meeting is guaranteed to be full of festive cheer! Sign up to attend under on the Events Calendar. I hope to see you there!

Managing Volunteers & Interns Tessitura Community Meeting

When

December 1, 2022 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Where

Zoom

2023 Volunteer Management Progress Report Survey

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 13:28:36 GMT

Greetings All!

I wanted to share the link to the 2023 Volunteer Management Progress Report Survey. This survey is conducted by VolunteerPro as a way to collect comprehensive data on the work that we do. I have found these reports to be very useful personally when advocating for my position and field. I encourage you if you would like to complete the survey and add to the data. Here's the link in case you have trouble when you click on the image - Volunteer Management Progress Report - VolunteerPro (volpro.net)

In Case You Missed It! Recap of Volunteer and Intern Administrators Community Group Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 20:12:02 GMT

Greetings All!

Thanks to everyone who joined me at the meeting today!

In case you missed it, we identified some challenges facing members of our group which included;

Getting Volunteers/Interns to follow directions

Getting Volunteers/Interns to read emails

Recruitment

Dealing with Aging Volunteers

Incorporating Students

Post-Pandemic program rebuild

Having a smaller volunteer response since the pandemic

Accessibility

Maintaining personal connections as a corps grows

Using Tessitura to facilitate volunteer management

We discussed the challenges of working with student volunteers and recruiting volunteers within a specific demographic. In addition, we shared the various platforms we use for volunteer engagement and their pros and cons.

One challenge we weren't able to get to in our discussion -

If y'all have strategies for team-building, socializing, and adding to the personal growth of your interns/volunteers over their time with you, I'd love to learn more.
For our interns especially, retaining them as supporters of our organization after they graduate is a strategy we've yet to really develop.

Don't forget IVM - International Volunteer Manager's Day is November 5! For more information and helpful resources, check out the website

IVMDay – Education Through Celebration (volunteermanagersday.org)

Toni was the big winner of our Yeti/Starbucks Giveaway - Congratulations Toni!

I encourage everyone to share their insights concerning the above challenges as well as any others you may have so that we can work together as a group to help provide some solutions.

Please use the discussion board to share your thoughts, ideas, etc.

I will be sharing additional resources and information between meetings.

Stay tuned for the next meeting date announcement.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to join today's call!

Looking forward to seeing you today and finding a winner!

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:20:56 GMT

Greetings Everyone!

I am looking forward to seeing all of you in the meeting today Wednesday, October 26. If you haven't yet signed up, I encourage you to register through the Events Calendar.

As an extra incentive to the riveting conversation, we'll be having at drawing for a Yeti and a $10 Starbucks gift card. You must be present to win!

Here is the meeting agenda with the link below;

Agenda

Theme: Celebrating International Volunteer Managers Day November 5

Many Backgrounds – Introductions
One Profession – Common Challenges, Group Support
Stronger Together – Knowledge Sharing, Growing the Community
Promoting Yourself – Champion the Importance of Your Program and Ensure Your Organization Celebrates IVM Day
Value Added - Support, Resources, and Information Sharing
Fun! Yeti/Starbucks Giveaway!

Managing Volunteers & Interns Community Group Meeting

When

October 26, 2022 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Mountain Time (US & Canada)

October 26, 2022 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Where

Zoom

Calling all Tessitura users that manage or coordinate volunteers, interns, or student work-studies!

Next Managing Interns & Volunteers Community event on zoom is October 26th at 2pm EST(11am PST) and we want to see you there. This community group is an incredible resource for not only us as professionals to gather ideas and collaborate but also network with each other. We want to talk about industry standards, recruitment/retention, labor laws, and more.

Mark your calendars now for next months meeting. Please feel free to reach out to Ashley Rieser or myself with any questions. Hope to see you there!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://tessituranetwork.zoom.us/j/83944840052?pwd=YVltcmYySUJHU2R4MXJNTXljc2F4dz09

Meeting ID: 839 4484 0052

Passcode: 051659

Win a Yeti and a $10 Starbucks Gift Card! Agenda for our Group Meeting Oct 26

Ashley Rieser — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 17:01:45 GMT

Greetings Everyone!

I am looking forward to seeing all of you in the meeting next week on Wednesday, October 26. If you haven't yet signed up, I encourage you to register through the Events Calendar.

As an extra incentive to the riveting conversation, we'll be having at drawing for a Yeti and a $10 Starbucks gift card. You must be present to win!

Here is the meeting agenda with the link below;

Agenda

Theme: Celebrating International Volunteer Managers Day November 5

Many Backgrounds – Introductions
One Profession – Common Challenges, Group Support
Stronger Together – Knowledge Sharing, Growing the Community
Promoting Yourself – Champion the Importance of Your Program and Ensure Your Organization Celebrates IVM Day
Value Added - Support, Resources, and Information Sharing
Fun! Yeti/Starbucks Giveaway!

Managing Volunteers & Interns Community Group Meeting

When

October 26, 2022 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Mountain Time (US & Canada)

October 26, 2022 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Where

Zoom

Calling all Tessitura users that manage or coordinate volunteers, interns, or student work-studies!

Mark your calendars now for next months meeting. Please feel free to reach out to Ashley Rieser or myself with any questions. Hope to see you there!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://tessituranetwork.zoom.us/j/83944840052?pwd=YVltcmYySUJHU2R4MXJNTXljc2F4dz09

Meeting ID: 839 4484 0052

Passcode: 051659

Looking forward to getting to know yo

Ashley Rieser — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 20:57:04 GMT

Greetings All!

I am very excited to be chairing this group! I am looking forward to getting to know each of you and to help share the knowledge!

Did you know that November 5th is International Volunteer Managers Day?

The theme for this year is Many Backgrounds - One Profession - Stronger Together. Here is the link to the website if you'd like more info - IVMDay – Education Through Celebration (volunteermanagersday.org)

As we get closer to celebrating this special day for our profession, I thought this might be a wonderful theme for our next meeting.

Which as a reminder is on October 26 from 2:00 - 3:00 Eastern.

In preparation for the meeting, I'd love to start sharing some thoughts.

Please feel free to share the answers to the questions below in this feed.

1. Do you manage volunteers, interns or both?

2. What organization do you represent?

3. What is your title and how long have you been with your organization?

4. What has been your greatest success?

5. What is your current challenge?

I'm looking forward to starting the conversation and getting to know all of you.

The agenda and more details for our upcoming meeting coming soon!

Co-chair Updates

Vee Butler (Past Member) — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 16:30:15 GMT

Hello all!

It is with mixed sadness and excitement that I will be stepping away from my role as Managing Volunteers & Interns co-chair, as I have accepted a position with a company that does not utilize Tessitura (the saddest part!).

Ashley Rieser is still available as chair to help or guide the next meeting and any discussions between now and then. If anyone is interested in co-chairing with Ashley, please reach out to her or Meredith Woolard (she/her).

Thank you all for your participation and support of this group during my time. Feel free to reach out to my personal email if you'd like to stay in touch.

veebutler9@gmail.com

Best,

Vee

We're Looking for You Suggestions! Managing Volunteers & Interns Community Group Meeting

Ashley Rieser — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 19:48:44 GMT

Greetings!

I am so pleased to be joining Vee Butler as Co-Chair of the Managing Volunteers & Interns Community Group and I look forward to getting to know all of you!

We're planning for our next group meeting on Thursday, September 21 and we're looking for your input as we put together our agenda. Please share any topics or issues you'd like the group to discuss by Monday, September 19.

Come prepared on Thursday for lively and inspiring conversation.

And as further incentive, those attending the meeting will be eligible to win an exciting prize!

We look forward to seeing you Thursday!

Tracking Volunteer Hours, Tickets (Crosspost)

Victoria deJong — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 21:37:33 GMT

Hello!

Crossposting from the forums as the folks here might have some good insight -

Our volunteer ushers earn points (called Work & Play Points) for each shift they work, where 1 shift = 1 point. They can exchange 2 points for 1 ticket to one of our shows. Right now, we track these points by using a fake performance called "Work & Play Points" where we book volunteers into "tickets" for the "performance." Volunteers' constituent accounts have one dedicated order where point tickets are added after their shifts. Whenever a volunteer wants to book a ticket, we exchange 2 of their points for 1 real ticket.

The nice thing about this method is that the system keeps a record of when points are added and when they're used. However, there's no easy way to tell how many points they have, because their Points order is still full of line items of tickets marked as VOO. We have to manually count the tickets that are unused vs tickets that have been returned.

The other option we considered was to delete the points instead of returning them to make the orders less cluttered, but that doesn't leave a record of when points were used.

Does anyone have any ideas for tracking volunteer points that's a little more streamlined?

This is the link to the forum post https://community.tessituranetwork.com/tessitura_software_forums/f/tessitura_technical-9/30954/tracking-volunteer-hours-tickets

Thanks so much!

Good Volunteer booking site

Rachel Himelblau — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 16:39:42 GMT

Hi All,

We have been using volunteerlocal.com to organize our volunteer shifts and they are finally phasing out the free option we have been using. Does anyone have recommendations for a good free site for taking volunteer bookings? We have not been using much of the other pieces of that site, beyond booking shifts by date.

Thanks for any insights, I picked up the volunteer coordination into my role only a few months ago and am still finding my feet.

Looking for a Co-chair!

Vee Butler (Past Member) — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 22:59:18 GMT

Hello all!

I want to say welcome to any new team members we might have at this time! I know it has been quite a minute since we all last met virtually. I would like to offer a digital meeting in April, more information coming soon.

At this time, I wanted o put out a call to see if anyone here would be interested in co-chairing this committee with me! More information is available here: https://www.tessituranetwork.com/en/Community-and-Events/Get-Involved?_ga=2.11922292.132656136.1646593488-603146660.1645555273

If you have any questions, please reach out! I would love to work with someone to get a more active community to better our volunteers and interns.

Thanks for joining!

Vee

Transitioning our Volunteer Management from Volgistics to Tessitura

Janis Treiber — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 14:46:26 GMT

Hello! Can anyone offer some feedback or advice as to where to begin in order to transition our volunteer management from Volgistics to Tessitura?

Thanks!
Janis