Several updates to functionality have been added in VolunteerHub. Each update in this release is listed below.
Changes to Volunteer Email
Previously VolunteerHub managed whether or not a volunteer would receive bulk emails from VolunteerHub with a single ‘Email Opt-In’ question within the User Form. If a volunteer opted in, they received all emails. If they opted out, they only received Event Reminder emails. Event Confirmation emails were not automatically sent when a volunteer registered themselves for an event, volunteers were instead provided a button to email the Confirmation Message to themselves.
The ‘Email Opt-In’ question has been removed from the User Form. Instead volunteers can now manage their email preferences from the Notification Settings Page.
By default, all new and existing volunteers are opted in to event registration confirmations and post-event thank you emails. The newsletters and announcements setting reflects their response to the original ‘email opt-in’ question.
Send me event registration confirmation emails.
Opting in automatically sends an email to the volunteer when they register for an event. This email contains the name, date, location/map of the event, as well as the information placed in the Confirmation Message box by an admin.
Send me post-event thank-you emails and surveys.
Opting in automatically sends the Thank You email 24 hours after the event.
Send me occasional newsletters and announcements.
Opting in allows the volunteer to receive administrator-initiated emails.
There has been no change to Event Reminder emails. If the option to send a reminder is enabled within an event, all volunteers registered for the event receive the reminder with no way for them to disable.
Volunteers access their Notification Settings in two ways:
From the Volunteer View by clicking the dropdown by their name
By clicking the link in the bottom right corner of an email
Clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ prompts volunteers with a warning ensuring they wish to no longer receive that email type.
Administrators may view and change a user's Notification Settings from within their profile. Email Opt-In options appear at the bottom of their User Details and is editable.
‘Hard Bounce’ Email Addresses Removed from Database
A hard bounce occurs when an email has been permanently rejected and will not send. This happens because:
The email address is invalid
The email address does not exist
The email address no longer exists
This may be because a volunteer either mistyped their email address or used an email address that is no longer valid (e.g. they deleted that account or no longer work for the company they initially used as their address).
When this occurs, VolunteerHub now removes that email address from their profile.
This leads to two benefits:
The volunteer now has an empty, but required, field within their profile—prompting them to input a new email address the next time they sign up for an event.
Continually sending emails to a hard-bounced address may cause a domain to become de-prioritized by email platforms like Microsoft and Gmail.
No changes have been made to emails that are “soft-bounced.” These email address remain within the user’s profile.
A soft bounce means that the email address is valid and the email message reached the recipient’s mail server but was rejected. Reasons for this include:
Their mailbox is full
Their server is down
Multi-Event Editor now a Tile
The Multi-Event Editor has now been given its own tile within the Admin Menu. Previously it was only accessible as a button within the Events Page.
‘Boolean’ Question Type Renamed ‘True/False’ in User Form
The Question Type ‘Boolean’ is now called ‘True/False.’ No changes have been made to how this Question Type functions.
Matthew Murphy
Several updates to functionality have been added in VolunteerHub. Each update in this release is listed below.
Changes to Volunteer Email
Previously VolunteerHub managed whether or not a volunteer would receive bulk emails from VolunteerHub with a single ‘Email Opt-In’ question within the User Form. If a volunteer opted in, they received all emails. If they opted out, they only received Event Reminder emails. Event Confirmation emails were not automatically sent when a volunteer registered themselves for an event, volunteers were instead provided a button to email the Confirmation Message to themselves.
The ‘Email Opt-In’ question has been removed from the User Form. Instead volunteers can now manage their email preferences from the Notification Settings Page.
By default, all new and existing volunteers are opted in to event registration confirmations and post-event thank you emails. The newsletters and announcements setting reflects their response to the original ‘email opt-in’ question.
Send me event registration confirmation emails.
Opting in automatically sends an email to the volunteer when they register for an event. This email contains the name, date, location/map of the event, as well as the information placed in the Confirmation Message box by an admin.
Send me post-event thank-you emails and surveys.
Opting in automatically sends the Thank You email 24 hours after the event.
Send me occasional newsletters and announcements.
Opting in allows the volunteer to receive administrator-initiated emails.
There has been no change to Event Reminder emails. If the option to send a reminder is enabled within an event, all volunteers registered for the event receive the reminder with no way for them to disable.
Volunteers access their Notification Settings in two ways:
Clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ prompts volunteers with a warning ensuring they wish to no longer receive that email type.
Administrators may view and change a user's Notification Settings from within their profile. Email Opt-In options appear at the bottom of their User Details and is editable.
‘Hard Bounce’ Email Addresses Removed from Database
A hard bounce occurs when an email has been permanently rejected and will not send. This happens because:
This may be because a volunteer either mistyped their email address or used an email address that is no longer valid (e.g. they deleted that account or no longer work for the company they initially used as their address).
When this occurs, VolunteerHub now removes that email address from their profile.
This leads to two benefits:
No changes have been made to emails that are “soft-bounced.” These email address remain within the user’s profile.
A soft bounce means that the email address is valid and the email message reached the recipient’s mail server but was rejected. Reasons for this include:
Multi-Event Editor now a Tile
The Multi-Event Editor has now been given its own tile within the Admin Menu. Previously it was only accessible as a button within the Events Page.
‘Boolean’ Question Type Renamed ‘True/False’ in User Form
The Question Type ‘Boolean’ is now called ‘True/False.’ No changes have been made to how this Question Type functions.