Version 2.4 Release Date: November 23, 2015

All enhancements apply to the Get Connected 2.0 platform. If you are on Get Connected 1.0 and wish to upgrade to Get Connected 2.0, please contact us for information and to schedule your free upgrade.

Volunteer (Standard) Module: New Features

"My Companies" Table in User Profile

Company managers working in an advanced event can now easily access their company information from their user profile. The My Companies table is displayed on the My Profile page, just below the Favorite Agencies area.

Note: The table is only displayed if the logged-in user's email is added to a company (as the company manager) and if the company is assigned to an active advanced event.

Using this table, a company manager can view his or her companies, their advanced-event dashboards, and their associated needs.

"My Teams" Tab in User Profile

Users who are team leaders or team members now have a special My Teams tab in their user profiles.

As shown above, the My Teams tab features a table listing the user's team name, the applicable need title and agency, the date the team was created, and a link to manage the team.

Note: The table is a management tool and will only be displayed if the logged-in user is a team creator or a team leader.

Ability to Close Registration on Needs

Agency managers and admins can now specify a "registration closed" date for "runs until" and "happens on" needs. For example, if a need will occur on November 7 but you want to close registration several days prior, you can now select a date after which no one can respond.

Users can still access the need information, but they will not be able to respond once the "registration closed" date occurs. The need itself will be displayed as "Closed."

This new feature is available for both standard and advanced-event needs.

Note: When the "closed" date arrives, an email will be sent to the agency manager informing that registration for their need has closed. Registration closes at 12:00 a.m. on the date entered by the agency manager.

Waivers for Standard Needs

Agency managers can now add .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .xls waivers to their standard needs in Get Connected. This new feature is located at the bottom of the need-posting form, just above the Update Need button.

This feature does not apply for advanced events, where system managers can upload a waiver for the entire advanced event.

Waiver Agreement Tracking

When a user agrees to a waiver as part of a standard or advanced-event need response, their user ID will be documented so that system managers will know if the person who acknowledged the waiver was someone other than the volunteer (such as a team manager, agency manager, site manager, or company manager). If you want to ensure that every volunteer who has responded to a need has seen and acknowledged a waiver, you now follow up with those users who have not.

In this example, we can see that Andy Hub (user #612814, purple highlight) acknowledged the waiver twice: once for himself, and once on behalf of Ella Monk. Nina Rogers (user #615763; yellow highlight) acknowledged it for herself and for four others. Another user (ID 845737) acknowledged the waiver on behalf of Chris Kisling and Kim Powell (green highlight).

Notes: The highlighting shown above is not part of the export; it was added to the image above to show which user IDs were responsible for which users.

This data is available in two exports:

  • Needs Responses (for standard needs; access by going to Manage Needs and clicking the Needs Responses tab.)
  • All Needs (for advanced events; located under the All Needs tab)

Note: To find the identify of an unnamed user, you can go to Manage Users and run a filter on the ID number.

Social Media Tracking

Get Connected now tracks the number of times the "share" button (shown below) is clicked.

In other words, you can now see how often each agency page, need page, event page, advanced-event need page is shared to social media using this button.

Note: This feature does not track the social media outlet to which the information was shared; it only tracks the initial clicking of the "share" button.

Sorting Needs by Date

Volunteers can now sort needs by the date of the need, which will allow them to see which opportunities occur nearest in the future.

When sorted this way, only "happens on" and "runs until" needs will be displayed. "Ongoing" needs will not be shown.

Notifications for Imported Users

When users are imported into Get Connected, they are now given a status of "Imported." (Previously, they automatically had a status of "Active.") You can activate users from the Manage Users area. When a user is activated, an automated notification with a password reset link is sent to them.

Note: The notification template that is sent out is titled "User Imported Message." You can edit this message as needed, as explained in our article, Automated Notification Messages.

Email Blast Alert

When an admin clicks to send an email blast, an alert now appears that indicates the number of email recipients for the message. To complete sending the message, the admin must click OK.

This message was added to help prevent admins from accidentally sending messages to too many people.

New Notifications Added

In the past, if a user responded to a need, that user was not prompted to return to to the system and enter volunteer hours. We have added two new automated notifications to remind volunteers to log their hours.

  • Reminder to Submit Hours - This notification goes to a user who has not entered hours within seven days of a need response.
  • Reminder to Submit Hours - Monthly - This notification goes to a user who, at the end of the month, still has not logged hours for a need response. This message is sent on the 28th day of each month.

Note: These messages are not sent for "Happens On" needs that have not occurred yet. Also, we will not send these messages for responses that are more than 90 days old.

Like all automated notification templates, these new templates can be edited or deactivated as desired. Click here to learn more.

Volunteer (Standard) Module: Updates

Time Frame Shown on Need Card

If a time is specified for a standard need, it will now be shown on the need card, as shown below.

New Field for Phone Extension

When registering for Get Connected or updating a user profile, you now have the option of entering a phone extension. A phone extension field has also been added for agency profiles. Phone extensions can also be imported with other user or agency contact information.

New External ID Field

User profiles in the admin panel now include an External ID field. This field can be used to keep track of student IDs or any other ID a user might have, in addition to their Get Connected user ID. Administrators can use this field for greater control over and access to user data.

This field is located near the top of the user profile in the admin panel. It is only available to site administrators; users cannot see this ID in their user profiles. External ID is included in user exports.

Note: External IDs can be imported into your Get Connected system.

Wording Changed on "Confirmed" Button

Users who wish to volunteer for a posted need must click the Respond button for that need.

Previously, this button would become a Confirmed button when clicked. To unregister from the need, a user would then have to click the Confirmed button. Some users found this confusing, so we have changed the button name from Confirmed to Unregister.

We hope that this more instructive, action-oriented button name will communicate this button's function more clearly.

Agency Manager Logging of Anonymous Hours

Admins can now allow agency managers to log volunteer hours on behalf of volunteers who do not have Get Connected user accounts. Volunteer details can be added in the Description field. Those details can be accessed later by exporting the "Volunteer Hours Logged" report (from the Reports area of the admin panel) or by exporting the "Active Need Hours" report from the Stats tab of the agency manager area.

Note: "Anonymous hours" are logged volunteer hours that are not associated with a particular user account.

Anonymous Hours were permitted in 1.0 but not in 2.0. A setting has been added to all sites so that site managers can decide if they want to allow their agencies to have the ability to log hours anonymously, or if they would rather require an email address when agencies add hours on behalf of a user.

To allow posting of anonymous hours, go to your Site Settings and select Yes under Allow Anonymous Hours.

Standard (Volunteer) Module: Fixes

Automated Notifications

The following email was not being sent as scheduled on 2.0 sites:

  • Agency Manager Removed (sent to the site manager when an agency manager is removed from an agency)

This notification has been added back to the system and will now be triggered as expected.

Advanced Events Module: New Features

We have added two new features to the Advanced Events Module (AEM).

Table for Need Responses and Hours

For a while now, system managers have been able to see tables of need response and hours when they edit a need in the back end. Those same tables now appear when editing needs in the AEM. You can find them by clicking on a need (under the All Needs tab) and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Ability to Close Registration on Needs

Agency managers and admins can now specify a "registration closed" date for certain types of AEM needs. Click here for more on this enhancement.

Advanced Events Module: Update

Adding AEM Needs from Admin Panel

Admins can now add AEM needs from the All Needs tab; it is no longer necessary to use the Live Preview to add needs on behalf of an agency.

Advanced Events Module: Fixed

Hub Waivers Now Included on Connect Sites

Advanced-event waivers required by the hubs were not being presented to users when responding to a need through a Corporate Connect site. This problem has been fixed.

Correction to All Needs Export

Previously, if an admin exported AEM needs under the All Needs tab, responses made through Campus Connect and Corporate Connect sites were not included in the export. Connect-site data will now be displayed in the export tables.

Other Modules

Disaster Response Module

No changes this time.

Service Learning Module: New Features

Ability to Add Needs to Multiple Courses

Agency managers working in SLM can simultaneously create a need and add copies of that need to multiple courses, including multiple sections of the same course.

Ability to Clone SLM Blocks

Site managers can now clone the content of SLM blocks. Cloned courses will have a status of "Pending" by default so they can be edited before going public. To clone a block, go to Plugins > Service Learning, click to Edit the desired block, and then click Clone Block.

Note: All information in the block will be cloned except for the students enrolled in the course.

Ability to Clone SLM Courses

Site managers can now clone courses within the same block. Cloned courses will have a status of "Pending" by default so they can be edited before going public. To clone a block, go to Plugins > Service Learning, click View Courses for the applicable block, and then click Clone Block.

Professor Ability to Add/Remove Instructors

Professors can now add or remove other professors and course assistants for their courses, and they can even hand the course to another professor altogether.

Mass Approval of SLM Hours

Agency managers can now check off multiple hours and assign a status to all submitted volunteer hours at once, rather than treating each separately.

Service Learning Module: Updates and Fixes

No updates or fixes this time.