Volunteer Management Software PurchaseMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Volunteer Management Software
DATE: March 31, 2011
Dubuque
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All- AmeticaCity
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2007
Leisure Services Manager Marie Ware recommends City Council approval of the
purchase of a volunteer management software license for a fee of $2,500 in year one,
$2,750 in year two and then $3,000 yearly fee thereafter. City funds are available
through the Police Iowa Court District Fine Revenue.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Marie L. Ware, Leisure Services Manager
/ /2
Michael C. Van Milligen
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Marie L. Ware, Leisure Services Manager
SUBJECT: Volunteer Management Software
DATE: March 31, 2011
Dubuque
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All- Ammlca City
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2007
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memo is to request consideration of purchase of volunteer
management software license for management of spontaneous volunteers as well as
volunteers to the many programs and departments of the city and community.
BACKGROUND
Adam Lounsbury, Director of Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service called to discuss
the opportunity for Dubuque to participate in bulk pricing for a volunteer management
software tool. Volunteer Solutions - Truist currently services most United Way and
Volunteer Centers across the country. I asked him if any organization in Dubuque was
already using the software and he said there is no one.
As I shared with you, they really want us to be successful as this volunteer center for
Dubuque is a high priority for them. They are especially interested in this because of
the need to be better prepared with volunteers for disasters. The software would be
used by volunteers to search by area of interest, (like children or families, etc), location,
keyword or date. It would be that we create our own site, like Serve Dubuque that
people could access. It would also be connected to a larger network of sites like
serve.gov and AARP.
The software has additional capabilities for event management, like Days of Caring or
Martin Luther King service days which would help with both the Safe Community efforts
as well as AmeriCorps and Multicultural Family Center.
It has capabilities for what they call board connections. It could be used for board and
commissioners to apply online or for recruitment of board members for nonprofits like
the Multicultural Family Center Board. It is both a recruitment tool for boards as well as
retention and tracking hours of service.
It has capability for connecting individuals for product donations. For example, the
Multicultural Family Center has a list of goods they could use published in their
newsletter. It could be online for people to match where they can donate items.
It is a very rich system that will work for the city's use but also can allow us to host other
sub organizations as a part of our site. For example IBM or Principal Financial could
have a sub site under our umbrella where they encourage employees to volunteer and
track online those volunteer hours they give to the community.
One last feature is the disaster feature. We could promote what is termed spontaneous
volunteers to sign up for tasks that might be needed during a disaster (sandbag, use
chain saw, clean up basements). If people were needed we have their names already
logged and could begin assigning them. We would encourage them to track their hours
of service during the disaster. These hours can then be used as a match to FEMA.
They used the example that Parkersburg was able to track their hours such that the
volunteer hours match made up almost all of the match needed for FEMA so very few
dollars were used.
Jeanne Schnieder reviewed it briefly and felt it could be a good option for recruiting
board and commission members. Tara and Maddy both felt that it would very helpful to
the operations of the MFC. They thought it would really streamline efforts with
volunteers. They liked that it would work with events and had survey options too.
BUDGET IMPACT
The fee for the software is a yearly fee. Under the bulk purchase it would be $2,500 in
year one, $2,750 in year two and $3,000 in year three. If we were not on this bulk
purchase it would cost $6,000 to $10,000 per year. After that it would be $3,000 per
year unless the company requests in increase. The fee would be payable July 1st and
could be done in either fiscal year.
Jenny Larson, Budget Director has identified that there is funding available through the
Police Iowa Court District Fine Revenue.
RECOMMENDATION
I recommend approval of the $2,500 software fee. This software will have impact for
the city, MFC, our other partners and as we develop it, our business partners and
nonprofits. It also meets a goal of the Safe Community Task Force by helping getting
the tool that will assist in engaging our citizens into Days of Caring. I highly recommend
this software for the management of spontaneous volunteers during disasters. It has
been used by Iowa City as well as Cedar Rapids and other Iowa communities quite
successfully.
MLW:et
Cc: Jenny Larson