Volunteer Scheduler ProVSP Help TopicsSetupCustom FieldsStoring data not tracked in VSP's common fields

Storing data not tracked in VSP's common fields

The best way to add information that is not one of the common fields is to use the custom fields option available with the Standard Edition of VSP. If you are not using the Standard version, there is a work-around that can be used. 


In some cases, data needs to be stored in VSP for which no field exists in a volunteer's profile, such as birthdays or dates when they began serving.  What can be done is storing this information in the "Comments" field of a volunteer's profile.  This data can be exported on rosters, as well as filtered throughout the program to send emails or build custom tokens for.


When importing volunteer data, you can also import information which does not fit in to a common field directly to the Comments section for volunteers.  From the File menu in VSP, select "Import Volunteers...".  In the Import Volunteers window, check the option below the "Available fields:" column that says, "Show all options" and you will then see the Comments field.  Be sure to include this field in the list of "Fields to import:" so it matches up with the appropriate column on your spreadsheet. Then all of the information in that column will be added to the appropriate volunteer's Comments section of their profile.


To filter by this information to send emails, in the Announcements pane, make sure in the "To" section is set to "All volunteers" and then check the "But only volunteers who pass | this filter..." box.  This will open the Edit Filter window.  On the left hand side, there is a section for "Comments" - click on this option and you can set this to "Comment field contains" to filter for anyone who has "January" listed in their profile to find January birthdays; or "2009" to find any volunteer who has been volunteering since 2009.