Comprehensive mentoring program software with great search tools!

We have been using IMS since July of this year and it's been a great comprehensive tool to help us consolidate a lot of the information that we track and use regularly. The powerful search tool has been extremely valuable for us. We love that surveys are integrated into IMS, too. Whenever there's any issue with any function of IMS or we've needed to make a change, both the customer support and development teams are extremely responsive, friendly, and helpful. The few minor hiccups we've had have been addressed quickly and thoroughly. IMS is built for mentoring programs, has everything we need, and on top of that, has been a great team to work with!

Pros

The search function, integrated surveys with Survey Gizmo, mentor application process, ease of creating relationships.

Cons

Reporting has been a little more convoluted than we initially realized, with data exports generally giving us much more information than we need and then needing to be pared down. Some search functions are a little buggy with regard to dates and time zones. Being unable to remove our own options from drop down menus is a drawback, but IMS staff take care of this quickly.

All the Support our Mentoring Efforts Needed!

I am very analytical and seek to know the limits of any database I use. Innoative Mentoring Software is intuitive and simple in every way: login (yes, I've found databases that manage to make that difficult... ahem... Blackbaud... ahem...), data entry, search, report, communication... you name it. Out of the box, there is a great depth of data that can be recorded, and it is clearly created with mentoring in mind. However, the most impressive feature is the team of staff who gets to know your needs, proactively seeks creative solutions, quickly resolves issues, and continuously seeks improvement. They make custom solutions seem standard. Their staff clearly works together and I am thrilled anytime I see an update! What's more, this crew knows their strengths (databases) and partners with others for additional features. For example, they work with SurveyGizmo (the best survey software anywhere) to integrate phenomenal survey functionality for all their forms. The same goes for communication, whether by mass email or text. Ask for a demo, get to know their team, and make the right decision by working with Innovative Mentoring Software.

Pros

Excellent customer support

Cons

Reports lack boolean operators

Youth programming database + fundraising database

Our organization started using Innovative Mentoring almost two years ago and has found it very helpful. We track over 500 kids annually in 7 different programs, and the software makes it easy to keep our records in one place. We especially like that it tracks kids by graduation year, and so we don't have to start new records for them every year. Our mentoring program is small, but the match function is fantastic for tracking both mentor and mentee information, length of the match, etc. We also use the fundraising module for our donor/contact database, and really like having it integrated with our volunteer database, etc., because many people overlap. There are some features we still don't fully know how to use, but customer support is always extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly whenever we send a support ticket!

Great product and customer service

I have been with Innovative Mentoring for about 3 months. My program went through a name change and at the same time we needed to look for new options for collecting and organizing our data. I contacted Innovative Mentoring and they were wonderful. I am not the best with technology, so I tend to need a lot of guidance. The support that I have received has been the best. They always get back to me and never make me feel like my questions aren't important. I recommend them to anyone that wants to get their data under control.

Pros

It helps me to be organized and is way more intelligent than I am.

Cons

I am not the best with technology, so it is more difficult for me than it probably will be for other people. The support that I received was excellent and they were always able to help me.

Making Mentoring Managable

Kinship of Greater Minneapolis and our case coordinators are happy with all that Innovative provides. We use it for all of our case file record keeping, bulk and individual emailing tasks, follow up and check in reminders, information tracking, reporting, and much more. It makes attending to everyone in our program a manageable task as we are a small non-profit team serving 500+ individuals in a regular fiscal year. We recently upgraded to include evaluation and surveys a part of our database package. We are happy with this product and will continue to utilize it to maximize our role as an evidence based and effective expert partner in the mentoring field.

Fantastic database product!

Having worked with MS Access with great success, I am now running a non-profit and needed a product that was easier use. We were using the database within hours of authorization. The project lead was very helpful and guided us through uncharted territory. After a few days of active operation, the few changes that were required were updated within hours. I cannot express my absolute satisfaction with the database product, but more than that, the professional, personal, and timely service from the Innovative Team.

Great Software

Innovative mentoring has been an amazing software system that stands out because of it's stellar customer support and easy to use interface. I have actually enjoyed working with the innovative mentoring customer support and do not feel like my questions are stupid or not worth their time. I like how easy it is to track data within the system and find running reports to be a breeze. All in all I would definitely recommend this software.

Our Program recently purchased the software and have just finished migrating our information.

The ability to pull up many different types of reports is a definite plus. Initially entering all the data was time consuming but now should be much easier. The software is relatively easy to use with the User Guide being a big help. Cost is a definite con since we are a small organization and the cost is prohibitive to add other users to the database.