We always wanted a VMS to recruit, screen, train and manage all our volunteers and Initlive has saved us hours of work. Best VMS so far.

We have been trying many different VMS for ages till we found Initlive, which has been very easy to use, with great UX and the best pricing product. It is the best one for scheduling and recruiting volunteers.

I have never encountered any flaws within the software except for sometimes we get some bugs within the mobile app.

All in all the app is great for organizing volunteers, especially in large numbers but for a smaller group of volunteers we found our current method of organizing volunteers on an excel spreadsheet worked just as well. We were hoping that we'd get more communication functionality from the app but think there is still room for improvement in that respect.

The back end website is user friendly. It is easy to upload an excel template of your volunteers or add people individually. If you are looking for a way to organize volunteers and schedule volunteers that's where the product shines most. You can build roles, assign individuals and set schedules easily. There is a good deal of customization in this area which is helpful. You are able to assign multiple event managers so they also have the "power" to make changes on the website and within the app once your event goes live as well.

Shifts are built by location rather than by role which wasn't logical for us because we pre-assign roles and the location isn't relevant. It would have been nice if there was more automatic assignment rather than manual when it came to putting volunteers into specific shifts once you had already assigned them a role. As a planner it was hard for me to not be able to test the app before the event went live. You see nothing in the app until it is live but at that point all your volunteers see what you are seeing and any changes being made get broadcast out. Day of we found communication via the app was limited. Only event managers can send messages to everyone or filter and send messages to specific groups. Individual volunteers can only send messages to their shift supervisor or the event managers. They weren't able to send even within their role assignment.

The mobile app was improved and now it is much more flexible and provides much more info

If you need to change any information related to your team shifts, it is really heavy to do - the rational is not intuitive.

Used the software project at the Marshes last year during the World Girls Juniors. We used the software application to acquire, register, and track around 100 volunteers for a 3 day international golf tournament.

The application handled a lot of the volunteer registration and shift scheduling well. It gave us a good idea of where we required additional volunteers. It assisted us in tracking volunteers shifts and determine when volunteers were late or did not show.

I found that because a lot of the volunteers were seniors who did not use current computer applications regularly, many were confused with initial emails that were sent to them. Also, because of the lack of computer application knowledge of the users, many of the volunteers did not register on-line by themselves but were entered onto the system by Initlive staff or team leads. I do not believe many of the team leads utilized the mobile on-line during the event. It was interesting to find out the many spouses had registered as volunteers but only used one email address. This became very confusing since the system was geared on the email address as and id and communication was through emails regarding shift assignments.

Choosing InitLive was our first step into a serious volunteer management system for our regional science tournament. We reviewed many competing platforms, and even though it was a bit pricey for our limited budget, we have been pleased with our choice. Every year the features get better.

One of the unique aspects of InitLive was its mobile device capability, which we hope will improve how we manage our tournaments. And hands-down, it has the most attractive user interface. It helps us put forward a professional image to our audience.

Every platform has it's limitations. Quite honestly, I don't think about this anymore. We have integrated InitLive into how we manage volunteers, and it is part of our normal processes.

I love the integrated app and how easily you can reach volunteers during the event. I like that the database is downloadable to excel so we can edit as we see fit. The process is simple from the users standpoint as a click and save model.

It is time consuming to schedule different hours, dates, etc with specific supervisors across different shifts. Also, the inability to see emails sent from the system or reply to emails within the system itself. It would also have been nice to signup from the app/use app prior to main event.

organization and ease of tracking of volunteers.

Easy to set up and edit shifts, staff, and roles. Overall, the software is user-friendly. There are many custom features that allow it to fit the needs of a variety of organization. We are a soccer club that needed software to manage volunteers for a tournament and corresponding set-up and tear down dates. The information that can be exported is very useful and easy to access. Our customer service representative was amazing! She provided timely help EVERY time I needed it and was always willing and able to look at my issues and solve my problems. Overall VERY pleased with InitLive!

The inability to customize automated notifications to staff. Individual staff can control their notifications, but managers cannot customize the timing and information provided in automated notifications (texts, not emails). You can send push notifications and emails when needed, however.

We are able to manage volunteers within three programs we offer: -Doors Open Milwaukee which requires 200+ volunteers -Spaces & Traces, requiring 100+ volunteers -Weekly walking tours, total of 30+ volunteers

Ability for volunteers to log on and confirm shifts and easily sign up for different events and opportunities within our org. The platform also allows staff to delegate volunteer management to other volunteers. The messaging tools within InitLive work well.

In setting up shifts, form questions could be streamlined.

We run a convention company that has been in business for 10 years. We tried this app at our last show and it became a great help with our volunteers. Now with the updates this has gone to the next level. Our next show is in a week and our schedule is up and people picking shifts and getting excited. There are so many great things about this app. I can't wait till they add in the function of availability. That will elevate it more. Avery and her team has gone out of her way to help us and to show us how to utilize this app. At our last show she was always there to help us at anytime which took away a lot of the stress I had about using a new app. I know this show will be even better!

The volunteers being able to pick shifts, the ability to leave reviews on the volunteers that's hidden, and the different role levels that are based roles (shift supervisor, check in administrator)

I want to be able to put in their availability and it alert me if I schedule. But it sounds like it is a future possibility as the company grows

I love that INIT Live makes staffing large events easy and helps guide you through holes where more staff could be useful. I also really liked the in-app communication aspect. The interface is incredibly user-friendly and looks organized.

There is no way to test the event setup within the app before the day of the event. This means you have to make last minute changes to your setup while the app is live where all of the staff can see as they are made.

I can't say enough about this app. It really made scheduling volunteers for our conference much easier. There are a ton of videos on how to use it, and the customer support cannot be beat. They are truly proactive in meeting you needs. They will sit down and explain the system to you and help with anything you need. The app is great, but the customer service is world class.

Easy to use, great tool for managing large groups of people with instant communication.

The addition of some simple features (like the ability to toggle between volunteer profiles and displaying shift names on schedules) would make it a lot better. I also wish there were a drag and drop feature (like, drag the person you want into a slot on a time view schedule.)

This was our first time using an app for any kind of volunteer management. We used it to help streamline communication with our volunteers for Homecoming. I found that it was advantageous to me as an admin in that it was quick and easy to contact individuals as needed. We got great feedback from our volunteers about how it was easy and convenient to reference their job descriptions. The shift reminders also came in handy. One thing that wasn't so important for us to have was the check-in and check-out features. On the day of the event, both the volunteers and the staff were just too busy to keep track of check-ins or outs. Our main concern was being able to quickly get a hold of someone if there was a major problem. If there had been any emergencies, we would have been able to do so. I believe we will use the app for future events.

Less tedious work. The features of being able to copy/paste staff, roles etc. Has taken a lot of steps out of my job.

Ease of use. Support was great help on getting me started, but I was able to self teach myself on a lot of things also just because it is so user-friendly.

This app is crucial to the success of my event planning and execution. Also prompt response from the support team always.

Great UI and excellent features.

Overall, this did serve the purpose to manage our volunteer needs. As a user, I found it just as easy as any other platform we've used in the past.

The product was easy enough to use however I know that it's always a challenge for the team to get a software integrated and setup for what we need it to do.

There are always tons of additional features for software that we don't end up needing but the features that are available don't quite fit our needs.

Every year I needed a new volunteer manager because it was a lot of work for not a lot of reward. I used InitLive for my event this year and we could easily sign up volunteers, send them schedule reminders, and then check in volunteers as they showed up. I knew exactly who was on site, where they should be, and what staffing gaps I had. I also was able to save this data for next year. For the first time in a while, my volunteer manager said this was easy and they want to help out again!

- on-site check-in - group messaging based on job title and/or location

Building the schedule took some time but the client success team was there to help.

It was great for helping us manage our complex schedule. We also really liked being able to generate reports after to see hours worked by each of our staff.

The customer support was really great - thank you!

A little time consuming to set up.

I used InItLive for an event where we had over 200 volunteers and found that this system worked perfectly to keep our volunteers on task. The best part is that is calculated all of their hours "worked" so we could keep track of who could receive a discount on their registration for the event. Also, the customer service is awesome! They are always on standby to help and can answer all questions!

InitLive helps me manage my newly growing volunteer base at multiple festivals since year; it's great to have all of my team volunteer information and schedules in one location. It's great ..

We are a celebrity convention company that has about 25 staff and 50 volunteers at each event. Keeping up with everyone was always quite the task and with the InItLive app at our last convention, we all could communicate and know exactly where we needed people and who was where with ease. We loved the broadcast feature and super excited for all the new features that have been added for our next event this week!

I work for an organization with lots of moving parts. Our staff and volunteers are often spread out so it has been a big headache managing schedules and communication with them once they're on the ground. We've definitely found a new method to manage our madness with InitLive.

Really keeps us organized. All staff and volunteers are kept up-to-date in terms of scheduling and communications. I'm really glad we gave this a try.

Not much to say... It's been a huge improvement over our old ways.

We use it to see where our employees are at and if they are where they need to be

I like that I can see who is scheduled to work and who isn’t

I wish that the messaging was a little easier and instant.

Using InitLive was a big stress-reliever. This software does so much more than a normal event manager can do!

I was part of a group that used the software to schedule the activities of a significant number of volunteers and the product was of great use to us. Additionally, the on site support of an initlive staff person was extremely valuable to us.

Ease of use and staff support.

none

I really admire the overall layout of the system; it's super easy to use and is very flexible with its functionality. The user interface goes above and beyond any other volunteer management tool I have used.

It's been designed for complex, events with multiple days and locations, but can easily be used for smaller events as well.

It takes a while to set everything up but once you get the hang of it, it's not bad.