Better Impact Buddies

Better Impact Buddies are users of our software who are happy to offer advice to their peers who are just getting started with one of our products, looking to change their internal processes or simply wanting to implement a new feature that they haven’t tried before.

Why was this created?

We have run a few Better Impact Days now where we get a number of clients together for some group training. While together in the same room, participants also used the day as an opportunity to chat with others about how they use our software. This networking turned out to be one of the great takeaways of the day and people exchanged contact information so that they could continue to help each other. I guess this is no surprise given the nature of leaders and managers of volunteers

This inspired us to create Better Impact Buddies, an opportunity for those who would like to share their knowledge about using Better Impact software with others, and of course, for those looking for peer-to-peer advice, the opportunity to search it out.

1. Go to: Main >> Better Impact Buddies >> Update my Buddy Profile
2. Check the box at the top if you would like to be a Better Impact Buddy. (You do not need to check this right away. You can go ahead and enter your buddy information and come back and check this box when you are ready.)
3. Enter information about you and how you can be a buddy to other administrators:
   • Organization Name [required]: enter the name of your organization
   • How to Contact Me [required]: check at least one of the boxes to indicate how you wish to be contacted. This information will be taken from your administrative profile.
   • Date Joined [required]: enter the date you joined as a Better Impact administrator
   • Number of Volunteers [required]: select the number of volunteers in your organization from the ranges displayed in the droplist
   • How I Can Help [required]: enter some text that will explain to administrators that are searching for a buddy how you can be of help to them
   • Gallery URL [optional]: enter the URL for your “Gallery”. You’ll need to reach out to us first to let us know about something that you do or have done in the Better Impact system that makes a difference in your organization. We’ll set up a webpage that showcases it!
   • Classifications [required]: select any of the checkboxes listed to indicate your area(s) of expertise
   • Modules to Buddy [required]: select any of the checkboxes listed to indicate which module(s) you are experienced in
   • Other Notes [optional]: include any other information about you and/or your organization and/or how you’d like to help. You can format the text entered in this box.
4. Click the [Save] button

You can also click [Preview Listing] to see what your buddy listing would look like to administrators viewing the list of buddies or [View Profile] to see your saved profile details.

[alert heading=”NOTE:” type=”alert-info” block=”false” close=”false”]You can enter or update information at any time in your buddy profile. By unchecking the box at the top, you will not remove information from your buddy profile; that just removes your profile from the buddy search until you want to be searchable again.[/alert]

A Gallery Page is something we will set up for you to help you tell your story and share your advice on using our software. You do NOT have to have a Gallery Page to be a Better Impact Buddy, but if you’d like to have one, just let us know and we’ll put it together for you.

You tell us what you’d like to share and we’ll do the rest, even help you get your thoughts “down on paper” if you’d like. These pages can include anything that you think would be helpful to others in getting the most out of our software. This could include innovative ways you use it, challenges you have had and how you overcame them, ways the software has made a real difference in your volunteer engagement etc.

Here’s and example of a fictitious gallery page.

If you would like to have a Gallery Page added to your Better Impact Buddy profile, just start a chat with with us and let us know.

1. Go to: Main >> Better Impact Buddies >> Find a Buddy
2. Select from the desired search options:
   • Organization Name: if you know the name of the organization where you’d like to find a buddy, enter it here
   • Country: select the desired Country from the droplist
   • State / Province: select the desired state or province from the droplist (if applicable)
   • Years of Experience: select “At Least” or “At Most” from the drop list, then enter the desired number of years of experience
   • Classifications: select any of the checkboxes listed to find buddies who have indicated that as their area of expertise
   • Number of Volunteers: select any of the checkboxes to filter your search for organizations with the desired number of volunteers
   • Modules: select any of the checkboxes to find buddies who have indicated that as their area of expertise
3. Click the [Filter] button
4. In the “How I Can Help” section, you’ll see a list of Better Impact Buddies that match your search criteria along with some basic information about them. You can:
   • View Gallery Page: a link to a website with detailed information about the buddy (this option will only display if the buddy has an associated gallery page)
   • View Profile: displays a window with contact details and a profile summary

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