Oh, my! If you’ve been listening at the User Talks, you’ll have heard that many Villages communicate to their members, volunteers, donors, and the world using non-RunMyVillage applications even though RMV might have similar capabilities. We thought we’d use this User Talk to visit why this is and what might be the best practices.
So, this will be another “Why We Do Things the Way We Do” session where Villages discuss, listen, and learn.
Our Questions include:
· When and why do Villages use non-RMV applications and what apps do you use?
· How do Villages make tradeoffs between “getting the communication out quickly” vs. “making it look pretty?”
· How do Villages synchronize data between RMV and other communications applications?
Examples we’ve heard in prior User Talks and elsewhere:
· Weekly reminders – using MailChimp and Constant Contact
· Preparing member invoices/renewals – using QuickBooks
· Lists of unfilled Service Request (to volunteers) – using email (e.g., sending Excel-formatted lists via Gmail)
· Event announcements and reminders – using email or MailChimp, etc.
· Form letters (e.g., Thank you for your donations) that repeat automatically-generated emails
· In February and March 2023, we discussed why Villages use other applications for preparing newsletters, so we won’t repeat that. You can find those sessions in the Village to Village Network’s lists of webinars.
As with our previous “Why We Do Things the Way We Do” sessions, rather than a scripted presentation, this will be a discussion among the attendees about each Village’s philosophy and process. So, please come prepared to share your experiences, successes, questions, and ideas along with your challenges and how you have resolved them. As always happens in these “Why We Do Things…” sessions, we expect that the attendees will learn best practices and new ideas that they can apply to their Village’s efforts.
Please invite anyone from your Village who you think might be interested in this topic. You can register on the calendar on the Village to Village Network website.
If you have not signed up for the VtV RMV User Group’s Forum, please do so through your Profile on the VtV site.
These monthly talks are designed to help Villages use RunMyVillage more effectively. Each month has a different topic. The intended audience always includes the technology community within your Village; in addition, others in the Village may be invited based on the planned topic. Each of the User Talks has time for Villages to ask RunMyVillage-related questions to RMV and to other Villages. Examples of what we plan for these talks: RMV new release updates and discussions, results of surveys of desired enhancements to RMV, discussion of best practices and common issues particularly where Villages use RMV is different ways, and orientations for new Villages. If you have ideas for topics, email us at RMVusers@vtvnetwork.org. Videos for all previous User Talk webinars are on the VtV website.