Receive Applications From Mailbox¶

This help topic shows how to receive volunteer application forms into your database of volunteer records. We'll go step-by-step through this process in each section below. Click a heading below to expand its contents and learn more.

Clear Tagged Records for Your Session¶

A tag is a temporary way to identify a record, or group of records, during your Volgistics session. Records created by receiving applications are automatically tagged so they are easy to identify. Because tags are cumulative during your session, it is important to clear any tagged records you may have for your session before you receive applications. This will ensure that you are not including previously tagged records when you work with the new records. With the Tags feature, you can work with all of the applicant records you receive to do things such as send a VicNet password link or any of the other tasks described in the Tag Functionality help topic.

To clear the tagged records:

1. Choose Tags from the menu.
2. Click the Clear all tags button.

If the Clear all tags button is grayed out, no records are currently tagged.

Go to the Applications Tab¶

You can set up your application forms to send an alert to a System Operator when a new application form is submitted. The alerts can go to the In Box of your Volgistics mailbox, to the email address recorded on the operator's record, or if the operator has opted-in to text messaging the alert can go to the operator's cell phone.

In most cases, when a prospective volunteer submits an online application form it appears as a pending application on the Applications tab of your Volgistics mailbox. From the Applications tab, you can choose to either receive or delete individual applications. This step gives you a chance to screen out applications you know to be duplicates or phony before they make it into your database. If your forms are set up to bypass auditing, the applicant's information creates a new record in your database without being held on the Applications tab first. In this case, you can find the record as shown in the Finding Records help topic.

To check for pending applications:

1. Choose Mailbox from the menu.
2. Select the Applications tab.

The Applications tab has columns for Name, Street, City, Application (the form's internal name), Posted (the date the application was received), Site(s) (if Site Level Access is used in your account and you are a Headquarters operator), and Type. These will display information about the application the volunteer submitted. If you do not see some of these columns, the associated fields may be hidden in your account or your System Operator permissions do not allow you to see the information in those columns.

You can click on each of the column headings to change the sort order of the listed applicants. For example, click on the Posted column heading once to sort the pending applications in descending order of date and time received. Click the same column heading again to reverse the sort order.

If your account has Site Level Access enabled, pending applications may be associated with a Site (or Sites). In this case, your ability to see the applicant depends on if you are a Headquarters Operator (someone who can see all Sites), or a Site-Level or Multi-Site Level Operator who can only view one Site at a time. The Application Forms and Site Level Access help topic has more details about this.

View Applications¶

You can view the PDF file of the completed application form before receiving an applicant's record into your database. To do this, click the hyperlink for the name of the application in the Applications column.

In most cases, the PDF file will open in a new web browser window. However, your web browser may be configured to open PDF files with a different program or to download the file. If the browser is set up to use a different program, that program should automatically launch with a view of the completed form. If the browser is set up to download the file, you will need to go to the location your files are saved to in order to open the file.

Please Note: If an applicant submitted documents with their application, those documents will show as being uploaded on the PDF of the completed application. However, the uploaded documents themselves are not available while the application is pending. You will need to receive the record into your database to view the documents the applicant submitted. See the Completed Application Forms and Uploaded Documents section below for information on finding the documents.

Receive New Applications¶

When you receive a new application form on the Applications tab, Volgistics inserts a new volunteer record into your database where you can view its contents and begin working with it. To receive new application forms, you will need to be on the Applications tab of the Volgistics mailbox. If you are not already on this tab, see the Go to the Applications Tab section above.

To receive applications:

1. Place a checkmark in the checkbox that appears next to the applicant's name for the record you want to receive. You can click the Check all button at the bottom of the tab if you want to receive all of the pending application forms. If you'd like to receive multiple applicants but not all of them, you can check the boxes for a range of applicants. To do that, check the box for the first application in the range, hold down the Shift key, and then click on the last application in the range you want to select. All the items in the range will be checked for you.

2. Click the Receive button at the bottom of the tab.

   

When you click the Receive button, Volgistics inserts a new volunteer record for each application form you checked. This new record contains all of the information the prospective volunteer entered on the form. If you need help locating submitted information in the new records, please see the Applicant Information on Volunteer Records help topic.

If you receive more than one new application at a time, you may want to use the Volgistics Tag features to perform additional processing on the newly received applicant records. For instance, if you routinely send a welcome email, simply send the email to all of the tagged records right after you receive new applications.

Your Volgistics account's service level sets the maximum number of volunteer records you can manage in your database. Each new application you receive through the Applications tab becomes one new volunteer record, so you can only receive as many applications as you have space for in your account. Volgistics will alert you on the Applications tab if you're short on space. If you find that you have more pending applications than you have space for, alert your organization's Volgistics Administrator. They can make more space available by deleting or archiving other volunteer records, or increasing your organization's service level to provide space for tracking more volunteers.

Delete New Applications¶

The internet is a public place, so you may occasionally receive bogus or phony form submissions with blank names or address fields, or irregular name and address entries such as "ZZZZZZZZZ" or "asdkjfhjkasdfhliweuh." Or, you may receive an application the system flags as a possible duplicate because the first and last name, or email address, match a record already in your database.

The Delete option exists so you can dispose of phony form submissions and duplicate records rather than clutter your database with them. Of course it's up to you to determine if a pending application should be deleted or not. One way to do this is to view the PDF file of the completed application as shown in the View Applications section above.

If you can't view the PDF file, and can't judge for sure if the application should be deleted based on the information displayed on the Applications tab, you can always receive the application, view the rest of the submitted information, and then delete the record if it turns out to be bogus or a duplicate record. There is not any danger of contracting a computer virus or damaging your Volgistics database by receiving applications from the Applications tab into your Volgistics mailbox.

If you choose to delete an application form rather than receive it, Volgistics removes the application from the list of pending applications and holds on to it for up to 5 days. During that 5 day period, the application can be restored at any time, but after those 5 days have passed the application and any information entered on it will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored.

To delete one application:

1. Click the Delete link on the right side of the row that has the applicant's information.

   

2. Click the OK button in the pop-up confirmation window. If you do not wish to delete the application, click the Cancel button.

To delete multiple applications:

1. Place a checkmark in the checkbox that appears next to the applicant's name for the records you want to delete. You can click the Check all button at the bottom of the tab if you want to delete all of the pending application forms. If you'd like to delete multiple applications but not all of them, you can check the boxes for a range of applications. To do that, check the box for the first application in the range, hold down the Shift key, and then click on the last application in the range you want to select. All the items in the range will be checked for you.

2. Click the Delete button at the bottom of the tab.

   

3. Click the OK button in the pop-up confirmation window. If you do not wish to delete the applications, click the Cancel button.

Completed Application Forms and Uploaded Documents¶

After you receive applicant records into your account, you may want to view or print the volunteer's application. Volgistics automatically saves a PDF file of the completed application form a volunteer submits for all accounts. You can learn how to print, view, or save this document in the Print, View, or Save a Completed Application help topic.

If your application forms are set up to allow applicants to submit documents with the application, those documents will be viewable on the Docs tab of the applicant's volunteer record. You can also view all documents uploaded to all of your volunteer records on the Volunteers sub-tab of the Documents tab of your Volgistics Mailbox.

Related Help¶

• Background Screening With Verified First
• Getting Started With Application Forms
• Applicant Information on Volunteer Records
• Application Forms and Site Level Access
• Restore Deleted Applicant Records
• Documents Tab of Mailbox
• Duplicate Record Checking
• Docs Tab for Volunteers
• Print, View, or Save a Completed Application
• Document Uploads on Application Forms