Managing clients and their needs

Through TCMS, you can enter your clients' contact information and needs.  TCMS also provides a client tracking log, that allows you to keep a record of contacts and actions regarding your clients.

Managing an inventory of goods and services

You can enter physical items (furniture, appliances, etc.) as well as services (painting, driving, etc.). TCMS also provides a public page where donors can pledge their items, and you can contact them to arrange for pick-up or delivery. Items can be tracked on a "per item" basis, with details collected about each item, or on a "per count" basis. Items also may have a variety of dispositions, so an item can be tracked from the time it is pledged until the time it is used to fill a need.

Managing volunteers

TCMS provides a public page where volunteers can sign up to work with your organization. It also allows you to categorize volunteers in several different ways. You can search for volunteers using a variety of criteria.

Scheduling volunteers to provide services to clients

Volunteers providing services can be scheduled for a particular client on a given date and time range. This schedule remains even after the work has been completed, which provides a record of service for both client and volunteer.

Matching goods to clients who need them

Items from the inventory can be matched with goods needs for a client. This helps to keep the inventory up-to-date, as well as providing a record of where the item was used. The item will also no longer show as a need, so any need counts will be accurate in real time.

Communicating with volunteers

Volunteers can be e-mailed individually, and the system will also send out an organization-wide "Info Blast." Additionally, you can send an e-mail to the group of volunteers that are returned by the volunteer search page - for example, this allows you to search for all volunteers who said they could do plumbing work, then e-mail a plumbing opportunity to only those volunteers.

A public website

For its user management, TCMS utilizes WordPress, the industry-standard web log (blog) and content management system. For organizations that do not have a public website already, or organizations that have a static website that was built long ago that they cannot update, this allows them to gain a dynamic presence on the Internet. Because it is based on WordPress, organizations can create static pages, or use the blogging features for announcements, newsletters, or success stories - you don't have to have a "web guru" on staff. For organizations that already have a public site, we can provide links from them for the public pages of TCMS. (You can learn more about WordPress by visiting wordpress.org.)