Case Study: The Salvation Army achieves 11,620 hours saved annually with Better Impact

The Salvation Army's Transformation A Journey to Efficient Volunteer Management

The Salvation Army Central Territory was responsible for coordinating some 150,000 volunteers across 11 Midwestern states and 300 local offices but relied on paper, Excel and bespoke databases, which caused poor reporting, slow application processing, data-security concerns and heavy repetitive admin work. To modernize volunteer management, The Salvation Army chose Better Impact’s volunteer management solution, Volunteer Impact, and went live in 2007.

Better Impact implemented Volunteer Impact as a centralized online VMS, automating onboarding, tracking and reporting and improving data security and communications. The deployment delivered measurable gains—about 11,620 hours saved per year (valued at $254,187) with a strong ROI—while boosting satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness, reducing turnover and making it easier to cultivate and retain volunteers.

The Salvation Army

Robert Bonesteel

Director of Volunteer Services