In Virtuous CRM+, you can track data and values specific to your organization by using Custom Fields. But if you want to track a series of related values, Custom Collections may be a better solution. Custom Collections can be added to Contacts or Individuals, for tracking any series of data where you may have an undefined amount of entries.
When Would I Use A Custom Collection?
For example, let's say that your organization provides tutoring and support for low-income students. So, you'd like to track the students that are tutored by your volunteer tutors. As part of this, you'll be tracking the name and grade level of each student and the particular subject covered in their tutoring sessions. Because you need a number of fields to track data for each student, a Custom Collection will store all of this data altogether.
You could create a Collection called "Tutoring," and within that collection, you could define Custom Fields for "Name," "Grade Level," and "Subject." Then, as tutors work with their students, you can add values for each to your collection.
When you add the first, you'll see something like this:
By clicking on the "add" button, you'll be able to continue adding values for additional students, all collected under the "Tutoring" header:
Each entry can be edited or even deleted, as needed.
Other Use Cases for Custom Collections
Depending on your type of organization, you may have different use cases for Custom Collections. These could include:
- Board Member Engagement (start and end date, role, yearly paid dues)
- Mission Trip Tracking (date of trip, location, projects participated in, roles)
- Human Services (case notes, program enrollment, job placement, graduation, workshops)
- Healthcare History (diagnosis, admitted date, relation to the disease, other patient touchpoints)
Is A Custom Collection The Best Option For My Data?
While Custom Collections are helpful for storing multiple values for a dataset over a period of time, it may not be the best option for your unique data. Maintaining clean and useful Custom Collection data requires regular reporting and evaluation. Remember: Just because you can track something in CRM+ doesn't mean you should. If you need more help deciding whether your data should be a Custom Collection, Custom Field, or a Tag, use this guide as a reference.
Now that you know what Custom Collections are for, check out this article to learn more about creating and working with them.