GivePulse

The Center for Leadership and Service has now made it easy for FIU students to get involved in the community and make an impact! GivePulse is a great tool to connect students to FIU's community partners who all target a variety of social issues and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to these opportunities, GivePulse is an excellent tracking system for community service hours and produces reports of impacts made.

Faculty/Staff

In the summer of 2021, FIU has recently launched a new feature on GivePulse that allows other departments at FIU to track and manage hours for programs that require or center around volunteering/civic engagement. Current departments that participate include FIU Athletics, College of Medicine, Honors College, and the Office of University Sustainability.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does joining GivePulse work as a department?
Through FIU’s main group account, we can create “subgroups.” Each subgroup represents a department or program that requires service or volunteer hours. We highly recommend requesting a demo from our department to explore GivePulse features first before proceeding with a request to join as a subgroup. To make a request or to schedule a demo, please contact the Center for Leadership and Service at cls@fiu.edu.
Is my department or group able to join as a subgroup?
Any department or program that has a consistent service or civic engagement component can request to join as a subgroup. However, please note that this does NOT pertain to student organizations, clubs, or university-led/student-based conferences at FIU. All orgs and clubs should use PantherConnect for student-led events.
What are the benefits of transitioning to this platform?
GivePulse allows you to centralize your department’s activities and process of monitoring students’ hours and engagement, all in a paperless format. Additionally, GivePulse, like PantherConnect, is accessible through FIU credentials already, so no extra signups are required.
I currently have hours recorded for my students that I don’t want to lose. Can I transfer this data to GivePulse?
Yes! GivePulse allows you to upload and transfer information you currently have of students in your program(s).
Do I have the option of restricting who views and joins my subgroup once I set it up?
Yes! GivePulse is versatile and can work with your programmatic needs, so if you do not want your events or your group to be public, you can always make them private.
If I decide to join, how do I get information on managing my subgroup?
Our GivePulse liaison works with the designated representative(s) of your department to develop your subgroup profile and administration on GivePulse. It is typical to schedule training and check-ins to ensure smooth transition. Additionally, webinars are offered periodically to help you understand the platform better.

Current Students

Whether you are logging required hours for a program, applying for the Civic Engagement Medallion, or simply using it as a tool to track your community involvement for grad school or future career, all active FIU students can now track their service hours and find volunteer opportunities easier on GivePulse!

Activate GivePulse using your FIU account at fiu.givepulse.com:

Frequent Asked Questions

What is an impact?
An impact can be anything related to service, philanthropy, or civic engagement event/position that you want to report on GivePulse. There are different types of impacts that you can track: donations, research, voting, but most often, service hours. Please note that these do not get verified or logged automatically. It will need to be reviewed and verified.
Can I only submit impacts for events or opportunities found on GivePulse?
No. You can add impacts outside of GivePulse. View our tutorial: “How to add community service hours manually.”
Who should I send my impact requests to?
If you need to request verification as part of a program’s requirement (i.e. Honors College, College of Medicine), you should follow the guidelines that they have set for students.
If you are a student looking for general verification, then there are two options:
- Send your requests directly to your volunteer organizer or supervisor. This may take time unless they are actively responsive to emails and requests.
- Send your requests to our liaison, Connie Penczak, at cpenczak@fiu.edu. Please note that all requests must include a certificate or letter from the organization you volunteered with that includes dates of service, hours, and service activities.
I submitted my impact, but how will I know it gets reviewed?
Once your impact is sent to your requested verifier, it will prompt them to review your request via email. When they verify or dispute your impact, you will be notified immediately.
Do I get service hours for all types of impacts?
No. Please note that FIU primarily acknowledges service hours only. Service hours are awarded for experiences that are non-compensatory and beneficial to the community.
What are some examples of activities that do not count as community service?
- Philanthropy (with some exceptions) or donations
- Student club/organization activities: meetings, leadership roles, trainings, orientation
- Service for a religious organization that benefits members only
- Work for which you receive compensation
- Research that does not benefit the community in some way
- Homecoming
If you need to clarify whether or not your impact will award you hours, please contact Connie Penczak at cpenczak@fiu.edu.
I am part of an organization that wants to host a volunteer opportunity for my members. Can I create a GivePulse page and affiliate with FIU?
No. While GivePulse is open for different groups to create accounts and pages on their platform, FIU does not recognize any affiliates who are not registered nonprofits. Please note that student-led events should be created and managed on PantherConnect. If your organization is organizing a group volunteer event with a nonprofit, we recommend encouraging them to submit an impact request individually. If you are looking to host your own volunteer event for a group, please contact the Center for Leadership and Service at cls@fiu.edu.

Community Partners

Join a network of panthers who want to make an impact with your organization! More colleges/universities are using this platform and encourage their students to use it as a way to find volunteer opportunities. This platform is associated with Campus Labs, which connects students to extra-curricular activities and programming. Therefore, you will increase your presence amongst a variety of different students looking for volunteer opportunities.

Highlighted Features:

Streamlining Volunteer Recruitment: You can post events or opportunities and be able to organize/compile requirements you would like ahead of time. You can also save waiver, liability forms ahead of time and be able to attach them to these opportunities/events to save you the process of handling so much physical documentation.
Verifying Hours with a Click of a Button: You do not have to sign off on any timesheets for students who sign up through GivePulse. You can simply verify their hours or impact on the backend.

FIU is looking to connect our panthers to meaningful service opportunities. As such, we request that you are an active non-profit that is registered as a 501(c) and 501(c)3 organization with an updated profile on GivePulse and opportunities already published. If you do not have these items prepared or would like more guidance in preparing these items, we recommend reviewing our tutorials and to request a free demo through GivePulse: https://learn.givepulse.com/.

Did you post an event or opportunity already and need help spreading the word? All community partners are welcome to contact the Center for Leadership and Service at cls@fiu.edu to further market to key departments at FIU. Please provide flyers, links, and other relevant materials.

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