Contact Helpline of Columbus, Mississippi, USA began using iCarol in 2006. Early in their free trial period, they knew by the reaction from their staff and volunteers that they definitely wanted to subscribe and continue using iCarol.

"The volunteers and staff really like iCarol. They saw that it would really help and be easier and faster. They like being able to access it from home and it is really pretty easy," says the Executive Director.

But with a tight budget, they had to justify
the subscription expense to their board and funders. That's when the volunteer coordinator set out to estimate how much they would save by using iCarol.

"Changing to iCarol makes our agency more of a paperless office. Calls are logged onto the computer. All the stats from the calls are recorded and reports are run for the totals each month - we won't have to hand figure these anymore. This is a lot quicker and more accurate."

Based on their experience using iCarol so far, she made very conservative assumptions to calculate a figure she knows the agency will save. The result? They are very confident they'll save at least $14,220 every year, allowing them to cover the cost of their iCarol subscription many times over. The savings comes from reduced supplies, paper, storage space, postage and staff time.

With the extra money and time, the agency has big plans to finally tackle projects that have been on the back burner for years.

• Contact Helpline of Columbus, Mississippi
• 69 volunteers
• 1 full time employee
• 4 part time employees
• 9,000 calls per year