Volunteers

Opening the Volunteers hub

Click Volunteers in the left nav. The hub has four tabs: Roster, Shifts, Hours, and Applications.

Roster tab

The Roster tab lists all active volunteers. Each card shows their name, skills, screening status, and whether they're currently active.

Adding a volunteer manually:

1. 1
   Click Add volunteer in the top-right.
2. 2
   Enter their name, email, phone, skills (dog walking, enrichment, transport, medical assist, etc.), and availability.
3. 3
   Click Save. They're added to the roster.

Setting screening status:

Screening is set separately, after the volunteer's on the roster. Open their record and set their status: Not started, Submitted, Approved, or Rejected.

Sending a waiver:

Open a volunteer's record on the Roster tab and click Send waiver. They receive an email with an e-sign link. Signed waivers are stored on their record and shown with a "Waiver signed" badge.

Shifts tab

Create and manage volunteer shifts. Every shift is a single instance -- there's no recurrence feature, so a weekly commitment (like Saturday dog walks) means creating a new shift each week.

Creating a shift:

1. 1
   Click New shift (or open the Volunteers hub with the ?create=true URL param to open it directly).
2. 2
   Set the task (a short text label), an optional linked animal, and the start and end time. Add notes if useful.
3. 3
   Assign one volunteer, or leave it open for sign-up.
4. 4
   Click Save. An assigned volunteer receives an email notification.

Hours tab

The Hours tab is a running log of volunteer time. Hours are added automatically when a shift is marked complete or via a clock-in/ clock-out on a shift, or you can log them manually.

Logging hours manually:

1. 1
   Click Log hours.
2. 2
   Select the volunteer, date, duration, and activity type.
3. 3
   Click Save. The hours appear on the volunteer's record and in your monthly summary.

Applications tab

Incoming volunteer applications from your public form appear here. Each application shows the person's answers, availability, and skills.

Reviewing an application:

1. 1
   Click an application to open it.
2. 2
   Review their answers and availability. Add internal notes if needed.
3. 3
   Click Approve to add them to your Roster (they receive a welcome email), or Decline to archive the application.

Can volunteers see their own schedule and hours?

Yes -- there's a self-service volunteer portal (not on the main nav, but a live link you can share) where volunteers can see their dashboard, claim or release open shifts, and log their own hours.

Can a volunteer also be a foster?

Yes. A person can appear in both the Roster (as a volunteer) and the Foster Matchmaker tab (as a foster family). They're managed separately.

How do I track volunteer hours for grant reporting?

The Hours tab has a date-range filter and a CSV export button. Filter to the grant period, export, and you have a row-per-entry breakdown.

Can I mark a volunteer as inactive without deleting them?

Yes -- open their record on the Roster tab and toggle the 'Active' switch off. They disappear from the active list but their history is preserved.