Customize Registration Confirmations

Goal: Replace the standard registration confirmation email with your affiliate's own message — and use different messages for different kinds of opportunities.

How it works

When a volunteer registers for an opportunity, the confirmation email they receive is chosen in this order:

1. The template assigned to that opportunity — set on the opportunity's create or manage page
2. Your affiliate's default template — the one marked Default in Registration Messages
3. The built-in system message — used when you haven't created any templates

You don't have to assign a template to every opportunity. Most affiliates create one default template, then assign special templates only where it matters (for example, a construction-specific message with safety reminders).

Create a template

1. Go to Volunteering → Registration Messages
2. Click New Template
3. Give it a name (volunteers never see this — it's just for your pickers), a subject, and a message
4. Click Preview to see the message rendered with sample volunteer and event details
5. Save

Turn on Default template if this message should apply to every opportunity that doesn't have its own assignment.

Format your message

The message editor has a formatting toolbar:

• Text styling — bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and two heading sizes
• Lists — bulleted and numbered lists for arrival checklists ("bring water, wear closed-toe shoes…")
• Layout — quotes and horizontal dividers to break the message into sections
• Links — select text and click the link button; links open in a new tab
• Images — click the image button to upload a photo or map (JPEG, PNG, WebP, or GIF up to 5 MB); images are resized automatically
• Merge fields — the { } button inserts personalization fields at your cursor, so you don't have to type them by hand

For safety, only standard formatting is kept when the template is saved — pasted content from other tools is cleaned up automatically.

Attach files

Use the Attachments section to send files with every confirmation email — directions, parking maps, liability paperwork, or an orientation packet.

• Up to 3 files per template, 5 MB each
• PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, CSV, calendar (.ics), and image files are supported
• Volunteers receive the files as regular email attachments

Keep attachments small where you can — some email providers reject large messages.

Personalize with merge fields

Type merge fields anywhere in the subject or message and they're replaced with the volunteer's actual details when the email is sent:

Field	Becomes
{{volunteer_first_name}}	The volunteer's first name
{{volunteer_last_name}}	The volunteer's last name
{{event_name}}	The opportunity name
{{event_date}}	The opportunity date (or date range)
{{event_time}}	Start–end time (single-day opportunities)
{{event_location}}	The opportunity location
{{role_name}}	The slot/role they signed up for, if any
{{shift_name}}	The shift they selected, if any
{{shift_time}}	That shift's start–end time
{{affiliate_name}}	Your affiliate's name
{{organization_name}}	The volunteer's organization, if any

Example:

Hi {{volunteer_first_name}}, you're confirmed for {{event_name}} on {{event_date}}. Check in at {{event_location}} 15 minutes before your {{shift_name}} shift.

A field with no value (say, {{shift_name}} on an opportunity without shifts) simply renders blank.

Opportunities that require approval

If an opportunity has registration approval turned on, volunteers first get a "registration received" notice, and your custom confirmation goes out when a coordinator approves them.

Want to customize the received notice too? Turn on Custom pending-approval message in the template editor and write that variant. If you leave it off, the built-in notice is used.

Assign a template to an opportunity

• New opportunity: in the create dialog, pick from Confirmation message template
• Existing opportunity: open the opportunity → Manage Opportunity → Confirmation message template

Leaving the picker on Affiliate default means the opportunity follows your default template (and picks up any future change to which template is the default).

Deleting a template

Deleting a template won't break anything: any opportunities it was assigned to fall back to your default template, or to the built-in message if you have no default.