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Plan a Single Opportunity

Goal: Create a one-time opportunity that's specific enough for volunteers to know what they're signing up for and structured enough that you can staff and run it cleanly.

Before you start​

Have these decided:

  • Date, time, and location
  • Project this opportunity supports (linked from the Projects module — opportunities tie into existing projects rather than creating their own)
  • Slot types you need — the named slots you're staffing for, with capacity per slot
  • Shifts, if the opportunity runs across multiple time blocks (e.g., morning crew + afternoon crew)
  • Requirements and waivers that apply

Slot types — staff the opportunity by job, not just headcount​

Most opportunities benefit from breaking total capacity into named slot types:

  • "Framing crew — 8 spots"
  • "Site host — 2 spots"
  • "Lunch volunteer — 4 spots"

Slot types let you require specific skills per slot, and they let volunteers self-select where they want to help. A single number ("we need 14 volunteers") leaves coordination work for opportunity day that you could have avoided.

If you also set Max Volunteers, it has to be at least what the slot capacities add up to. Slots with no capacity don't count toward that total, and Max Volunteers is what limits them.

Each slot type can require:

  • A specific system role (RBAC, e.g., for slots only staff should fill)
  • A verified skill (e.g., licensed electrician)

Shifts — for opportunities spanning multiple time blocks​

If your opportunity has natural breakpoints (morning/afternoon, three two-hour shifts, etc.), define them as shifts. Volunteers register for a specific shift, and your check-in counts are accurate per shift.

For continuous opportunities with one start and one end, skip shifts.

Reserve a shift for corporate groups​

Each shift has its own Corporate groups only switch. Turn it on and that one shift disappears from the shift picker individual volunteers see — only people registering through a corporate group's link can take it. The rest of the day stays open to the public as normal.

This is the finer-grained version of the Corporate groups only setting on the opportunity itself. Use the opportunity-level setting when the whole day belongs to a company; use the per-shift switch when you're splitting the day — a company on the morning shift, the public in the afternoon.

Staff are not blocked by it: anyone with permission to manage opportunities or corporate groups can still place a volunteer on a reserved shift by hand, and a staff-issued invite works too. Setting up the group itself is covered in Set Up a Corporate Group.

Requirements and waivers​

Attach the requirements and waivers that apply:

  • Mandatory requirements block registration until satisfied
  • Optional requirements are surfaced but don't block
  • Waivers are presented for signature during registration

Hour tracking and check-in settings​

Three settings on the opportunity control how attendance and hours work on the day:

  • Use Scheduled Hours — when on, every checked-in volunteer is credited the full scheduled duration (or their shift's duration). When off, hours are calculated from each volunteer's actual check-in and check-out times.
  • Record check-out times — whether volunteers can check out when they leave. This is always on when crediting actual attendance. When crediting scheduled hours you can still leave it on (recommended) so departures are recorded for attendance and verification, or turn it off for a simpler check-in-only experience.
  • Self check-in opens — volunteer self check-in opens automatically this long before the scheduled start (1 hour by default). Nobody has to "start" the opportunity — when the window opens, volunteers can check themselves in via the app or the posted QR code. Coordinators can always check volunteers in manually at any time, and can open self check-in even earlier from the day-of dashboard.

Visibility​

When you save the opportunity, decide whether it's publicly listed or invite-only:

  • Public listing — appears in the public opportunities feed and is open to anyone with a working volunteer account
  • Invite-only — accessible only via a generated invite link or direct registration

Both are configurable per opportunity.

Show who's signed up​

Off by default. Turn it on and the opportunity lists everyone registered by first name and last initial ("Dana O."), so volunteers can see who else is coming. Leave it off and no names appear at all.

Two things worth knowing before you turn it on:

  • It's public, not members-only. The roster shows on your embedded signup calendar, so anyone browsing your website can read it — not just volunteers who are logged in or already registered. Treat it as published, because it is.
  • The count is separate. "8 of 12 registered" always shows, on or off. The setting controls names, never numbers.

Good reasons to turn it on: a returning crew that likes seeing their regulars, a corporate build where the team wants to confirm everyone signed up, a small community opportunity where the roster is the draw. Reasons to leave it off: anything involving minors, court-ordered service, or participants who would not expect their name on a public page.

You can change it later, and on a recurring series you can set it for every occurrence at once — see Plan a Recurring Series. Turning it off removes the names immediately.

After publishing​

Once published, the opportunity is open for registration. Coordinators can monitor signups in real time, manually approve or reject if you've enabled approval, and send notifications. See: