Platform walkthrough

Think about what you need help with

Most employee volunteers typically offer one day at a time, spanning between 3 to 8 hours. It's therefore helpful to plan activities that can be delivered within a day.

While more "interesting" activities often garner higher support, focus on what will really be most helpful to your organisation and beneficiaries. Volunteers can assist with a wide range of tasks. When creating a need, it can be helpful to get ideas from other activities on the platform.

Take a look through our volunteering search page for inspiration.

See example volunteering activities

Navigate to your Volunteering dashboard

On your dashboard when using a desktop, go to the "Volunteering" link in the left-hand menu. On mobile, first open your menu using the button in the top right. This page is where you'll manage all of your volunteering activities.

Below: Desktop (left) & Mobile (right)

Click on “Get volunteers”

In the purple header section on the page, click on the 'Get volunteers' button

Select a good cause profile

If you're managing more than one page, select the one that you want to create a volunteer need for. If you're only managing one page, you can ignore this step.

Create a need or event

To attract volunteers flexibly, create a 'need'. Prospective volunteers can respond to this by registering interest. This approach allows volunteers to submit their availability before you create a dated event.

If you have an immediate or fixed requirement, feel free to create an event with a specific date and time. For more guidance on this, refer to step 9.

If you're uncertain about which option to choose, click on the "Which should I select?" dropdown for detailed information to help you decide.

Fill out your need details

Provide a short description of what you need help with, including the type of volunteering required (e.g. in-person or remote) and the maximum team size you can accommodate.

You don't need to be specific at this stage; details can be added later when you create the event.

Manage your need (Optional)

If you need to edit or delete your need, you can do so from the tile on your volunteering dashboard.

View offers of help

Be patient, as it may take a few days or weeks before you start receiving volunteer offers. Your chances of receiving offers increase once your need gets added to a campaign. You'll be notified of this by email, so keep an eye out.

Once you receive offers, return to your volunteering dashboard and click on the "View offers" button. You'll be notified by email when you receive offers, and the tile on your dashboard will indicate how many you've received.

Select the volunteers you want to invite to an activity

Select volunteers using the checkboxes in the table.

Create activities

Click on the "Create activity" button. 

Fill out your activity information

Complete the form and click “Publish” when you're done.  

Wait for employees to confirm attendance or sign up

When you publish an event, we'll send an email to the invited volunteers asking them confirm their attendance. If you have manual approvals turned off (which is the default setting), they will be automatically accepted into the event.

If you have manual approvals turned on, you'll need to respond to each sign up before they are accepted.

Once this process is complete, you'll receive an email notification confirming the attendance of volunteers. Congratulations! Don't forget to add the event to your calendar.