Volunteer Sign-ups

This article explains how Reservations can be used to set up a Web page that allows an organization to schedule volunteers for an event. In this example, an organization is hosting a multi-hour event, where volunteers at three different locations will collect donations for students in need. Prospective volunteers will be able to visit the organization's Web site to sign up for the event.

Using Reservations features, the organization can create a page that allows volunteers to submit their contact information, and select the time, location and number of hours where they will be available to help out.

Note, while this article is not a step-by-step tutorial, it provides a brief overview of how Reservations can be used for a specific purpose. Examples such as this, located at the top of the Reservations section, will help you become familiar with this new feature, and what it can be used for.

The process begins with the creation of a Schedule, where the times and locations for the event are entered. The Schedule information will then be integrated with a form, which will prompt volunteers for contact information, and allow them to submit a request for their preferred time and location. The form will be added to a page on the organization's Web site, allowing volunteers to visit and sign up online. Finally, an example of the information that is logged in The Digital Bell, when a volunteer submits the form, is shown.

The donation drive will take place at three high-traffic, public locations: The Pine View Mall, the 4th Street Shopping Center, and Mark's Coffee Shop. Volunteers at these locations will collect donations from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Each volunteer that signs up will be able to select a location, and the number of hours they will be on site (broken down into two-hour blocks). To help spread out the volunteers, no more than 6 volunteers should be present at each location at one time. In addition to the times and places, contact information, including street addresses for volunteer's that need transportation, will also be collected. This information will be used to confirm volunteering commitments and provide news, updates, and reminders.

Now that the overall plan for the donation drive has been created, the sign-up information can be transferred into The Digital Bell.

A Schedule is created to enter the times and locations for the donation drive. When first creating the Schedule, a title is entered, along with a brief description of the Schedule's purpose. Next, Time Slot Groups for each location, and Time Slots for the two-hour blocks, are added to it.

Time Slot Groups are used to categorize the individual Time Slots. In this example, the Time Slot Groups will correspond to the locations where the donation drive will be taking place. Each Time Slot Group will be titled with one of the locations - Pine View Mall, 4th St. Shopping Center, and Mark's Coffee Shop.

After the Time Slot Groups are added, the Time Slots that will populate the groups are created. While the Time Slot Groups represent the locations, the individual Time Slots will represent the time of day, and duration for each volunteering engagement. Each group will contain three Time Slots, nine in total, broken down into two-hour blocks (10:00am - 12:00pm, 12:00pm - 2:00pm, and 2:00pm - 4:00pm).

On the completed page, volunteers will be able to select as many two hour blocks as they'd like, for their chosen location. For example, one volunteer may select the 4th Street Shopping Center, and one two-hour block, from 12:00pm to 2:00pm, while another may select the Pine View Mall and all three blocks, from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

For each Time Slot, a group is chosen, the title is entered, and the date, time of day and duration are selected. Next, a short description of the Time Slot is entered in the "Content" section. Finally, the "Available Seats" field is used to enter the maximum number of volunteers that can request a single Time Slot.

The organization wants no more than six people at one location at the same time, and sets the "Available Seats" field accordingly. Once the limit is reached, that particular location's time and duration will no longer be selectable, directing visitors to the remaining times and locations, where volunteers are still needed.

Next, the remaining Time Slots are created.

Once all nine Time Slots have been added to the Schedule, the form can be created.

The form is used to collect contact information from the volunteers, and allows them to select the time/duration and location where they will collect donations. When creating a form, preliminary information is entered first - the title, a short description of the form's purpose, and the "Thank You" message, which is diaplayed to volunteers after they have submitted the form.

Once the preliminary information has been entered, the Form Editor becomes available. The Form Editor is used to add Form Fields and Form Actions. Form Fields are used to either collect or display information to visitors, such as a field where they can enter their name, or instructions on completing the form. Form Actions take the information that has been entered into the form and perform certain tasks with it, such as sending a "Thank You" email to the volunteers, or a notification email to the donation drive's organizers.

The Form Fields are added first, and will prompt prospective volunteers to enter their contact information - first name, last name, email address, street address (for volunteers that need transportation), and phone number.

The full tutorial for creating a reservation form includes detailed information on adding Form Fields, but for the purposes of this example, a quick overview will be provided for creating a Form Field that prompts a parent/guardian for their first name.

New Form Fields are added by clicking the "Add new field" link, located in the right margin of the Form Editor page.

After clicking the link, the Form Field's "type" is chosen. In this case, it will be a "Text" Form Field, which allows a visitor to enter a short string of text, such as a name or address.

Next, the title of the Form Field is entered. The title is used internally, and will not appear on the completed page. Next, the "name," which is another internal field, is added. The "name" field is important, as this is one way the form communicates with the Schedule. The full tutorial includes specific information on what will need to be entered into this field. 

After completing this section, an expanded list of options is presented, specific to creating a "Text" Form Field. Here the "label," is added, which is the prompt a visitor will see on the completed page. For example, if "First Name" is entered into the "label" field, visitors will see "First Name" followed by a blank text box where they can enter their name.

The "Is Required" option is set to "Yes," which will not allow the form to be submitted without information in this Form Field. 

The remaining options are left at their default settings, and the Form Field is submitted and added to the form. Next, the remaining fields are added.

After the Form Fields have been created, the Form Actions are added. Two specific Form Actions are required to integrate the form with the Schedule - "Notification Email" and "Reservation Schedule."

The "Notification Email" Form Action is used to send an email to the donation drive's organizers. One email will be sent each time a volunteer completes and submits the form, and will contain the information that was entered into the form. 

The "Reservation Schedule" Form Action is used to select an existing Schedule, and adds its Time Slots to the form. Each Time Slot will become a selectable choice that a visitor can select, while the "Layout" determines how they can be selected. For example, the "List" layout allows a visitor to select only one of the available time slots. The "Form" layout is selected, as it is the only Layout option that allows a visitor to select multiple Time Slots - for volunteers who would like to commit more than two hours.

After the Form Actions have been added, the form is complete and can be added to a Web page.

Once the form is complete, it is added to a new page on the organization's Web site. This step of the process takes all of the information entered up to this point, and presents it to prospective volunteers who visit the site.

A new page is added for the donation drive, and the content editor is used to add information about the event, as well as the form itself.

In the page's content editor, the reservation form is added by clicking the "Forms" link, located in the right margin - under the "Add Content" heading. Clicking this link adds a new "Form Group" to the page, where the donation drive form is selected, and added to the page.

After adding the form to the page, the finished product is previewed by clicking the "Vew on Website" button, located in the right margin. The image below shows an example of the "contact information" portion of the page.

After entering their information, volunteers can then select a preferred location, and the length of their commitment, under the "Availabilities" heading. The titles of the Time Slot Groups, created earlier, now appear as subheadings on the reservation page, organizing the available options by location.

Each time the form is completed and submitted, the volunteer is shown the "Thank You" message, a notification e-mail is sent to the drive's organizers, and a Request is logged in The Digital Bell.

When a volunteer submits the completed form to sign up, their Request is logged in The Digital Bell. Each Request consists of their contact information, the chosen time/duration and location, as well as the time and date when the Request was received.

Another benefit of the Reservations system is that this information is available to the program's organizers at any time, in an easily readable format, without having to do a manual export of the form data.

Requests can be found by mousing over the "Calendar" link, located in the menu at the top of the Dashboard, then clicking on "Reservations." Next, a list of the existing Schedules will be shown.

Clicking the "View" button (magnifying glass icon) will display the selected Schedule's central information page. Here, Time Slot Groups, Time Slots, and Requests can be accessed. Requests are shown first, by default.

The central information page's overview shows the latest Requests in reverse chronological order (newest to oldest), and displays the selected Time Slot Group/Time Slot, the name of the volunteer, and the time and date the Request was received.

The following example image shows the Requests that would be received from a volunteer who will be collecting donations at the 4th Street Shopping Center for the first four hours of the event. Two separate Requests are sent, in this instance - one for each two-hour block the volunteer is commiting to.

The "View" button (magnifying glass icon), highlighted in the image above, can be clicked to view detailed information on a single Request. After clicking the button, the data entered into each field of the form is displayed (first name, last name, email, phone number, and address), in addition to the selected Time Slot Group/Time Slot. This information can be used to contact the volunteers, to confirm their choices or update them with any new information.

Now that you have learned how Reservations can be used to sign up students for an after school program, you can continue reading the introductory examples to learn more, or proceed to the Reservation Schedule tutorial - the first in the series of in-depth tutorials on creating and implementing Reservations.