Volunteer Management (for Businesses)

Do Some Good's easy-to-use Volunteer Management tools ensure you can quickly manage approvals and communicate with individuals and groups that are attending or volunteering for your events and positions. 

Quick Links

• Approve Applicants
• Add Volunteers
• Approve Hours
• Communication Tips

Approve Applicants

If you have chosen the options to have volunteers apply and then you can approve, either your employees or the public will be able to apply for the position. When they apply, they will be added to the "Volunteers Waiting For Approval" tab and you will be notified.

NOTE: You also have the option to let people simply sign up (no approval required) or strictly manage the position where volunteers must be added by administrators. All of this can be found in the position details in the "Volunteer Applications" section.

Under the "Volunteers Waiting For Approval" tab, you will be able to:

• See each applicant's name, profile picture, when they applied, where they are located, and a personal message from them (if they chose to write one).

• You can also click on their name or profile to learn more about the applicant, such as what types of positions they have been involved with in the past and skills they have used.

• If you need more information from them, you can "message" them.

• If the position is full or the applicant does not meet the position's needs, you can "remove" the application and you will have the opportunity to let them know why they have not been approved (e.g. We are full on volunteers, or you have not met the requirements).

NOTE: You can now also approve or remove applicants or volunteers from any position (by going into the position and scrolling down to the Volunteer list) or from any shift (by managing the shift).  For more details on Shifts & Scheduling, click HERE.

Add Volunteers

In addition to waiting for people to apply or register for a position, you can add people to a position or shift yourself. You will be able to add volunteers to a shift, and if the position has no shifts you will be able to add them to the position itself.

You will find an 'Add Volunteer' button on the right side of the position or shift management page. When you click the button, you will be able to choose any of your registered volunteers or employees to add. 

Approve Hours

Once an approved applicant submits hours using their "Log Hours" page, you can use the "Submitted Hours" tab in the Management area to:

• See each applicant's name, profile picture, the position they logged hours towards, # of hours they submitted, and a rating of how they enjoyed the volunteer experience and any written feedback (if they provided this information).

• Approve submissions by selecting the check box next to the applicants names and clicking "Approve” or approve all hour submissions at once with one click! 

• Once you uncheck a submission, you can message the volunteer to ask any clarifying questions, or you can delete the submission if it is inaccurate. Volunteers can re-submit requests if need be.

• All approved hours will be forwarded to the beneficiary organization to view (so they are kept in the loop), but will not need further approval.

NOTE:  If you are managing a specific shift, you can now see the hours your volunteers have logged towards that specific shift AND log hours on their behalf if you need to!  For more on Shifts & Scheduling, see this help article.

Communication Tips

The Do Some Good platform has a built-in messaging system that makes it quick and easy for you to message the people you need to.  When you create a new event, position or shift, groups are automatically created so you can send them messages with one click.

Here are a few quick tips:

• Accessing 'Messaging': Choose the mail icon to access your messaging options. Select the drop-down to access pre-created groups to send a message to.

• Types of Pre-created groups: From the global messaging, you can bulk message all admins, employees, connected customers, or volunteers for a specific position or event.

• Messaging Event Attendees: If you are managing an event where you had people sign up for attendance, scroll down to the Attendees list and select the “Message All” button to bulk message this group.

• Messaging by Shift: If you are managing a specific shift, scroll to the bottom of your “Volunteers for this Date” list and select the “Message these Volunteers” option. 

• How People Receive Messages:  People will receive a message in the Do Some Good platform. If they have email notifications turned on, it will also send them an email to let them know they’ve received a message. If they have downloaded the Do Some Good app and have notifications turned on, they will also receive a push notification, which is perfect for messages being seen during the shift or event.

• What Types of Messages should I send?  It’s likely that during the application process, you may need to communicate back and forth with a potential volunteer. This ensures your communication record is all in one place.  
• Prior to the event, position or shift, use bulk messaging to send any reminders. 
• During the event, position or shift, send a bulk message if there has been any changes.  
• After the event, position or shift, send a thank you or follow-up or reminder to post a story or log hours (or just log them on their behalf, which you can now do!)