Tools for Volunteers

To all Volunteers coordinating one of our events:

To make life easier for our parent volunteers we have created an account on SignUpGenius.com (http://signupgenius.com/) to create, send, and manage all of the volunteer activities and donations for the various events we host. SignUpGenius.com will give us the following features and benefits:

SignUpGenius.com handles requests for donations and volunteer time. You simply specify what you need, how many, when, and where.

Donations: For example, you can create twelve slots for baked goods wrapped in cellophane to be dropped of at the pool by 10am on a specific date. Twelve different parents can sign-up for one or more of those slots. As the slots are filled no one else can sign-up for that item. Here is an example of the sign-up form for donations:

SUG donations signup sample

Volunteer time slots: For example, you can create an item for three different time slots for program sales for two volunteers per shift. Again, as the slots are filled no one else can sign up for them. Anyone wanting to sign up can only do so for an open slot. Here is an example of what the sign-up screen looks like:

SUG volunteer signup sample

There are no limits on the number of items you can request.

When your event request is created and finalized an e-mail is sent to everyone in the group(s) providing them with a link to SignUpGenius.com to sign-up for donations and/or volunteer slots.

Each event can be targeted to a specific group. For example, when the senior parents coordinate the Senior Social all of the donations and volunteer sign-ups will be communicated between them as a group. Parents signing up for donations or volunteer slots do not have to register on SignUpGenius.com. The e-mail they receive gives them access to that particular sign up form.

You can check the status of your event at any time to see what is covered and what is open. There are a number of views and reports available. You can also sign people up manually in the event someone contacts you by phone or e-mail. You can also elect to get an e-mail every time someone signs up.

A very useful feature is the ability for your volunteers to swap assignments. You do not have to be involved if someone has a conflict. They can swap with another person easily via the SignUpGenius web site.

You can send out e-mail reminders or updates. If you forget something you can edit and add more items. The person signing up can request an automatic e-mail or text message reminder.

Lastly, everything we create is reusable next year. All of the donation list and volunteer lists can be copies and carried forward to do the same the next year. So if you want to volunteer againg next year it is even less work. If you don't, you help the next parent who chairs the event.

We believe using this tool will make the entire event coordination process easier for everyone. It should save you a lot of e-mails and phone calls. No more paper lists or Excel spreadsheets. Everything is accessible and manageable online.

SignUpGenius Procedures

Please contact Mike Swift (mkswift@optonline.net) for your user ID and password if you are going to coordinate one of our events. Mike will work with you to help you get your event set up on SignUpGenius.com and can assist with any questions about how to manage and view the results.

The setup process involves some consideration of the timeframe for the event, drop off times, and other logistics. That will be worked out during the setup. Once everything is setup in SignUpGenius you are ready to log in.

Before you log in it is helpful to think about what you are going to be requesting. What donation items do you need and what volunteer roles do you want to request. Being pragmatic, you may want to talk to the person who chaired the event last year to get a sense of how much they requested in terms of both donations and volunteers. Once you have an idea about what you want, you have to be fairly specific in the breakdown in order to create opportunities to donate and volunteer. Here are some examples:

Donations:

Cookies - two dozen, wrapped in cellophane, in packages of 2 (12 packages) - how many people do you need to bring two dozen cookies?
Gatorade two 8-packs - how many people do you need to bring two 8-packs?
Powerbars - 24 pack assorted varieties - how many people need to bring the Powerbar packages?

A sample sign up screen is shown below. In each case you are using the Title of Sign Up Slot field to enter what you are asking for and the Help Comment field to very specifically describe how you want the item packaged. In the example below nine people are being requested to bring cookies, each is bringing one dozen wrapped in packages of two cookies per pack.

SUG donation entry screen

In addition to the items you are going to specify where you want the items and at what time. Plan to enter a drop off time and location.

Volunteer Time Slots:

Timers - time slot (4-5pm) - how many do you need?
Timers - time slot (5-6pm) - how many do you need?
Setup - time slot (2-3pm) - how many do you need?
Snack bar sales - time slot (4-5pm) - how many do you need?

Here is a sample of what the data entry screen looks like:

SUG volunteer entry sample

After logging in to SignUpGenius you will go to the My Account tab. From the My Account Menu select My Sign Ups. Depending upon your event you will have two sign ups, one for your donation list and one for your volunteer list. You will need to go to each list to add the specific items for donation and the specific volunteer jobs and time slots. You can add as many as you need in either one.

This can obviously take time. As you are going through the process of creating your lists you can stop at any time and save everything to come back to it later. To pick up where you left off you simply log in again and go to your event and continue entering items.

As new tips, tricks, and procedures are acquired, they will be posted on this page.

For any questions or assistance, contact Mike Swift at mkswift@optonline.net.