Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions about using PurposeTech.

Getting started

What is PurposeTech for?

PurposeTech is volunteer and crew management for any purpose event: street appeals, runs and challenges, tours and open days, festivals and clean-ups. It suits a single event or an organiser running many. You set up sites and shifts, volunteers sign themselves up, coordinators work from rosters, and automated emails and reports cover the rest.

It works beside your ticketing and fundraising platforms. It does not sell tickets, take payments or run peer-to-peer fundraising, and it does not do payroll, pay rates or timesheets.

How do my volunteers sign up?

Share the link to your campaign site (e.g., volunteers.yourcharity.org.nz). Volunteers pick a site, choose a shift, enter their details, and confirm by clicking the sign-in link sent to their email. No account creation or password is needed.

Do volunteers need to create a password?

No. PurposeTech uses passwordless login. Volunteers enter their email and receive a sign-in link, or can use a one-time passcode sent to their email. Admins can also add a passkey to sign in to the admin portal.

Can volunteers sign up on their phone?

Yes. The signup flow works on phones and tablets as well as desktops. Test it on your own phone before you share the link.

Do volunteers need to download an app?

No. PurposeTech runs in the browser. There is no app to download or update.

How long does it take to set up a campaign?

That depends on the size of your event. A simple campaign (one site, a few shifts) is quick to set up. A campaign with many sites takes longer, but you can add regions, areas and sites in one grid (typed in, pasted from Excel or uploaded as CSV or XLSX), apply the same shift pattern to many sites at once, and use Duplicate Campaign to copy a previous campaign's setup. Paid campaign setup help is also available (see the pricing page).

Can I run a test before going live?

Yes. New campaigns start with password protection switched on, so only people with the password can see the campaign site. Run through the full signup flow yourself, and use Send test on each email template to preview it. When you are happy, switch off Website is private under Settings > Domains and share the link.

Is there a limit to how many volunteers or sites I can have?

The platform does not set a fixed limit on sites or shifts. Your plan decides how many volunteers are included (see the pricing page). If you are planning a very large campaign, contact the team to talk through your setup.

Can I use PurposeTech for a one-off event?

Yes. Create a campaign for your event, run it, and keep the data for reference. If you run another event later, Duplicate Campaign copies the setup across.

Can we record who turns up on the day?

Coordinators work from the roster on the campaign site, where they can add walk-ins, move volunteers and download the roster as a PDF or CSV. On-the-day check-in is on the roadmap.

Campaigns & configuration

Can I run multiple campaigns at the same time?

Yes. A tenant can have several campaigns. Each has its own address, sites, shifts and settings, and can have its own branding. Volunteers are shared across the campaigns in a tenant, so someone who has volunteered before keeps their record. In the admin portal you switch between campaigns with the selector in the top bar.

Can I reuse last year's campaign?

Yes. Owners can use Duplicate Campaign (in the campaign selector). It copies the campaign's settings, styling and email templates, and, if you tick Also copy this campaign's data, its regions, areas, sites and shifts, rescheduled so the first shift lands on your new date. Volunteers stay in your tenant, so returning volunteers keep their records and can sign in with the same email.

What's the difference between a tenant and a campaign?

A tenant is your branded volunteer site setup – it holds the default styling, terminology, domain and email templates. A campaign is a specific event or programme within a tenant. You create a new campaign each time you run an event. Many organisations have one tenant and add a campaign for each event.

Can I make my campaign invite-only?

Yes. Under Settings > Domains, switch on Website is private and set a password. Only people who have the password can see the campaign site. Share the password with your invitees.

How do I customise what volunteers see on the signup page?

Through the Design and Settings areas of the admin portal (these need the Owner role):

  • Branding – brand colours, styles, and the header and footer (which can be generated from your existing website)
  • Registration Form – add your own questions to the signup form: text, long text, dropdown, radio, checkbox, date, phone, email, address and more
  • Campaign wording – the intro paragraph and headings on the campaign site, and Terminology to rename regions, areas, sites and shifts
  • Email templates – customise the automated emails
  • Onboarding Flows – build a separate sign-up flow (for example for coordinators) with an AI assistant, including conditional questions, approval and follow-up emails

Can different campaigns have different branding?

Yes. Turn on the style override for a campaign in Settings > Campaign Settings, and it uses its own styles instead of the tenant defaults. A campaign can also use its own set of email templates.

What happens to a campaign after the event?

The campaign stays in the admin portal with its volunteers, shifts, bookings and reports, so you can look back at it, compare it with later campaigns in Reports, and duplicate it for next time.

Can I restrict which sites volunteers see?

Yes, at several levels:

  • Display on website – hide individual shifts, sites or whole areas from the public site (admins still see them)
  • Password protection – make the whole campaign site private
  • Show full and Cancel only – on a site, display it as full, or let existing volunteers cancel while nobody new can book
  • Registration cutoff – close sign-up on a fixed date, or automatically before each shift starts

Data & integrations

Does PurposeTech integrate with Salesforce?

Yes. The platform syncs regions, areas, sites, shifts, volunteers and bookings with Salesforce. It is set up with the PurposeTech team, and Owners then manage it under Settings > Salesforce Sync (the Salesforce campaign it connects to, an optional one-way setting and an optional sync window). Records that fail to sync appear as sync conflicts that you can review and resolve. See Salesforce Integration.

Can I export my data?

Yes, in several ways:

  • CSV download of the volunteers, sites, areas and regions lists in the admin portal. Volunteer, area and region downloads ask you to confirm your identity first
  • Roster downloads (PDF and CSV) for each site, from the roster on the campaign site
  • UTM report as CSV
  • Salesforce sync for ongoing data flow to your CRM
  • Reports for campaign metrics
  • Email History to check what was sent and delivered

Who owns the data?

You do. Your volunteer data belongs to your organisation. PurposeTech processes it on your behalf under our Data Processing Agreement. On termination, PurposeTech will delete or return the data as you choose.

Is my data secure?

PurposeTech uses TLS encryption, role-based access, and activity logs for admin and volunteer actions. The platform database is in Australia (AWS Sydney); some supporting services are in the United States – see the sub-processors page. See our Trust Centre for details on security practices and data handling.

How long is data retained?

Retention is covered in the Privacy Policy and the Data Processing Agreement. Your campaign data stays in your account while you use PurposeTech. For individual deletion requests (for example a volunteer asking for their data to be removed), contact support.

Can I integrate with other tools?

PurposeTech's integration is with Salesforce. For other tools, you can use CSV export and import as a bridge. If you have specific integration needs, contact our team to discuss options.

Does PurposeTech support webhooks?

PurposeTech doesn't currently offer webhooks that you can configure. Contact our team if you have a requirement.

Does PurposeTech work with ticketing and fundraising platforms?

PurposeTech runs alongside them rather than replacing them. It manages your volunteers and crew; your ticketing, payment and fundraising platforms handle tickets, payments and donations. There is no built-in link to those platforms, so volunteer details move by CSV or Salesforce.

Branding & customisation

Can I use my own domain?

Yes. Set up a custom domain (e.g., volunteers.yourcharity.org.nz) and your campaign site is served from your address. See Custom Domains & Branding.

Can I customise the volunteer signup page?

Yes – brand colours and styles, the header and footer, your own registration questions, the wording of the campaign site, and the email templates can all be customised.

Can I use PurposeTech in a different language?

The admin portal and the fixed parts of the campaign site (such as buttons and system messages) are in English. You can write your own content in any language, including te reo Māori: the registration form questions, the intro text on the campaign site, and your email templates. Terminology lets you rename regions, areas, sites and shifts. Contact our team if you need to know what can be changed for your campaign.

Do volunteers see PurposeTech branding?

The campaign site uses your colours, header, footer and domain. A small "powered by PurposeTech" link sits in the page footer and is not part of the editable footer. Emails go out from the sender address configured for your campaign, which an Owner can change under Settings > Campaign API Keys.

Billing & plans

How does pricing work?

Prices are published on the pricing page. The Growth plan is NZD 4,500 a year (or NZD 450 a month) and includes 5,000 active volunteers, with volume pricing per volunteer above that. Enterprise is priced for your organisation, from NZD 15,000 a year, with campaign setup included. Campaign setup and support is also available as a paid service from NZD 2,500.

Only volunteers confirmed on a shift count – cancellations and duplicates are not charged.

Can I try PurposeTech before committing?

Yes. Leave your details on the Get started page, or get in touch, and the team will book a call to show you the platform with your use case.

Is there a free tier?

No. There is no free plan, but you don't need a credit card to get started: leave your details on the Get started page and the team will book a personal onboarding call with you.

Technical

What browsers does PurposeTech support?

Current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on desktop and mobile.

Is there an API?

PurposeTech does not publish an API for customers. For integration requirements, contact our team to discuss your needs.

How reliable is PurposeTech?

Check our Status page for current system status. The Trust Center describes how the platform is hosted and protected.

Does PurposeTech work offline?

PurposeTech needs an internet connection. For event-day contingency, download each site's roster as a PDF from the roster before you head out. This gives you an offline reference for who is booked. Changes made after you go offline need to be entered when you have a connection again.

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