Shift Booking

Overview

Shifts are the core scheduling unit in PurposeTech. Each shift represents a specific time slot at a job (location) that volunteers can sign up for. Getting your shift structure right is key to running a smooth campaign.

Shift structure

Shifts sit within a clear hierarchy:

Each shift has:

Creating shifts

Single shift

1. Navigate to the job in the admin portal
2. Click Add Shift
3. Set the start time, duration, and volunteer capacity
4. Optionally assign a shift type
5. Save

Bulk creation

For campaigns with dozens or hundreds of locations running the same schedule, creating shifts one by one isn't practical. PurposeTech supports several approaches:

Clone shifts

Set up shifts for one job, then duplicate the pattern across multiple jobs:

1. Create your shifts on a "template" job
2. Select the jobs you want to copy to
3. Clone — all shifts are duplicated with the same times, durations, and capacities

This is the fastest method for getting a standard schedule across many locations.

Linked area groups

Group areas that share the same job and shift structure:

1. Create a linked area group
2. Add areas to the group
3. Create the job/shift pattern once on the group
4. The pattern is automatically applied to all areas in the group

Changes to the group pattern propagate to all linked areas — update once, update everywhere.

Best for: National campaigns where most regions run the same schedule. If one region needs a different schedule, remove it from the group and configure it independently.

Linked job groups

Similar to linked area groups but at the job level within an area:

1. Create a linked job group within an area
2. Add jobs to the group
3. Create shifts once on the group
4. All linked jobs get the same shifts

Best for: Areas with many identical sites (e.g., 20 collection points in Auckland Central all running the same morning/afternoon schedule).

Import from Salesforce

If your jobs and shifts are managed in Salesforce, sync them directly:

1. Configure the Salesforce integration (Enterprise plan)
2. Map Salesforce objects to PurposeTech jobs and shifts
3. Sync — all data flows in automatically

Shift design guidelines

Shift types

Shift types let you categorise shifts and attach specific instructions. They appear as blue pill badges on the roster and in the volunteer booking flow.

Each shift type can have:

• A label — displayed to volunteers and coordinators
• A description — shown as a tooltip on hover in the roster
• Email notes — automatically included in confirmation and reminder emails for shifts of that type

Using email notes effectively

Email notes are the most powerful feature of shift types. They let you send role-specific instructions without managing separate email templates:

These notes are automatically appended to the volunteer's shift confirmation and reminder emails — targeted, relevant, and zero admin effort once configured.

The volunteer booking experience

What volunteers see

When volunteers visit your campaign site, they browse available shifts:

The booking flow guides them through:

1. Pick a location — search or browse by area and region
2. Pick a time — see all available shifts in a grid or list
3. Register — fill in details and verify their email

Availability states

Shift holds

When a volunteer selects shifts, those spots are temporarily held (shift hold) while they complete registration. This prevents two people from booking the last spot simultaneously.

Managing shift assignments

From the admin table

The admin shifts table gives you a campaign-wide view of all shifts:

• Search by location name, volunteer name, or shift details
• Filter by status, date, shift type, area, or region
• Sort by any column
• Click a row to open a detail panel with full shift info and assigned volunteers

Assignment actions

The Move Tool

The Move Tool is a drag-and-drop interface for reassigning volunteers between shifts. It opens as a modal with two panels:

1. Left panel — the source shift with its current volunteers
2. Right panel — the destination shift (searchable by location, area, or region)
3. Drag volunteers from left to right to move them
4. An Unassigned holding area lets you temporarily park someone without assigning them elsewhere
5. Review and confirm — see a summary of all changes before committing

Bulk moves: You can move multiple volunteers at once. Select several people on the left and drop them onto the right panel.

Practical uses on event day:

• Volunteer doesn't show at Site A → move someone from over-staffed Site B
• Weather cancels a site → redistribute its volunteers to nearby sites
• Volunteer is at the wrong location → move them to the correct one
• An entire shift needs rescheduling → move all volunteers to a new time

Status flow

Shift assignments progress through these states:

• Hold → Prospect: volunteer selects shifts but hasn't finished registration
• Prospect → Confirmed: volunteer completes registration and verifies email
• Confirmed → Cancelled: volunteer or admin cancels
• Waitlisted → Confirmed: admin promotes from the waitlist when a spot opens

Reporting on shifts

See Reports & Data Exports for detailed shift reporting — fulfilment, coverage gaps, regional breakdowns, volunteer hours, and how to use reports for recruitment.

Common questions

Can I have different shift times at different locations?

Yes. Shifts are created per job (location). Each location can have completely different time slots, durations, and capacities. If most locations share the same schedule, use clone shifts to set it up once and copy it across.

What's the difference between a job and a shift?

A job is a location or role (e.g., "Queen St, Auckland CBD"). A shift is a time slot at that job (e.g., "8:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Friday"). One job can have many shifts across multiple days and times.

Can I hide a shift from volunteers but keep it in the system?

Yes. Set the shift's Display on Website to off. It won't appear on the campaign site but remains visible in the admin portal. You can still manually assign volunteers to hidden shifts. This is useful for shifts that are invite-only or still being finalised.

How do shift holds work?

When a volunteer selects shifts during signup, those spots are temporarily reserved for a few minutes while they complete the form. If they abandon the process, the holds are released and the spots become available again. This prevents two people from booking the last spot at the same time.

Can I set a cutoff date for signups?

Yes. Use the shift expiry date at the campaign level. After this date, volunteers can no longer sign up through the campaign site. Admins can still manually assign volunteers after the cutoff.

What are linked area groups?

A way to manage shift patterns at scale. If you have 200 locations all running the same morning/afternoon schedule, group them into a linked area group. Create the shift pattern once, and it's automatically applied to all locations in the group. Changes to the pattern propagate to all linked locations.

Can I create shifts across multiple days?

Yes. When creating shifts for a job, you can add shifts for each day of your campaign. The roster view organises shifts into columns by collection day, so coordinators see a grid of days × time slots.

What happens to shifts if I cancel a region?

If you cancel a region, all jobs and shifts in that region become read-only for coordinators. They can still view the roster but can't add, move, or remove volunteers. Admins can still make changes. The shifts aren't deleted — they're just frozen.

How do I delete a shift?

1. Go to the Shifts page in the admin portal
2. Click the shift row to open the edit side panel
3. Scroll to the Danger Zone section at the bottom
4. Click Delete Shift and confirm

Shifts with confirmed volunteers cannot be deleted — you need to cancel or move those assignments first. Unconfirmed or held assignments are automatically removed when the shift is deleted.

How do I manually add a volunteer to the roster?

From the roster view:

1. Find the shift slot on the roster grid
2. Click the Add Volunteer button on an empty slot
3. Search for an existing volunteer by name or email, or enter new volunteer details (first name, last name, email, mobile)
4. Optionally add a note (visible to the volunteer)
5. Click Save

If the volunteer doesn't exist yet, they'll be created automatically and assigned to the shift. The assignment is immediately confirmed — no email verification required when added by a coordinator.

How do I cancel my shift as a volunteer?

Volunteers can cancel their own shifts from the confirmation page:

1. Sign in to the campaign site
2. View your confirmed shifts
3. Click Cancel on the shift you want to remove
4. Confirm the cancellation

If a shift is close to its start time, the cancel button may be disabled. Contact your coordinator or organisation admin to cancel on your behalf.

Can I add a friend to my shift?

Yes. After you've confirmed your own shifts, you can register a friend for available slots:

1. View your confirmed shifts on the confirmation page
2. Click Add my friend's details on the shift
3. Enter your friend's name, email, and phone number
4. Save — your friend is assigned to the shift and receives a confirmation email

Your friend gets their own account and can manage their shift independently. Cancelling your own shift does not cancel your friend's.

How does the waitlist work?

When a shift is full, volunteers are placed on a waitlist instead of being assigned:

• During signup, if all spots are taken, the volunteer is automatically waitlisted
• Waitlisted volunteers see an orange "Waitlist" badge on their shift
• When a confirmed volunteer cancels, the first person on the waitlist (first in, first out) is automatically promoted to confirmed
• The promoted volunteer receives a confirmation email

Area coordinators and admins can also manually promote volunteers from the waitlist at any time.

What is a site coordinator?

A site coordinator (also called a job coordinator) is someone assigned to manage a specific site for specific shifts — more granular than an area coordinator who manages an entire area.

Admins assign site coordinators from the job detail page, selecting which specific shifts they're responsible for. Site coordinators receive an email notification with their assignment details and can manage volunteers on the roster for their assigned shifts.

Can I duplicate last year's shift structure?

Not automatically, but you can:

1. Export the shift data from last year's campaign
2. Use linked area groups to recreate the structure efficiently
3. Clone shifts from a template job to all other jobs
4. Contact our team for help with large-scale campaign duplication

How many shifts should each location have?

That depends on your campaign. Common patterns:

A good rule: don't make shifts shorter than 2 hours (high turnover) or longer than 6 hours (volunteer fatigue).

Next steps

• Campaigns & Events — campaign-level configuration
• Roster Management — day-of coordination at each location
• Volunteer Management — the full volunteer lifecycle
• Glossary — definitions of all shift and booking terms