Volunteer Management
How volunteers sign up, how admins and coordinators manage them in PurposeTech, and what each person can do for themselves.
Overview
Each volunteer has one record on your site, with a separate sign-up record for each campaign they join. This page covers signup, the admin Volunteers table, booking statuses, merging duplicates, emails, and what coordinators and volunteers can do for themselves.
How volunteers sign up
Volunteers register through your branded campaign site:
STEP ONE: Pick an area
The booking flow
- Find shifts – volunteers browse your regions, areas and sites and pick the shifts they want
- Your details – they enter an email address first, then any other details your registration form asks for
- Confirm – a one-time sign-in link is emailed to them. Signing in takes them to Your Shifts, where they can see the booking
See Shift Booking for how shifts, capacity and the public listing work.
A place is held for 10 minutes while the volunteer completes the form. If they never confirm, the place is released back to the pool.
If they don't finish
- The 10-minute hold runs out and the places go back on offer
- The volunteer's account stays in the system. In the Volunteers table, the Registration Status filter finds people who "Never completed sign-up"
- Abandoned cart and Complete registration emails go out if they are switched on. The abandoned cart email defaults to 24 hours after the last step
Custom registration fields
The registration form is edited under Design > Registration Form (owners). Field types are:
| Field type | Example use |
|---|---|
| Text, Long text | Emergency contact, how they heard about the event |
| Dropdown, Radio (single choice) | T-shirt size, preferred role |
| Checkbox | "I agree to the safety guidelines" |
| Date | Date of birth, availability |
| Email, Phone, Address fields | Contact details |
| Info paragraph, Group of fields | Explanatory text, or fields shown together |
Fields can be required, can carry validation rules, and can be shown only when another answer matches. Answers are stored on the volunteer's record for that campaign and appear in the volunteer's side panel. They can also be used as filters in the Volunteers table. If a returning volunteer answered a field with the same ID in an earlier campaign, that answer is carried into the new one.
Keep registration fields to what you will use. Each extra field adds a reason to stop. Anything else can be collected by email later.
Managing volunteers in the admin portal
The volunteers table
Volunteers under Data Management lists everyone linked to the campaign:
Above the table you will see the volunteer count, a Live marker showing how many people have been active on the site in the last 10 minutes, and activity totals for volunteers added, shifts booked and volunteers active.
From the table you can:
- Search by name or email
- Filter by role, tag, feedback type (including Blacklist and Has notes), registration status, number of shifts or areas, area, region, campaign, the onboarding form someone completed, potential duplicates, and the answers to your own registration form fields
- AI Search – type a plain-English description such as "volunteers in last year's campaign but not this year's" and PurposeTech turns it into filters
- Switch off "Current campaign only" to include volunteers from earlier campaigns
- Select rows (admins) to export them or tag them in bulk. See Bulk Operations & Import
- Add User to create a record by hand, with email, name, phone, role and an optional note. Anything in that note is visible to the volunteer
- Click a row to open the volunteer's side panel
Each row carries small pills for shifts booked, feedback, notes and tags.
The volunteer detail panel
The side panel has these tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Shifts | This campaign's bookings with site, date, start, end, duration, status, who referred them (the volunteer who added them as a friend, or the coordinator who booked them) and when they were created. Admins can remove a volunteer from a shift here and choose whether to email them. Earlier campaigns sit under Other Campaigns |
| Details | Role, contact details (email, phone, adopter organisation, address), the campaign's sign-up answers and notes. Admins can Edit the contact details and Merge duplicates. Salesforce sync fields appear here when sync is on |
| Areas, Sites, Site Contact | Shown for coordinators and contacts, with their assignments |
| Audit Log | A timeline of sign-ins and actions, such as bookings, moves and removals |
| Feedback & Notes | Admin-only feedback and private notes. See Feedback & Safety |
Admins can also tag a volunteer from the Tags row at the top of the panel. Tags are admin-only labels such as "Board member" or "Corporate team", created on the Tags page. Volunteers never see them.
Notes on the Details tab are visible to the volunteer from their own account. The panel warns you each time. For a note only admins can see, add a Private note on the Feedback & Notes tab.
At the bottom of the panel, Delete User removes the volunteer and their shifts. It is a soft delete, so the record is hidden from normal views rather than erased. For permanent erasure, contact support.
Booking statuses
A booking can appear in these states:
| State | Where you see it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | Roster and side panel | The place is booked |
| Unverified | Roster badge | The volunteer is partway through signing up. The place is held for about 10 minutes |
| Waitlisted | Roster badge and side panel | The booking sits beyond the shift's confirmed places |
| On hold | Roster badge, Held in the side panel | A place reserved with Adopt-a-Site and not yet confirmed |
| Removed | Gone from the roster | The volunteer, a coordinator or an admin cancelled it, and the place is free again |
Status progression
Waitlisted bookings are promoted automatically. When a confirmed booking is removed and a place opens, the earliest waitlisted booking on that shift becomes Confirmed and the volunteer receives a confirmation email. Separately, a campaign can run an area waitlist, where people join a queue and a coordinator phones them. See Roster Management.
Bulk operations & CSV import
Admins can export or tag many volunteers at once and import volunteers from a spreadsheet. See Bulk Operations & Import.
Volunteer self-service
Volunteers who have signed in can manage their own bookings:
| Action | How it works |
|---|---|
| View shifts | Your Shifts lists upcoming bookings with date, time, site and a map link |
| Cancel a shift | Each upcoming booking has a Cancel shift button. It is disabled once the campaign's shift expiry date has passed or, where no expiry date is set, once the shift is within the volunteer lockout window (48 hours before the start by default). The place goes back on offer |
| Add more shifts | Add more shifts returns them to the shift finder |
| Add a friend | Add my friends details on a booking asks for the friend's name, email and mobile, then books the friend onto the same shift and emails them an invitation. The friend manages their own booking from then on |
| Update details | Your Details edits their name, phone and other registration answers. The login email is read-only, with the message "Contact your coordinator to change your login email" |
Add a line to your welcome email reminding volunteers that they can change their own bookings: "Need to change your shift? Sign in at [campaign URL]."
Merging duplicate volunteers
If the same person signs up twice, with a typo, a second address or on a different device, admins can merge the two records.
When to merge
- Same person under
jane@gmail.comandjane.smith@gmail.com - A walk-in a coordinator added who was already registered
- A person who appears in this campaign and in an earlier one under a different address
Use the Potential Duplicates filter in the Volunteers table to find likely matches.
How to merge
- Open one of the records and go to the Details tab
- Click Merge
- Select User to Merge – search for the duplicate by name or email
- Compare and Choose Fields – choose which record is the principal record, then pick the value to keep for each field: name, mobile, address, adopter organisation and external ID. You can choose whether to bring across the sign-up answers
- Confirm Merge
The principal record keeps its own email address.
What gets transferred
| Data | What happens |
|---|---|
| Shifts | Verified bookings move to the principal record |
| Campaign sign-up records | Sign-up answers and marketing-source tags are combined. For notes, the principal record's note is kept, and the other record's note is used only if the principal has none |
| Area assignments | Move across; duplicates are dropped |
| Feedback and private notes | Move across |
| Referral links and email history | Move across |
| The other record | Soft-deleted. Salesforce sync for it is paused |
There is no un-merge in the portal. Check the comparison step carefully before you confirm.
Communication
Automated emails
PurposeTech sends these emails from templates you can edit. Delays are set per campaign:
| When it is sent | Default for a new campaign | |
|---|---|---|
| Complete registration | When someone has started but not finished registering | On |
| Welcome | After registration. Separate versions exist for volunteers whose shifts are all, or partly, waitlisted | On, 10 minutes after |
| Shift confirmation | When a volunteer selects or changes shifts. Waitlist versions exist too | On, 10 minutes after |
| Sign-in link | When a volunteer asks to sign in | On |
| Reminder 1 and 2 | Before a shift starts | Off. Dates are pre-filled at 7 days and 3 days before the campaign's shift expiry date, ready to switch on |
| Cancelled shift | When a shift is cancelled | On |
| Abandoned cart | After an incomplete signup | On, 24 hours after |
| Invite a friend | To a friend a volunteer has added to a shift | On, 10 minutes after |
| Shifts changed | When an admin or coordinator books, moves or removes a volunteer | On, 10 minutes after |
| Site coordinator assigned | When someone is assigned as a site coordinator | On, 10 minutes after |
| Area coordinator registration | When an area coordinator completes their form | On |
Each email uses the campaign's branding and merge fields such as the volunteer's name and shift details. See Email & Messaging for template editing.
Manual communications
- Send Test Email – on each template, to preview it in an inbox
- Email history – a log of what was sent and whether it was delivered
- Segment send – owners can send reminder emails and custom emails to a segment (a role plus a minimum number of shifts) or to a list of addresses, at a chosen time
- Resend sign-in link – volunteers can request a new link themselves from the sign-in screen
Per-shift-type notes
A shift type's email note is added to the shift details in a volunteer's emails. For example:
- "Setup" shifts: "Please arrive 15 minutes early. Enter via the loading dock."
- "Morning" shifts: "Wear the blue branded t-shirt. Collect your bucket from the site coordinator."
Delegation
Area coordinators and site coordinators manage bookings in their own patch without full admin access:
| Action | Area coordinator | Site coordinator |
|---|---|---|
| View the roster for their sites | ✓ | ✓ |
| Add volunteers to shifts | ✓ | ✓ |
| Move volunteers (Move Tool) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Remove volunteers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reserve shifts (Adopt-a-Site) | ✓ | |
| Search existing volunteers when adding | ✓ | |
| Remove a volunteer from the waitlist | ✓ | |
| Export PDF and CSV roster | ✓ | ✓ |
| Add notes |
Notes can be added by admins only. Moving and removing is disabled for coordinators from 2 hours before a shift starts (the default coordinator lockout). Admins are not locked out.
See User Management for assigning coordinators.
Feedback and safety
Admins can record positive and negative feedback, private notes and blocklist entries against a volunteer. See Feedback & Safety.
Reporting
See Reports & Data Exports for the reports overview, marketing source tracking and roster downloads.
Common questions
A volunteer signed up with the wrong email. Can I fix it?
Yes. Open their record, go to Details, choose Edit and change the email. If they have already signed up twice under different addresses, use Merge. Volunteers cannot change their own login email.
A volunteer wants to change their shift. Do they need to contact us?
No. They can cancel from Your Shifts and book another. Coordinators can also move them from the roster.
What happens when a shift is full?
A full shift stops taking public bookings. If your campaign has the area waitlist on, people can join a queue for the area instead, and a coordinator phones them when a place opens. Some campaigns also allow waitlisted bookings on a shift, and those are promoted automatically when a place frees up.
Can I import volunteers from a spreadsheet?
Yes, with Import CSV in the Volunteers table. It creates volunteers who are not in the system yet and skips anyone whose email already exists. It does not book shifts or send emails. See Bulk Operations & Import.
How do I handle walk-ins on event day?
From the roster, click Add volunteer on an open place and enter a name and phone number. Email is optional for coordinators.
Can I block someone from volunteering again?
Yes. Add a Blacklist entry on their Feedback & Notes tab. The block applies to everything on your site, across campaigns. See Feedback & Safety.
Can volunteers sign up for multiple shifts?
Yes. They can pick several shifts during signup and add more later from Your Shifts.
What happens if a volunteer cancels?
The place goes back on offer. If someone is waitlisted on that shift, the earliest waitlisted booking is promoted and emailed. Cancelling does not affect the volunteer's account.
How do I re-engage last year's volunteers?
Volunteers from earlier campaigns remain in your list. Switch off Current campaign only, filter by Campaign, and use Download CSV to take their details to your email tool. Owners can also use Segment send inside PurposeTech.
Can a volunteer register a group of people?
A volunteer can add friends to their own shifts with Add my friends details. A coordinator can hold places for a group with Adopt-a-Site. CSV import can create the people in a group, though it does not book them.
Can I see who is online right now?
Yes. The Volunteers table shows a Live marker with a count of people active in the last 10 minutes.
Next steps
- Shift Booking – how shifts are created, configured and assigned
- Roster Management – day-of coordination at each site
- Bulk Operations & Import – bulk tagging, export and CSV import
- Feedback & Safety – feedback, private notes and the blocklist
- Reports & Data Exports – reports and downloads
- Email & Messaging – email template configuration
- User Management – admin roles and coordinator assignments
- Glossary – definitions of platform terms