Built for the surge, not the roster

Volunteer software for one-off events and campaigns

A one-off event is one intense, time-boxed window with a surge of volunteers across many sites – then it's done. Most volunteer tools are built for ongoing weekly programmes. PurposeTech is built for the surge. PurposeTech matches people and time.

9,000+

Confirmed shifts in a single national appeal

7,000+

Volunteers in a single appeal

1,000+

Collection sites coordinated

5+

Years in production

The surge is a different problem

Generic volunteer-management tools are built for the ongoing case – a steady roster of the same people every week. A one-off event is the opposite, and it needs software built for it.

Ongoing programmes

  • Steady, predictable numbers week to week
  • The same volunteers in the same roles
  • Slow to set up, built to last
  • What most volunteer tools are designed for

One-off events

  • A surge of volunteers in one time-boxed window
  • Many sites, many first-time volunteers
  • Stood up fast, then cloned for next time
  • What PurposeTech is built for

PurposeTech has coordinated more than 28,000 confirmed volunteer shifts across national street appeals – more than 9,000 of them in a single appeal – and has been in production for over five years. For Breast Cancer Foundation NZ it coordinates 7,000+ volunteers across 1,000+ collection sites each year.

One problem, many names

Different sectors and countries call it different things. In New Zealand and Australia it's a street appeal; in the UK a street collection or flag day; in Canada a poppy campaign; in the US a kettle campaign with bell ringers, a charity walk or run, or a holiday food drive. Underneath, it's the same surge – and the same software problem.

Street, poppy and daffodil appeals
Flag days and collection days
Street collections and poppy campaigns
Kettle campaigns and bell ringers
Festivals and cultural celebrations
Beach clean-ups and planting days
Charity walks, runs and events
Holiday food drives
Civic days and community fairs
Disaster response and recovery
Annual national fundraising campaigns
Community fundraising drives

What PurposeTech does for the surge

Set up fast with AI

Describe your campaign and the platform builds your pages, sign-up forms, shifts and emails. Most organisations can open registration the same day rather than waiting weeks.

Multi-site rostering and check-in

Coordinate hundreds of sites and thousands of shifts from one dashboard. Volunteers book, cancel and rebook themselves, and check in on the day.

Live coverage dashboards

See which sites are staffed, which have gaps, and where to move people – in real time, so you can fix a shortfall before it becomes a problem.

Pay only for participation

You pay only for volunteers who participate in a shift. No-shows, cancellations and duplicate registrations do not count.

Clone last year's setup

One-off doesn't mean once-ever. Clone last year's campaign – sites, shifts, forms and emails – and reopen it for the next one in minutes.

Any sector, any country

Charities, councils, festivals and community groups all run one-off events and campaigns. Pricing is available in NZD, AUD, USD and EUR.

Three ways one-off events show up

Each is the same surge in a different setting, with a platform tuned to it.

Street Appeals

Poppy, daffodil and pink ribbon appeals, flag days and nationwide collection days, with thousands of volunteers across hundreds of sites on a single day.

Street appeals platform

Event Volunteering

Festivals, beach clean-ups, fun runs, planting days and community fairs, with branded registration and interactive site selection for each location.

Event volunteering platform

Disaster Recovery

Civic response and community-led recovery, standing up a volunteer intake in minutes and coordinating skilled people across affected regions.

Disaster recovery platform

Trusted by leading charities

Assistance Dogs NZBreast Cancer Foundation NZChild Cancer FoundationSustainable Coastlines

28,000+

confirmed shifts across our national appeals

7,000+

volunteers across 1,000+ sites in one appeal

$300k+

raised by Child Cancer Foundation in 2025

$109k

Assistance Dogs NZ's first six-figure campaign

One-off events FAQ

What counts as a one-off event?

A one-off event is a time-boxed campaign with a surge of volunteers across many locations at once – a street appeal, flag or collection day, festival, beach clean-up, fun run, civic day, or disaster response. It runs for a defined window and then ends, unlike an ongoing weekly volunteer programme.

How fast can we go live?

Fast. Describe your campaign and the platform's AI sets up the pages, sign-up forms, shifts and emails, so most organisations can open volunteer registration the same day rather than waiting weeks for a build.

Do you work outside New Zealand?

Yes. The platform is sector- and country-neutral. It supports campaigns run by charities, councils, festivals and community groups, with pricing available in NZD, AUD, USD and EUR.

Do you support street collections, flag days and kettle-style campaigns outside New Zealand?

Yes. A street collection or flag day in the UK, a poppy campaign in Canada, a kettle campaign with bell ringers in the US, a charity walk or run, a holiday food drive – they are all the same one-off surge of volunteers across many sites in one time-boxed window. PurposeTech is fully self-serve, so you can set up and run a campaign from anywhere. Prices are in New Zealand dollars (NZD) and data is hosted in Australasia.

How does pricing work for a one-off event?

You pay only for volunteers who participate in a shift – no-shows, cancellations and duplicate registrations do not count. Plans start at NZD 500 a year, and you can clone last year's setup to run the next campaign.

Running a one-off event or campaign?

Describe your campaign and get set up fast. PurposeTech matches people and time.