🗺️ Volunteer Events

Volunteering

There are two main types of volunteer opportunities available on Deed – Volunteer Events & Volunteer Projects. Volunteer Events and Projects can be created by:

1. Admins
2. Organizers
3. A partner nonprofit (learn more here)
4. Volunteer opportunity sourcing (learn more here)
5. Employees (if configured)

Employees can only create Volunteer Events (not Projects). This feature (’Create a Deed’) must be turned on by your Partner Success Manger.

Volunteer Projects are skills-based opportunities and will be discussed in this article. 

Volunteer Events

A Volunteer Event is a direct service volunteer opportunity with a specific date and time. Volunteer Events are usually associated with a nonprofit on the Deed platform, but this is not required. Please note that volunteer events will only populate on the platform if they are within 56 days (8 weeks).

If you don’t see the nonprofit listed that you are hoping to support, you can nominate a nonprofit directly on the employee facing interface.

Creating a Volunteer Event Step-by-Step

• Log-in to your Deed Admin profile.
• Go to Manage Deeds > Under Add Deeds, Select New Deed > Volunteer Event
• Fill out the fields on the form (Select whether virtual or in-person, Select the Date w/ start & end time, Name your Event, Create an event description, Add a point of contact, Select applicable categories, Add a photo or use one of ours, Add Volunteer Roles/Responsibilities, Applicable donation information, and whether or not you want the event to be public)
• Once complete go to Publish Status > Set to Published > Submit

Volunteer Events Without a Nonprofit

For volunteering events and projects that are not connected to a nonprofit, you have the option to select 'Add New Partner'  when creating a deed and you can add organization details. You can also type in 'Actions with Deed' in the Nonprofit Search bar (Country Origin of the Nonprofit: United States), which is a Deed-created organization to help you capture volunteer hours for unconventional volunteering.

Quick tip: When you add a nonprofit this way, the nonprofit is only available for volunteering and not for donations. The organization will show up as 'See Deed Schedule' when a user clicks on it.

💡 Volunteer Event Pro Tips

•  When creating your event, you can add additional information needed from volunteers such as a background check, mailing address, etc. 
• You can also make this event a featured Deed and it will prominently show up on the employee homepage. 
• When selecting an image for your event, we suggest a 1350 x 750 px – image size approx. 1MB. 
• Important: If you select for this to be a virtual opportunity, you must have created the dial-in link and added to the location line before you publish.

• Invite employees to sign up

  After you create a Volunteer Event, you can invite volunteers to sign up.

  Under ‘Manage Deeds’ on the admin portal, click on an existing Volunteer Event. On the bottom right-hand corner, select ‘Invite’, and input their name and email address. This will send an invitation to sign up for your volunteer event.

You can upload a distribution list (no more than 500 at a time) through the “Invite” tool, search existing employees on the platform, or add them manually with name and email.

Event Waitlist

When spots get filled for your Volunteer Event, employees are able to join the waitlist and will be notified by email if more spots open up.

Event Day: Checking in volunteers

You can manually check in volunteers to a Volunteer Event if the volunteer does not check in themselves. In ‘Manage Deeds,’ click on an Event. In the bottom left corner, select ‘Check-in’ next to the volunteer’s name.

For Virtual Events, there is no way to check in employees at the time of the event. However, at the end of the event you can upload a CSV of attendees and they will be automatically checked-in ✅

Virtual Volunteer Events

Please ensure that you create a virtual link (through Zoom, Google Meet, etc.) before you create your virtual Volunteer Event. The virtual link will be emailed to attendees in their confirmation email, in reminder emails, and is available on the Deed platform.

When you upload a CSV of attendees after the Event, the employees will be automatically checked-in 

Volunteer Communications

To help things run as smoothly as possible for your virtual and in-person volunteer events, automated emails will be sent to event participants as follows:

• One confirmation email upon sign-up
• One reminder email 24 hours in advance of event
• One reminder email 1 hour in advance of event

To email all the volunteers who signed up with updates or reminders about your event, go to 'Manage Deeds', click on a Volunteer Event. Select 'Contact' in the bottom right-hand-corner. 

You’ll receive a copy of this email in your inbox.