How to Create an Event
To create a new event, go to the Organize tab for Opportunities, click the Create New button, at the top right corner.
Events have a set time frame, taking place on a single day or across several days. Once you have set the time frame for the Event, you will have the ability to customize multiple shifts, roles, and locations within that time period.
Event Name: Keep it short and concise. Don't worry, you will be able to rename this later from the Details section.
Location: If your event is taking place at a single location, you can enter that in full here. Otherwise, feel free to be more general by using the City name because you'll be able to be more specific with multiple locations once you get to the schedule view.
Start and End Time: When setting the basic details, don't worry too much about the time frame - the reason we ask this is so the shifts you create will live within this time period, and there are general dates that volunteers will see the event is taking place.
Once you've created your event, you'll notice the view changes and the navigation along the left hand side is specific to your Event.
Event Details
The next step in creating your event is to complete the Details section.
Overview: You can edit the name of your event, the time frame, and the overall location. Remember to always press Save when you've made changes.
Description: This is where you will want to market your volunteer opportunity. Tell people what they can expect, who can participate, and why people should volunteer. This copy will appear on the very first page of the event when you publish it, so it's best to put your best foot forward and take a few minutes to write something thoughtful.
Available Roles: will appear automatically underneath the description on the published event page once you have scheduled those roles for the event. You do not have to type this out, it will show in alpha order.
You can utilize the templates feature to save this copy to paste into future Events, saving you time.
Permissions: In this section, you are asked to set the event's visibility, application management, and scheduling settings.
You can choose to make the Event page public, invite-only, or visible only to logged-in members of your organization. Events have two stages, the application (form) stage and the schedule (shift selection) stage. Timecounts offers you the flexibility to control how you wish to manage your volunteer signups - automatically accept or review.
To ensure the best volunteer experience, it is not advisable to set both the application and scheduling permissions to 'Let me review'. Not only will it create more work for you as the organizer, but it means the volunteer will receive more auto-notifications if approved within a short period of time.
Learn more about Permissions.
Image: Event pages look best when you can upload a cover photo. We have not upgraded the editing tools for this image feature yet, so you'll want to Preview what your photo looks like on the Hub, and make modifications so you have the look you want.
Signup Form: All Events have an application stage, this is done by linking a form. If you have not yet created a form, follow the 'create a form' link on the Signup Form section. The General Signup form will be set as the default. This means if you've already had people signup through the Join Us Button (see Managing New Members), they will not need to complete this information again unless you edited the form to include new questions.
Premium and Growth Plans have Unlimited Forms, which allow organizers to create a form asking specific questions specific related to an event (dietary restrictions, t-shirt size, etc) that are not relevant within the initial onboarding process.
You can also set a custom thank you response for the Event which will override the Thank You message set within the original form. This makes it super easy to display a message to volunteers immediately after they've signed up.
Messaging: Auto-Confirmation and Reminder emails are included in all plans, but we recognize that with some Events you may wish to control the timing of communication. You can turn off notifications in the Messaging tab relating to a specific Event if you don't want volunteers to receive an email confirming their application or a reminder the week of their commitment.
Learn more about Auto-Confirmations and Reminders.
Next Step: Creating an Event Schedule and Publishing