A Gathering is for activities that only require a simple signup or RSVP list. The signup process is simplified so volunteers fill out the form you've linked. You can then review submissions, confirm participants, waitlist participants, and communicate to your list of attendees in one screen. Gatherings are perfect for orientations, training sessions, seminars, meetups, fundraisers, and other activities where everyone is 'attending' or performing the same task at the same time.

A Timecounts Event comes with a schedule, and volunteers are assigned shifts and roles within the event. For Events with a schedule, volunteers won't just 'attend' - instead, when they signup, volunteers will indicate their availability and preferences for shifts and roles that you've created. You can then manage shifts in the schedule. You can also assign shifts directly in the schedule to anyone in your community database. Events are designed for more complicated signups, like gala events, fundraising events, and festivals, where you want volunteers to perform different tasks.

Not every opportunity requires that you designate specific roles and shifts. Sometimes you just want volunteers to show up to an activity at the same time and assign them when they arrive. This is where Gatherings is perfect in its simplicity. Or maybe you want to use Gatherings for training sessions or orientations or thank you parties. It's a flexible way to organize in the same way you might use Facebook events or Meetup.

Since there's no reason to create shifts or plan for a multi-day schedule, it doesn't seem necessary to show a calendar view in Gatherings. But when you do need to organize something more complex, with different responsibilities, then Events are perfect!

Note: Volunteers will see both events and gatherings as 'event' opportunities in your Hub. We differentiate them for admins so they can tell the difference when organizing.