Finding the right event format

Volunteer opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. A one-time orientation, a volunteer event that runs every Monday morning, and a three-day festival all have very different signup and scheduling needs.

After working with thousands of organizations, we've learned that one event format doesn't work for every volunteer opportunity. That's why Timecounts offers three event formats, each designed for a different way of organizing and scheduling volunteers.

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Events are designed for simple, one-time volunteer opportunities where everyone attends on the same day, at the same time, and in the same location. Volunteers sign up for the event, and any roles or responsibilities can be assigned when they arrive.

​Best for: Simple, one-time volunteer opportunities where you don't need to schedule volunteers into different shifts or times.

Repeating Events let you offer the same volunteer opportunity on multiple dates while managing everything in one place. Volunteers simply choose the date that works best for them. Each date shares the same location and general setup, making this format ideal for opportunities that happen regularly.

You can add up to 20 dates at a time. As volunteers sign up or dates pass, you can add more dates to keep the event available without creating a new event.

Best for: Recurring volunteer opportunities where volunteers can choose from multiple available dates.
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Events with Shifts are designed for volunteer opportunities where volunteers sign up for specific positions and shifts. Each shift can have its own date, time, location, number of spots and volunteer position requirements, so you can organize more complex opportunities within a single event.
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This works for anything from a one-day event with multiple volunteer roles to an event that spans several days.
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Best for: Volunteer opportunities where people need to sign up for specific positions or shifts, or where you're coordinating multiple dates, times or locations.
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Tip: Events with Shifts work best for events with a defined beginning and end. If you're organizing an ongoing weekly volunteer schedule, use Schedules instead. Schedules are designed for managing recurring volunteer shifts over the long term. Learn more about using Events vs. Schedules.
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