How Confirmation emails work
Confirmation emails notify volunteers after they sign up for an Event or Shift, are manually assigned, or have their status changed by an admin. This includes confirming a pending request or moving someone to the waitlist.
The email includes their status, such as Requested, Confirmed, Waitlisted, Cancelled or Declined, along with the relevant activity details. Confirmed volunteers can also add the Event or Shift to their personal calendar.
When several actions happen around the same time, Timecounts waits approximately 10 minutes and groups confirmations from the same Event or Schedule into one email. For example, a volunteer who signs up for multiple Shifts at once will receive one email listing them together. Activity from different Events or Schedules is sent in separate emails.
Standard confirmation emails are unlimited on all plans and do not count toward monthly email credits.
Choose when confirmation emails are sent
Open the Event or Schedule and go to the Details tab. Use the Confirmation Email checkbox to choose whether volunteers receive an automated email when they sign up, are manually assigned or their status changes.
Consider the volunteer experience before turning confirmation emails off. Without them, volunteers may not know whether their request was approved, their status changed or an activity was cancelled. Remember to click Save after making any changes.
Add a custom message
Custom confirmation emails are available on the Pro plan.
Create an Email Template under Settings > Email Templates, then select it from the Confirmation Email menu on the Event or Schedule’s Details tab.
The custom message is included with the activity details and status provided by Timecounts. If No Template is selected, volunteers will receive the standard confirmation email without a custom message.
Assigning volunteers to unpublished Schedules
You may want to assign volunteers before publishing a Schedule, either because you’re building the schedule manually or giving certain volunteers their shifts before opening the remaining spaces for signup. In the Schedule’s Details tab, you can choose to send Confirmation emails as volunteers are assigned or wait until the shifts are published. Click Save at the bottom of the page for your changes to take effect.
Keep in mind that this setting only controls the initial Confirmation email. Confirmed volunteers will still receive Reminder emails before their shifts, whether the Schedule is published or unpublished. If needed, you can turn off Reminder emails from the Details tab, although we recommend leaving them on.
When Confirmation emails are not sent
When volunteers cancel through their own dashboard, they immediately see the activity removed from their upcoming commitments, so an additional cancellation email is not sent. Volunteers also won’t receive emails they have chosen to unsubscribe from in their user settings.
Confirmation emails are separate from Reminder emails. Changing when a Confirmation email is sent does not turn off future Reminders.
Learn more about Managing Reminder emails.
Looking for emails sent when a volunteer is Qualified or Declined?
Learn how to manage automated Application emails.