This feature is available on the Pro Plan.
What is an announcement in Timecounts?
Announcements are short, time-sensitive messages that appear when volunteers log in. They're designed to help you share quick updates, reminders, or important notices without sending an email.
You can choose where the message appears, how long it stays live, and which volunteers see it.
Choosing the right format: Banner vs. Dashboard
📢 Banner Announcement
A short, high-visibility message that appears across the top of every page a volunteer sees. It’s ideal for urgent alerts, reminders, or last-minute updates. Keep it brief and direct, like a headline that gets noticed right away.
Examples:
“Reminder: Please remember to complete your background check for this year.”
“Street parking is limited, please allow extra time to arrive.”
“New start time! Cleanup crew begins at 8 AM tomorrow.”
🗂️ Dashboard Announcement
A message box that appears in the volunteer dashboard. Best for friendly updates, news, or general engagement. Use it for messages that benefit from added context, tone, or a personal touch.
Examples:
“Thanks to everyone who helped at last week’s fundraiser! We raised over $3,000 for local programs. Be sure to check the calendar. New shifts for July are now open!”
“We’re recruiting volunteers for the back-to-school supply drive. It’s a great way to earn hours and help local families. Click here to sign up.”
“Our new volunteer handbook is available. Please take a moment to review it in the Resources tab before your next shift. It includes new safety procedures and check-in instructions.”
See the chart below for a full comparison:
| Banner Announcement | Dashboard Announcement |
Character Limit | Up to 150 characters | Up to 500 characters |
Location | Top of all pages in the volunteer Hub | Notice box inside the dashboard |
Best For | Urgent alerts, reminders, last-minute updates | General updates, thank-you notes, event promotion |
Visibility | High — always visible when logged in | Medium — shown on dashboard only |
Tone | Short and direct | Friendly and conversational |
Includes Link | Yes (optional) | Yes (optional) |
Targeting Options | Yes — by tag, all active | Yes — by tag, all active |
Scheduled Timing | Yes | Yes |
Volunteer Dismissal | Yes | No |
Background Color | Customizable background | Fixed neutral background |
How to post an Announcement
Go to Settings and select the Announcements tab, then click the Add Announcement button. This will open a popup where you can choose the format (Banner or Dashboard).
Next, compose your announcement in the message box. You can highlight text to format it using bold, italics, underline, or alignment options (left, right, or center). You can also insert a link if you want to direct volunteers to take action. Linked text will automatically use your Hub’s theme #3 as the highlighted text color to match your branding and will open in a new window.
Tip: You can paste in emojis like ⚠️ or 📢 to help your message stand out, especially for urgent or important updates.
Now select your audience for the announcement. By default, it will be shown to All Active volunteers, which includes anyone in your Directory who logs in.
If you want to limit visibility to a specific group, you can do that by selecting Tags from the dropdown. Announcements are only visible to people who are logged in and connected to your organization.
Banner announcements allow you to choose a background color to help your message stand out. Just make sure to use the Preview option to confirm that the text is easy to read and accessible against the color you’ve selected.
Finally, enter the start and end date and time for when you want the announcement to appear. We recommend using the Preview button to check how it will look to volunteers. If everything looks good, click Save to publish your announcement.
What volunteers will see
Banner Announcement Example:
Here’s how a banner announcement will appear at the top of every page in the volunteer Hub.
Dashboard Announcement Example:
Here’s how a dashboard announcement will appear within the main dashboard view when a volunteer logs in.
You can make changes later from the Announcements list view by clicking the pencil icon to edit or the trash icon to delete.
Note: If you update the message content of a banner announcement, volunteers who have already seen and dismissed it will not see the updated version. To show it again, you’ll need to create a new announcement.