Set up profile fields for your organization

Profile fields store the key information your organization collects and maintains about volunteers. This includes standard details like phone numbers and addresses, as well as custom information such as emergency contacts, t-shirt sizes, certifications, dietary requirements, or any other information that's important to your organization.

If you're deciding whether something should be a profile field or a standard form field, ask yourself:

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it should probably be a profile field.

Once you save a profile field, it's available throughout your organization. Profile fields are managed centrally under Settings > Profile Fields and can be used across multiple features in Timecounts.
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Import and collect information

Manage volunteer information

Export your data

Changes to a profile field are automatically reflected everywhere it's used. For example, if the same profile field appears on multiple forms, updating it once updates every form that uses it. To keep volunteer information consistent, profile fields can only be edited from Settings, not from within the form builder.
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In the main navigation, go to Settings > Profile Fields.
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You'll see a set of default profile fields. Name and email are required for volunteer accounts and can't be removed. Other default fields, such as phone number and address, are fixed and can't be deleted. However, you're not required to collect this information. You choose which profile fields to include on your forms, giving you complete control over the information you collect from volunteers.

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Click the Add New button in the top-right corner. A popup will guide you through creating your new profile field.
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For this example, we'll create a profile field for "T-Shirt Size." The first step is to choose a Field Type, which determines how volunteers will enter the information. Since we want volunteers to select a single option from a list of sizes, choose Multiple Choice.

Next, you'll be asked to create a Label for your field. This label is for internal use only and won't be visible to volunteers. Because it serves as the field's unique identifier, it can't be changed after it's created. If you make a mistake, you'll need to delete the field and create it again. This helps maintain the integrity of your data over time.

The final step is to customize how the field will appear to volunteers when it's used in forms or displayed on their profile. Unlike the label, everything in this step can be edited at any time. Just keep in mind that changes may affect how existing responses are displayed or interpreted.
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For example, you might change the title to a question, such as "What is your t-shirt size?" You can also customize the available options, replacing the default values with choices that best suit your organization, such as Small, Medium, and Large.

To edit a profile field, go to Settings > Profile Fields, then hover over the field you want to update and click the edit icon.
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You can update the title, description, answer options, default value, and other settings at any time. However, the field label can't be changed after the field has been created because it serves as the field's unique identifier.

Changes to a profile field are automatically reflected everywhere it's used. For example, if the same profile field appears on multiple forms, updating it once updates every form that uses it.
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If your profile field includes a list of options, you can rename an option at any time without affecting existing volunteer data. However, deleting an option permanently removes any volunteer data associated with that option and can't be undone.
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To delete a profile field, go to Settings > Profile Fields, then hover over the field you want to remove and click the delete icon.
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Core profile fields, such as Name and Email, can't be deleted. Other default profile fields are also fixed and can't be removed, but you don't have to include them on your forms if you don't collect that information.
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Deleting a custom profile field permanently removes it from your organization, including any forms where it's currently being used. Any volunteer data stored in that field will also be permanently deleted and can't be recovered.

Before deleting a profile field, make sure it's no longer needed anywhere in your organization.

Available on the Pro Plan
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To make a profile field available as a filter in the Directory, enable the Filterable checkbox next to the field in Settings > Profile Fields.
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You'll only see this option for profile field types that make sense to filter. Fields with shared values can be used to group and filter volunteers, while fields containing unique information aren't available as filters.
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Available on the Pro Plan
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You can automatically apply tags to volunteers based on their answers to supported profile field types, such as Multiple Choice fields.
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This lets you segment volunteers without any manual work. For example, you can tag volunteers based on their interests, skills, languages, availability, locations, or preferred activities. You can then use those tags to filter volunteers, send targeted communications, and create more meaningful reports.

To get started, create your tags under Settings > Tags. Then, when configuring your profile field, assign a tag to each answer option. Whenever a volunteer selects that option on a form, the corresponding tag will be applied automatically.
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Profile fields store information that becomes part of a volunteer's permanent profile. Additional fields are intended for one-time questions that only apply to a specific form.
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If you've already created a profile field, add it to your form from the Profile Fields section of the form builder instead of creating the same question as an additional field. This keeps volunteer information in one place and avoids creating duplicate data.