Create and publish a volunteer schedule

A schedule is an ongoing calendar where you can add volunteer positions and shifts for any date. It’s ideal for regular weekly shifts, larger festivals, or posting a simple shift signup page. Volunteers who already have permission to sign up can go straight to choosing shifts without completing another form first. You decide who can see the schedule and whether positions are open to all eligible volunteers or only those with specific qualifications.
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You can publish new shifts and notify volunteers regularly, such as opening next month’s shifts at the same time each month. Regular volunteers know when to expect new opportunities and always have a familiar place to find available shifts. You can keep everything in one schedule or create separate schedules for different programs or locations, depending on what’s easiest for your team to manage and your volunteers to find.
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Open the schedule from Schedules. If you’re building it for the first time, we recommend taking a quick look at its Details page. You can give the schedule a name volunteers will recognize, check the timezone, choose who can see it, and decide whether to review signups or confirm them automatically.
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You can also manage automated confirmation and reminder emails here. Reminders are sent two days before a shift by default. To change that timing, go to Settings → Rules. Save any changes, and you’re ready to start building the schedule.

Start by adding the positions volunteers can sign up for, such as Greeter at the Main Entrance or Food Prep at the Community Kitchen. Select Add Position in a new schedule, or use the Positions button in the top right of the Shifts view. Enter a position name or choose an existing position template, then add a description that helps volunteers understand what they’ll be doing.

Each position needs a location so volunteers know where to go. Start typing an address and select a result, or choose Create New Location to enter your own details. Use the location name to include a room, entrance, or meeting point if needed. For a virtual position, select Switch to Online and add the joining link, such as a Zoom or Google Meet link. You can also choose a colour to help your team distinguish positions on the calendar. Colours are only visible to admins. On the Pro plan, you can connect an application to restrict signups to qualified volunteers. Save the position when you’re ready.

You can adjust how the schedule appears for admins to make it easier to build and manage shifts. In the main app Settings, choose whether the calendar week starts on Monday or Sunday and set the time format.

Use the Positions window to reorder positions in the admin view of the schedule. If there are lots of positions, the schedule filters can help you focus on a location or a group of positions. Reordering and filtering this view won’t change what volunteers see.

Once the positions are in place, you’re ready to start adding shifts. Go to the week you’re scheduling and switch the toggle from Active to All. All shows every available position, making it ideal for building a schedule. Active only shows positions with shifts that week, keeping empty rows out of the way when you’re managing the schedule.
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You can click directly into the calendar to add a shift. Find the row for the position and click the empty cell under the day. The position and date will be filled in for you. You can also select Add Shift to open the shift form. Enter the start and end times and how many volunteers you need. You can also enable a waitlist. If your plan includes the optional reference field, add a short note to help volunteers tell similar shifts apart.

If the same shift repeats that week, start with the earliest day and select the other days in the shift form. This lets you add the same shift to several days at once instead of creating each one separately. Once saved, click any shift to make changes or assign volunteers. Shifts won’t be available for signup until you publish the schedule.

Once you’ve built a week of shifts, you can copy them to future weeks to save time. Go to the week you’d like to copy, open the three-dot menu in the Shifts view, and select Copy Schedule. You can choose which positions to include and copy up to 12 weeks at a time. Copied shifts may take a few minutes to appear, so wait for them to finish before trying again. Then review the calendar and make any changes needed for individual dates. See Copy shifts and create a recurring schedule for more detail.

When you’ve finished adding shifts and are ready for volunteers to sign up, select Publish in the top right. Choose the start and end dates to make available. You can publish one continuous date range at a time, so shifts outside those dates stay unpublished while you keep building ahead.

You can also send an announcement email to let volunteers know new shifts are available. Select Do Not Notify if you’d prefer to send your own message. Review the dates and notification choice, then select Publish or Publish and Notify. Published shifts appear in solid colour in the admin view of the schedule, while unpublished shifts appear white with a coloured outline.

Select View in the top right to see the schedule in the hub. Take a look at the available shifts and check that the position names, locations, and times are clear so volunteers know what they’re signing up for and where to go. You can also add an image and description in Hub Editor → Opportunities to help volunteers recognize the schedule on Find Opportunities.
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You’ve published your first schedule! Now that the positions and shifts are in place, keeping it going should be much quicker. If the same shifts repeat, simply copy them to future weeks, make any adjustments, and update the published dates to open them for signups. A little setup now can save plenty of time each month.

If signups need approval, shift requests will appear as tasks on the organization’s dashboard. You’ll also receive an admin notification email, depending on your notification settings. See Handling shift requests for help reviewing and confirming volunteers, or Publish your shift schedule for updating published dates, notification options, and unpublishing.