Copy shifts and create a recurring schedule

When you’re coordinating an ongoing volunteer program, many of the same shifts are needed week after week. Copy Schedule in Timecounts helps you build on what’s already in place, so getting the next month ready doesn’t mean adding every shift again. You can carry over the positions that repeat and make room for anything that changes.

Open the schedule and go to a week with the shifts you’d like to repeat. Take a quick look at the times and volunteer numbers before copying, so you have a good starting point. If you’re building a schedule for the first time, start with Create and publish a volunteer schedule.
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In the Shifts view, open the three-dot menu and select Copy Schedule. Check the dates under Copy shifts from to make sure you’re copying the right week.

Choose the positions to include, or use Select All to copy shifts for every position. Select Next: Select Dates to continue.

Choose the future weeks where those shifts should appear. You can copy to any of the next 12 weeks, selecting every week or just the ones you need. The copy button shows how many weeks you’ve selected. When the selection looks right, use it to copy the shifts.

Take a look at the copied weeks and adjust any dates that need different times or volunteer numbers, such as holidays or busier days. Copying shifts doesn’t carry over volunteer assignments. If regular volunteers need to be assigned to specific dates, use Bulk Assign to add them to the new shifts before publishing. See Bulk assigning shifts to volunteers for the full process. ​
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Copying shifts does not extend the schedule’s published date range. When you’re ready to open the new shifts for signups, update the published dates. See Publish your shift schedule for more detail. If you manually assign everyone and keep the schedule unpublished, you can continue doing that with the copied shifts.

Most organizations publish new shifts each month. This gives volunteers a regular reason to come back and a fair chance to choose available shifts, especially when everyone knows when the next month will open. When it’s time to add more, return to a week with the shifts you need and copy again.
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Copy Schedule offers the next 12 weeks to encourage a manageable signup window. We recommend publishing no more than three months at a time to help minimize cancellations as volunteers’ plans change. Making a full year available can give volunteers too many dates to choose from and make it harder to fill the shifts you need covered first. You know your volunteer program best, and if shifts fill quickly, you can open more dates as needed.

If you need to plan further ahead, go to a later week containing shifts and repeat the copying process. You can keep those shifts unpublished until you’re ready to open signups.