Volunteer Set Up

Please read the ‘General Set Up’ article and ‘Event session selector’ article for initial guidance on creating an event. 

Volunteer application introduction

This is a paragraph of text that will be shown at the start of the volunteer application form. It is a chance to give them a more detailed overview of what the event is that they are signing up for. Remember to include any important details you need your volunteers to know before they apply, such as the nature of the tasks they might be asked to do. You can also include volunteer specific information such as what to bring or wear to the event. 

This text can be customised to bold, italic or underlined if you want certain words or sections to stand out. It is recommended that the text is clear and concise, but it may be helpful to group it under subheadings if longer. A web link, image  or file link  can also be added by clicking on the relevant buttons.

Volunteer application start date and time

This is the date that you want volunteer applications to open. Your organisation will need to decide on a date.  If you choose to open volunteer applications on the 1st January 2024, then before 1st January, volunteers will see a screen that says applications are ‘Currently closed, opens Mon 1st Jan, 2024’.  On and after the 1st January, the text changes to ‘Open now, closes …’ and the button will become live. Clicking ‘Sign up now’ will then take volunteers to the application form. 

The same applies for a time.  It might be that you want applications to open at midnight on the 1st January, or applications might open at 4pm (16:00). 

Volunteer application end date and time

This is the date that you want volunteer applications to close and end.  After this date, no more applications will be able to be submitted.  After the closing date, the button the volunteers see will be disabled, and the text will show ‘Finished’. You will also need to select a time to close applications. 

Minimum age to volunteer

This is the minimum age that volunteers can help at your event. If volunteers are younger than this age, they will be automatically rejected by the SignMeUp system and not allowed to submit their application.  This needs to be completed as a digit. 

For example, if the minimum age of volunteer acceptance is 13 year-olds, you would type ‘13’. Attendees who are 13 years-old would be able to volunteer at the event.  If the minimum age of volunteer acceptance is 18 year-olds, you would type ‘18’. Attendees who are 18 years-old would be able to volunteer at the event. 

There is no maximum age to volunteer.

Age assessment date

This applies to both the volunteers and the attendees. It works out how old an attendee or volunteer will be, and therefore whether they can be accepted into the category or not. 

If left blank, the SignMeUp system will work out an applicant's age based on the start date of the event. This means that if the start date is the 1st January, and the minimum age to attend is 5 years-old, an attendee with their 5th birthday on the 1st January would be able to attend the event, but an attendee with their 5th birthday on the 2nd January would not. This would also be used when grouping by age groups.  A child with their 6th birthday on the 1st January would be in the sixes age group, but a child with their 6th birthday on the 2nd January would be placed in the fives age group. 

Alternatively, your organisation might choose to work out an applicant’s age based on the school year - as calculated by their age on the 1st September. This means that if the start date of your event is 12th July and the minimum age to attend is 5 years-old, an attendee with their 5th birthday on or before the 12th July would be able to attend. Additionally, a child whose birthday is between the 13th July and 31st August would also be able to attend, as although they are 4 years-old when they are attending the event, it is due to the timing of their birthday. Otherwise, this attendee would be declined from attending whilst all their peers and classmates with birthdays before the 12th July would be able to attend. 

This would also be used when grouping by age groups.  By choosing the 1st September, it would ensure that all the children who are in Year 4 together at school are in the same age group, even though some might be eight years-old and others might be nine years-old, due to the timing of their birthday within the school year. 

Invite previous volunteers to apply 

If this checkbox is ticked, then all volunteers who have applied for your organisation's previous events will be sent an invitation email to apply for this new event, when it goes live.  This is a good checkbox to tick, as the SignMeUp system will automatically do your marketing for you and send emails to the volunteers to apply for future events when they are created. 

You can edit the text of the emails SignMeUp automatically sends within the ‘Automated Emails’ section in Organisation Set up.

If this checkbox is not ticked, then no emails will be sent.