How do I set up volunteer sign-up for a competition?
On the competition page press Set up volunteer sign-up, check roles and shifts, tick that sign-up is open, and Save settings.
Parents and friends can help at your competition by signing up for jobs such as resetting obstacles, getting athletes lined up, crowd control and the check-in table. The sign-up page shows your wave times beside each shift, so parents can pick the time their own athlete runs.
Before you begin
- Add the Wave Times to the competition first (see create a competition). The shifts line up with them.
- Owners and managers can change the setup.
Steps
- Open Competitions, press the competition, and press Volunteers in the jump menu.
- Press Set up volunteer sign-up. A page opens with Who's Signed Up, then the sections for asking, check-in and the setup.
- Under Settings, tick Volunteer sign-up is open on the website. Optionally tick Volunteers need a signed (your gym name) waiver in their own name. Keep Email each volunteer a reminder the evening before ticked if you want reminders. Write a Note for Volunteers if you want, such as a free snack at the front desk. Press Save settings.
- Under Roles check the jobs. For each one you can set What They Do, Where, Arrive Early (Minutes) and Ends (when the shift ends, or when it starts, which suits a check-in table). Use Add a role to create more and Save roles.
- Under Shifts check how many people each job needs in each shift (0 means not needed then). Use Add a shift for more and Save shifts.
- To use the same shifts on another day, use Copy a Day's Shifts: choose the day to copy from and where to copy to, then Copy shifts.
What you'll see
- The default plan has roles Obstacle Reset, Athlete Staging, Crowd Control and Check-in Table, plus a set-up shift before the first wave, one shift per wave and a tear-down shift after the last.
- Volunteers sign up on a page at your website address followed by
/competitions/, the competition's address and/volunteer. They can choose Show shifts while my athlete runs to see the shifts during their athlete's wave. - They get a confirmation email with an add-to-calendar file and a link to change or cancel, and a reminder the evening before.
- The top of your volunteers page shows the number of volunteers and spots filled and open. A grid of shifts and jobs highlights gaps.
- Families registered with your gym as their home gym are invited on the thank-you page and in their registration confirmation. Other visitors reach the page from the link you send.
Troubleshooting
I cannot remove a role or shift. A role or shift with people signed up cannot be removed.
I want to start the shifts again. Press Start again from the wave times. It only works while nobody has signed up.
The wave times changed after I set up shifts. Edit the shifts by hand, or use Start again if nobody has signed up yet.
Questions
Do volunteers need an account?
No. They pick shifts with a name, email and phone number. They can change or cancel from a link in their confirmation email.
Can everyone see who has signed up?
Volunteers see how many are signed up for each job. Names show only as first name and last initial, and only for people who chose to show their name.
Can I require a waiver from volunteers?
Yes. Tick the box that volunteers need a signed waiver in their own name under Settings.