Listed below are the instructions to create an application for potential school volunteers. After completing these steps, an online form will be created for volunteers to fill out to apply to be a volunteer.
Customize your Volunteer Settings
Introduction
The Manage Volunteer Settings page gives you control over the volunteer management process. Here are some of the customizations you can enable, disable, or set:
- Volunteer registration and management
- Automatic background checks
- Automatic email notifications for volunteers and administrators
- Custom welcome and disclaimer text
- Custom emails for volunteer application submission, approval, or denial
Steps
To access the Manage Volunteer Settings page in the Visitor Aware portal, from the left navigation bar, go to System Settings | Volunteer Management | General Settings. Once on the Manage Volunteer Settings page, you can access the following settings:
- Enable volunteer registration and management?
This setting allows the volunteer application form to go live and allows volunteers (once approved) to access their own volunteer portals in which to keep track of their volunteer hours.
- Click Yes to enable volunteer registration and management
- Click No to disable volunteer registration and management
- Enable Volunteer Application?
If enabled, volunteers can apply using a publicly available application.
- Click the Yes radio button to enable the volunteer application
- Click the No radio button to disable the volunteer application
- Enable Automatic Volunteer Notifications?
If enabled, volunteers will receive automated communications related to their volunteer application status.
- Click the Yes radio button to enable volunteer notifications
- Click the No radio button to disable volunteer notifications
- Allow Volunteer Portal Access?
This setting lets you turn volunteer portal access on or off. If you turn this on, volunteers will be able to log in to the Visitor Aware portal to view their volunteer information and sign up for volunteer events.
- Click the Yes radio button to allow volunteers to access the portal
- Click the No radio button to disable volunteer access to the portal
- Only Allow Approved Volunteers to Sign in to Volunteer Events?
This setting lets you control whether only approved volunteers are allowed to sign in to volunteer events.
- Click the Yes radio button to enable the ability to sign in as a volunteer
- Click the No radio button to disable the ability to sign in as a volunteer
- Automatically Run Background Checks on Volunteers When They Apply?
This setting lets you turn automatic background checks on or off. If you turn this on and you have background check tokens available, Visitor Aware will run background checks automatically on volunteers when they apply and automatically approve those who pass the background check.
- Click the Yes radio button to enable volunteer background checks
- Click the No radio button to disable volunteer background checks
- Method for background check re-validation settings?
This setting lets you choose how you want to re-validate background checks. You can choose to have background checks automatically re-run on volunteers, or you can choose to send an email to volunteers to remind them to re-run their background checks.
Click the dropdown menu and select the appropriate option.
- Valid Background Check Duration
This lets you set the duration for which a background check is valid. You can choose from six months, one year, two years, or three years.
Click the Valid Background Check Duration dropdown menu and select the appropriate duration.
- Automatically Move Expired Volunteers to Pending Status?
This setting lets you choose whether volunteers with expired background checks are automatically moved to pending status. If you turn this on, any volunteer whose background check has expired will be moved from approved to pending status automatically.
- Click the Yes radio button to allow volunteers with expired background checks to automatically move to pending status
- Click the No radio button to prevent volunteers with expired background checks from automatically moving to pending status
- Public Volunteer Application URL:
This field displays the publicly available URL for your volunteer application. You can place this URL on your website and use it in other messaging.
- Require Volunteer Social Security Numbers on Application?
This setting lets you choose whether to require volunteers to provide their Social Security number (SSN) on the application. If you use National Criminal Checks or Premium National Criminal Checks, the SSN will be required regardless of this setting.
- Click the Yes radio button to require Social Security numbers on volunteer applications
- Click the No radio button to disable the requirement for Social Security numbers on volunteer applications
- Require Volunteer Signature on Application?
This setting lets you choose whether to require volunteers to sign the application.
- Click the Yes radio button to require the volunteer’s signature on the application
- Click the No radio button to disable the requirement for the volunteer’s signature on the application
- Volunteer Custom Yes/No Questions
This setting lets you add custom yes/no questions to the volunteer application.
Type the yes/no question(s) that will appear on the volunteer application, one question per line.
- Volunteer Custom Questions (free text)
This setting lets you add custom free-text questions to the volunteer application.
Type the free-text question(s) that will appear on the volunteer application, one question per line.
- Automatic Report Email Addresses
This setting lets you enter a comma-delimited list of email addresses to receive a daily export of new volunteers. If empty, no automatic report will be sent.
Enter a comma-delimited list of email addresses to enable the daily export of new volunteers.
- Volunteer Approval Requirements
This setting lets you add approval requirements for pending volunteers. Staff must check each box to manually change the volunteer from a pending status to an approved status. These requirements are irrelevant if a volunteer is approved automatically after submitting an application.
Type the requirement(s) text that will appear with checkbox(es) when approving a pending volunteer, one requirement per line.
- Application Welcome Text
This setting lets you add welcome text to the volunteer application.
Type and format the text that will appear at the beginning of the volunteer application.
- Application Disclaimer Text
This setting lets you add disclaimer text to the volunteer application.
Type and format the disclaimer text that will appear at the bottom of the volunteer application.
- Application Finished Text
This setting lets you add finished (completed) text to the volunteer application.
Type and format the text that will appear at the bottom of the volunteer application indicating the application is completed.
- Application Submitted Email
This setting lets you customize the body of an email sent to volunteers after they apply.
Type and format the email message using the editor to send to visitors to indicate the application has been submitted.
- Application Submitted Message
This setting lets you customize the message shown to volunteers on the application screen after they submit their applications.
Type and format the text that will be shown to volunteers indicating the application has been submitted.
- Volunteer Approved Email
This setting lets you customize the email sent to volunteers when their application is approved.
Type the custom email message sent to approved volunteers.
- Volunteer Denied Email
This setting lets you customize the email sent to volunteers when their application is denied.
Type the custom email message sent to denied volunteers.