In the event that you have existing visitors who become volunteers, rather than require that they complete the volunteer application, or import them individually, you may convert a visitor to a volunteer, and volunteers back to visitors.  In both cases, no data is lost; all visits, logged hours, and activity for both volunteers and visitors is retained.


Converting a Visitor to a Volunteer

All that is required to convert a visitor to a volunteer is the correct permission ("Convert Visitors To Volunteers" from the manage roles page), and the email address to be used for the volunteer.


Convert to Volunteer button


  1. Navigate to the profile for the visitor you are converting
  2. Click the button for "Convert to Volunteer"
  3. In the modal window that appears, enter the email address to be used for this volunteer (make sure it's valid as they'll need it to receive their login credentials), check the box for locations that the volunteer will be able to report hours for, and optionally, enter a phone number
  4. Click "Convert"


Convert to volunteer form


That's it!  The page will refresh and you will see that your visitor has been transitioned to a "Pending Volunteer" in order for your volunteer approval workflows to be enabled.


The volunteer will receive an automated email with instructions on how to set their password, after which they may log in to the volunteer portal to track hours for their volunteer events.


Converting a Volunteer back to a Visitor

Conversely, in the event you have volunteers who are no longer active but you'd like them to remain in the system without the ability to record hours, and you have the permission to "Convert Volunteer To Visitor", you'll see a button under the "Volunteer Actions" menu on volunteer profiles, labeled "Convert to Visitor".


Convert volunteer back to visitor


  1. Navigate to the profile for the volunteer you would like to convert to a visitor
  2. Click on the "Volunteer Actions" menu
  3. Select "Convert to Visitor"
  4. In the modal window that opens, you will need to enter a reason for the transition and click "Convert"


Convert reason text


That's it!  The page will reload and you'll see that the volunteer is now a visitor, and they will no longer be able to log in to their volunteer portal to track hours.  Hours previously logged for the volunteer are retained, their profile is simply switched to disable their volunteer access and account.