# Solutions

In this section we will explore solutions to some common and special use cases using the portal.

# Creating past dated events

It may happen that sometime before we even plan to create an event in the portal things happen on the ground. In such a case it is not always possible to create an event and ask all volunteers to again register for the event and award volunteering hours to them.

Here we explore a solution to create an event and manually award volunteering hours to volunteers after the event is completed.

# Who Can Perform This Task?

  • Event Administrator
  • Portal Administrator

# Before You Begin:

Ensure the following information is available with you

  • All the event related information necessary to create an event
  • List of all volunteers who has attended the event
  • Number of volunteer hours spent by each volunteer that are verified by Event Coordinator

# Procedure

  1. Create an event
  2. Ensure all the volunteers have an account in the portal.
  3. Move the event status from DRAFT -> OPEN -> CONFIRMED -> ONGOING.
  4. Open the event details page
  5. At this moment the event will not have any volunteers registered for the event and the Discussions and Library section will be completely empty.
  6. Select ADD VOLUNTEER in the Volunteer section in the event details page.
  7. Provide the volunteers details along with volunteering hours spent by them.
  8. You will find that the volunteers tab is updated with all details.
  9. Repeat the steps 6 and 7 for all the volunteers.
  10. At this moment you can check for any corrections that are necessary and move the event status to VERIFIED.
  11. Finally, move the event status to COMPLETED. All the volunteers will be awarded the hours now.
  12. At this moment, you can request all volunteers to provide testimonials and feedback in the event details page.

TIP

  • As an event administrator or portal administrator, you can create an event and request Event Coordinator to perform the steps from 2 to 10 and step 12.

# Working With Interns

Sometimes volunteering happens in the form of an internship as well. In order to track and award volunteering hours for interns we can make use of Any Time events.

Interns are both volunteers and beneficiaries for an event.

# Who Can Perform This Task?

  • Event Administrator
  • Portal Administrator

# Procedure:

  1. Request all the interns to create an account in the portal.
  2. Create a beneficiary one for each intern.
  3. Create an Any Time event one for each intern.
  4. Request interns to register for the event specifically created for them.
  5. Each event will capture all the information exchange and the volunteering hours should be updated on a daily basis or on agreed upon frequency in a spreadsheet that can be shared in Library section.
  6. At the end of internship verify the final volunteering hours in the portal and close the event.
  7. Interns can collect volunteering certificate as well as internship certificate as per requirement.

# Working With Online Events

Many events do not happen in a school or some outside environment. A good number of volunteering events happen completely online itself.

In this section we will explore how to create events that can seamlessly handle online only events.

# Who Can Perform This Task?

  • Event Administrator
  • Portal Administrator

# Procedure

  1. Proceed to Create an event
  2. Populate the following fields
    • Event Address with either complete meeting url or a placeholder text like Meeting URL.
    • Event Maps URL with complete meeting url
    • Prerequisites for participation with additional joining information.
    • Event Description with event agenda, links to preparatory notes, etc.
  3. Then click on SAVE to create an online event.

TIP

If the event requires all participants to work at their own pace at their homes or anywhere without the need for an online meeting, you can just ignore Event Address and Event Maps URL fields completely.

# Mobilizing Volunteers for an event

It is very easy to create an event but its not an easy task to mobilize volunteers for an event.

Here we will detail few suggestions on how to mobilize right set of volunteers for an event.

# Who Can Perform This Task?

  • Event Coordinator
  • Event Administrator
  • Portal Administrator

# Procedure

  1. Create an event. Creating an event with complete information itself will bring attention of interested volunteers who are regular to the portal.
  2. Every Thursday the portal sends out Upcoming Events notification email to all volunteers. This will bring those volunteers who do not actively open the portal. Encourage all the volunteers to update their notification preferences to their areas of choice. Ensure the event title, description and category are accurate and detailed enough.
  3. Once the event is in OPEN state, you can click on SHARE button in the Event Details page and provide an appropriate message to attract volunteers for an event. This will send a custom email to all the volunteers in the portal.
  4. The above steps ensure all the existing registered volunteers get a chance to see and register for your event.
  5. However, you might also want to share the event url in social media and ask all registered volunteers also to share the event url and request them to participate in the event.