❖ Heads up! This article is only intended for Site Managers. Not all sites have Initiatives. Contact us if interested in enabling this feature on your site.
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Understand what Initiatives are and when to use them
Create and customize an Initiative
Add and report on Initiative questions
Assign Initiatives to Opportunities (individually or in bulk)
What Are Initiatives?
Initiatives help you group related Needs or Opportunities under a shared purpose or theme. They are especially useful for:
Opportunities tied to a special event
Opportunities that occur during a specific season or time of year
Private or invite-only opportunities intended for a specific group of volunteers
Adding Initiatives
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities.
Select the Initiatives tab.
Click Add New Initiative.
Complete the required fields and personalize your Initiative:
Banner image:
Maximum image width: 993px
The banner includes 20px padding around the description and an additional 70px padding on the left, so images will not touch the edges.
Description:
Displays at the top of the Opportunity page for volunteers.
Automated messages:
Customize the Confirmation, Reminder, and Follow-Up messages sent to volunteers.
Click Create Initiative.
Initiative Response Questions
Add custom questions to your Initiatives to collect important information or to determine if a volunteer has the desired skills for the Need or Opportunity.
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities > Initiatives.
Select the Initiative from the list.
Click the Questions tab.
Under Initiative Response Questions, click Add Question.
Fill out the Add Custom Question form.
Click Save Custom Question to finish.
Initiative question responses
Go to Reports.
Select the Needs or Opportunities dropdown.
Click the Need or Opportunity Responses by Initiative report.
Use the dropdown to select which Initiative you want to run the report for.
Click Export. This downloads those responses to a CSV for your review.
Initiative Opportunity Questions
Initiative Opportunity Questions provide additional context to volunteers when an Opportunity is linked to an Initiative. Use them to:
Explain how the Opportunity supports Initiative goals
Clarify expectations or objectives
Share logistical details such as supervision, PPE requirements, or pet policies
Add Initiative Opportunity Questions
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities > Initiatives.
Select the Initiative from the list.
Click the Questions tab.
Under Initiative Opportunity Questions, click Add Question.
Fill out the Add Custom Question form.
Click Save Custom Question to finish.
Be sure to answer the questions when assigning the Initiative to an Opportunity!
Exclude from Agency or Program
Do you have a Program whose mission doesn't quite align with the purpose of an Initiative? Maybe they aren't such a great fit? You can stop opportunities from that program from being added to your initiative!
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities.
Select the Initiatives tab.
Select the Initiative you want to update.
Click the Excluded Programs tab.
Use the Add A Program dropdown to select the Program whose opportunities will not be appropriate for that initiative.
Click Add.
You can add all Programs by clicking Add All Programs. You can quickly remove a Program from the exclusion list by clicking the X icon under the Options column.
Want to remove several Programs from the exclusion list at once? Check the boxes beside each Program and click X Remove beside Actions.
Assigning Initiatives to Needs or Opportunities
When you're ready to assign an Initiative to an Opportunity, you can do so when creating a new Opportunity or by updating an existing one! This selection is made after you assign the Opportunity to a specific Program.
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities.
For an existing Opportunity, click the Opportunity Title from the table you want to assign the Initiative to.
Use the dropdown beside Initiative to assign the Initiative to that Opportunity.
Be sure to click Update Opportunity to save your changes!
Assigning Initiatives in bulk
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities.
On the Manage Opportunities page, check the boxes beside the Opportunities you want to assign the Initiative to.
With the Actions for Selected Opportunities dropdown, select Assign or Remove Initiative.
Use the dropdown to select the Initiative you want to assign and click Update Initiative.
Follow the same steps to remove an assigned Initiative from selected Opportunities:
Exporting Initiative data
Go to Volunteerism > Opportunities.
Select the Initiatives tab.
Click Export Initiatives. This exports that data to a CSV.
The Volunteer Perspective
Once you have assigned an Initiative to an Opportunity, your volunteers can then see information about that Initiative when they click on the Opportunity from their dashboard. This includes the personalized description you wrote for the Initiative as well as the custom Initiative Opportunity Questions and their answers.
