❖ Heads up! This article is intended for Volunteers. Are you a volunteer looking for support with your volunteer account, or have questions about a specific site? See the How to Get Help with Your Volunteer Account section of the How to Find Your Organization's Site article for more information!
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Respond to a volunteer Need or Opportunity
Understand how shifts and response forms work
Identify Prerequisites or Qualifications required for an opportunity
Recognize private opportunities
Overview
Once you find a volunteer opportunity that matches your interests or skills, you can respond to it to let the organization know you want to participate.
Some sites use Needs, while others use Opportunities. These terms are interchangeable and depend on how the site is configured.
Certain opportunities may also include requirements that must be completed before you can participate. These are called Prerequisites or Qualifications, depending on the site.
Responding to Posted Needs or Opportunities
Log in to your volunteer account and navigate to the Needs or Opportunities area from your dashboard.
You can filter these or click View Details for any you're interested in learning more about.
Once you've found the one you want, click a Respond button.
Click Respond if you wish to volunteer alone.
Click Respond as Team if you wish to volunteer with coworkers, family, or friends.
If this opportunity has scheduled shifts, select the shift(s) you're interested in.
The Need or Opportunity Response form may have different options than the example. What appears on the form depends on how the site has set up the opportunity.
Complete any questions or requirements, as applicable.
If this opportunity has Prerequisites or Qualifications, you may have to wait until those have been approved before completing your response.
Once you've completed the form, click the Submit button.
After you submit your response, you may see a prompt with any of the following:
Create a Calendar Event: Create a calendar reminder.
Share: Share this opportunity on your social media platform of choice.
Donate: Donate to the site.
What appears in the pop-up confirmation depends on the site's settings.
If an opportunity has a lock icon on it, then it's private. You can only view private opportunities if you've been assigned one or received a link to it.