You can review a list of current volunteer Needs for a User Group:
Go to the Needs or Opportunities tab.
Select the group with the dropdown and click Go.
Now you can see the Need title and the Agency it's associated with.
This is also where you can edit a Need.
Add Needs
You can also create new volunteer Needs or Opportunities for the members of your group.
Go to the Needs tab.
Click Add New Need.
Complete the Add Need form and click Create Need to finish.
An agency must be associated with the CLM User Group before you can create new Needs. If you don't have permission to create new Needs, contact your site manager for assistance. Only site managers can associate agencies with your CLM user group.
You can customize your volunteer Need with plenty of detail, especially with the various fields on the form and the Description field. Keep in mind that how your volunteers interact with your volunteer Needs depends on how you set them up on this form.
Start by giving your volunteer Need a Title.
It's a good idea to keep the title relevant to the volunteer Need—and it doesn't hurt if they're a little catchy or punny too!
Fill out the Description field with the Text Editor.
You can change the font size and color, add photos, insert links, and more!
The Description field is a great place to add any additional details not covered by the fields on the form.
Select the Privacy settings.
Public: Select Public if you're ready to share it with your community.
Private: Select Private if you want to only share it with the members of the user group you assign to it or if you aren't ready to share it publicly.
Select an Initiative, if applicable.
Volunteers can search for the Need by Initiatives, if applicable.
Select the Agency you wish to associate the volunteer Need to.
Volunteers can search for the Need by agency.
Select the User Group(s) you wish to associate the Need to.
This is especially helpful if you plan to set the Privacy to Private and want to only share the volunteer Need with the members in that group.
Decide on a Duration for the Need.
Different fields appear for you to customize the date and time of the Need depending on which Duration type you select.
Duration Type | When to Use | Examples |
Is Ongoing | Use this duration type when you have tasks that require volunteers to complete regularly with no set end date. | We need help around the office! Come organize our files and help us get our records straight. |
Runs Until | Use this duration type when you have Needs that are ongoing but do have a set end date. | We're looking for friends who aren't afraid to get their hands "dirt"-y! Come pull weeds for us from May 1st to September 1st. |
Happens On | This duration type is best for Needs that are scheduled for a specific date, or the day it "happens on." | We need 20 volunteers to stuff back-to-school backpacks on August 1, 2023! |
Multi-date | This duration type is best for Needs that happen on multiple dates. | Our Secret Santa Workshop needs some helpers on December 15th, 16th, and 17th! |
Custom Shifts | This duration type is great for Needs with scheduled shifts—especially if those shifts are at different times on the same day or different days. | Tutors needed for 2.5-hour shifts at Hopeful Heart Elementary School's Writing Lab on Tuesday, March 5th from 8 am - 3 pm. |
Recurring Shifts | This duration type is best for Needs with scheduled shifts that are recurring—daily, weekly, or monthly. | Happy Paws and Claws needs Dog Walkers on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8 am - 12 pm. |
8. Set the Capacity—or how many volunteers are expected and needed to fill the Need.
This is available for all Duration types except Is Ongoing.
9. Establish the Hours and Hours Description.
Hours: How many hours the volunteers are expected to volunteer.
Hours Description: The time of day the volunteer Need takes place.
10. If you want to require a background check for the volunteer Need, select Click here to get started to learn more.
11. If you want to allow teams to sign up to volunteer together for the Need, then check Yes beside Allow Team Registration. If you don't want to allow teams to sign up, check No.
12. You can choose to include a Qualification for the Need.
Depending on how the qualification is set up, the volunteer may have to submit a response to it before they can interact with the Need.
Site managers create and manage qualifications for their sites.
Be sure to reach out to your agency or site manager if you have any questions about qualifications.
13. Continue personalizing the Need with the next fields:
Minimum and Maximum Ages: You can set age restrictions to help keep your organization and volunteers safe and compliant with any safety regulations.
Family Friendly?: Is the Need family-friendly or should volunteers find childcare before participating?
Check Yes if it's a Need the whole family can take part in or No to let your volunteers know it might not be appropriate to bring children.
Outdoors?: Does the Need take place outdoors? If Yes, you may want to provide an inclement weather plan so your volunteers can come prepared.
Wheelchair Accessible: Does the venue have wheelchair accessibility? Check Yes! If not, check No so volunteers can prepare ahead of time.
Attributes: Here you can add any additional details you want to include—e.g., wear steel-toed boots or we provide refreshments throughout your volunteer work day.
Virtual Need: Is this Need a virtual opportunity where the volunteers can take the work home or does it require that they are present?
Check Yes if they can work remotely or No if they can't.
Location: While the only location fields required are Zip Code and Country, you may want to include the specific address of the venue.
You can also include any additional important details about the location in the Attributes or Description fields, i.e., parking is limited to the spaces behind the old church on East Ave. Carpool advised.
Clusters: Clusters are a categorizing tool that you and agency managers can use to tag Needs.
Additional Notification Recipients: If you want to include additional email addresses for individuals to receive notifications about Need responses, add them here.
14. Select Interests & Abilities for the Need—these help with filtering Needs and make it easier for volunteers to search for Needs based on their Interests & Abilities.
15. Set up a clickwrap waiver—if applicable.
A clickwrap waiver is great for ensuring that volunteers review important information or agree to your organization's terms and conditions when they're responding to a Need.
You upload a document for them to review and they check a box to confirm they reviewed and agree to it.
16. Review your Need to make any final edits and click Create Need to share it with your community!
Editing Needs
Do you want to update a volunteer Need? You can from the Needs tab.
Go to the Needs tab.
Select your user group from the dropdown and click Go.
Click the pencil icon under the Options column to make changes to a Need.
Edit the Need as applicable and click Update Need to finish.
Editing Shifts
Do you want to update a volunteer Need? You can from the Needs tab.
Go to the Needs tab.
Select your user group from the dropdown and click Go.
Click the pencil icon under the Options column.
Click the Edit Shifts tab.
Click the pencil icon under the Options column for the shift you wish to edit.
Edit the shift as applicable and click Submit Shift when done.
We recommend checking the box beside Notify respondents of this update? before you click Submit Shift.
You can also add or remove shifts from this area too!
Click the Add Shifts button to start adding shifts.
Click the X under the Options column to delete a shift.