❖ Heads up! This article is only intended for Site Managers.
User Groups are an excellent way to categorize volunteers with common interests or affiliations, such as churches, schools, or workplaces. You can assign User Groups to Need/Opportunity responses or use them to organize volunteers with specific skills or training—such as doctors, skilled tradespeople, or veterinarians.
If your organization manages court-mandated community service, User Groups provide an effective way to handle sensitive information about those volunteers and their associated volunteer opportunities.
ℹ️So you know, some sites have language overrides. This means you might see Needs instead of Opportunities, Agencies instead of Programs, or Prerequisites instead of Qualifications.
Create a User Group
You can create and add User Groups in bulk! Here are the steps to create and add User Groups on your site:
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Click Add New User Group.
Fill out the Create User Group form.
Select a Status.
Active: The User Group is ready to be shared publicly.
Pending: The User Group won't be made public until you change it to Active.
Inactive: This is used when you're ready to remove a User Group.
Title: Give your User Group a relevant title—e.g., Changemakers, University of Tennessee Undergrads, etc.
Public Description: This is displayed in the User Group banner. The banner won't display if this is left blank.
Private Description: This is great for keeping private records or managing discreet information—like court-mandated User Groups. This description isn't shared publicly.
Allowed Domains: Use this field if you want users to be automatically added to the User Group when they join with an email domain you have added here.
For example, if the allowed domain is @example.com, then every user that joins your site with an email ending in @example.com, is automatically added to the User Group.
Icon, Color, Text Color: These selections are applied to the banner if you have included a Public Description.
Show Resume to Members: Check Yes if you want User Group members to have access to their User Group resume.
Allow members to leave User Group: Check Yes to allow User Group members to leave the User Group themselves.
If you check No, they won't be able to remove themselves from the User Group. Only Site Managers, Advanced Program Managers, and User Group Leaders can remove them.
Click Create User Group to finish.
Add or Remove User Group Members
Add User Group Members
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Select the User Group.
Scroll to the User Group Members section.
Type the name of the user you want to add in the field by Add New Member.
Select the user from the dropdown and click Add New Member.
The user's name only appears in the dropdown if they're registered on your site.
Volunteers must have a registered account to be added to a User Group. You can always copy and share a join link with someone who doesn't have an account set up.
Remove User Group Members
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Select the User Group.
Scroll to the User Group Members section.
Click the (X) icon under the Options column for the user or users you want to remove.
Add or Remove User Group Members in Bulk
You can quickly add or remove users from a User Group with the User Filter!
Go to Volunteerism > Users.
Click User Filter.
Filter for the users you want to add to or remove from a user group.
Beside Actions, use the Select An Action dropdown to select Add/Remove User Group.
Select either Add to or Remove from the following user group.
Select the User Group.
Click Update User Groups.
User Group Leaders
You can assign User Group leaders to help manage User Groups. The User Group leader can add or remove members, manage the roster, export a list of group members, copy and share a join link to the group, and view the User Group resume.
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Select the User Group.
Scroll to the User Group Members section.
Check the box under the Leader column for the member.
Add Needs or Opportunities to User Groups
You can add Needs to User Groups in bulk!
Go to Volunteerism > Needs or Opportunities.
Select a Need/Opportunity from the table.
Either select the View User Groups link under the Need/Opportunity Link or scroll until you see the User Groups section.
Select a User Group from the dropdown menu beside the blue Add User Group button.
Click Add User Group.
Add Join Questions
Join Questions are a great option if your organization or Agencies/Programs offer volunteer Needs/Opportunities for court-mandated community service hours. After you've created the group, you can go back and create join questions.
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Select the User Group Title from the table.
Scroll until you see Join Questions and click Add Join Question.
Select the Status.
Select the Type.
Small and Large Text Fields: These provide the user with an empty text field to type their individual responses in. A small text field is used for smaller replies and a large text field is used when you want to allow users to respond to the question more in-depth.
Dropdown: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
Only one answer can be selected with this type.
Checkbox: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
Multiple answers can be selected with this type.
Radio Button: With this question type, you provide a list of possible answers for the user to choose from. When you select this option, an Options field appears for you to type the answers in. Be sure to type each answer on a separate line.
Only one answer can be selected with this type.
File Upload: This type lets users submit a file when responding to a question. This is great if you want them to submit important documentation or onboarding paperwork, etc. when they respond to the join question.
Type the question.
Decide if it should be Required or not.
To make this question required, toggle the button to On.
To leave this question optional, toggle the button to Off.
Click Save Custom Question to finish.
View Join Question Answers
You can view the answers User Group members have submitted to your join questions from the User Group page.
Go to Volunteerism > User Groups.
Select the User Group Title.
On the Update User Group page, scroll to the User Group Members section and click Export Members.
This downloads the User Group member list to a .CSV that includes each user's answer(s) to the join question(s).