❖ Heads up! This article is only intended for Center Site Managers.
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Configure how full volunteer Needs appear on your site
Choose to hide full Needs, show them, or allow waitlists
Manage volunteers who join a waitlist for full Needs
Overview
Your site lets you assign capacities to volunteer Needs and shifts to limit available spots. Once a Need reaches capacity, you can decide whether to:
Hide it from volunteers,
Keep it visible, or
Offer a waitlist option.
You can manage this under Settings > Main Settings > Volunteerism.
These settings apply site-wide. You can’t choose different visibility rules for individual Needs.
Needs with an Is Ongoing duration type cannot have set capacities. Capacity settings are available only for Runs Until, Happens On, and Custom or Recurring Shifts duration types.
Hiding Full Needs
If your site has several full Needs, you may want to hide those so volunteers can find the ones with open volunteer spots faster.
Go to Settings > Main Settings.
Scroll to Volunteerism.
Select No from the Show Full Needs dropdown.
Click Update Volunteerism Settings.
Now, when a Need is full, it no longer appears in the volunteer view. If a volunteer unregisters and the Need has available spots again, then it appears in the volunteer view again, and they can respond to it.
Showing Full Needs—No Waitlist
Some Site Managers prefer to show all Needs, even if they are full. The default setting is to show full Needs without a waitlist.
Go to Settings > Main Settings.
Scroll to Volunteerism.
Select Yes from the Show Full Needs dropdown.
Click Update Volunteerism Settings.
If a volunteer clicks on a Need with shifts, they can see how many sports are still open and how many are filled:
If a volunteer clicks on a Need that doesn't have shifts, they can still see how many spots remain for it:
Showing Full Needs—Waitlist Option
Within the Show Full Needs setting, you have the option to enable a waitlist for volunteers interested in participating in full Needs should a spot open up.
Go to Settings > Main Settings.
Scroll to Volunteerism.
Select Yes, and enable a waitlist when full from the Show Full Needs dropdown.
Click Update Volunteerism Settings.
Now, when a volunteer clicks on an Opportunity, they'll see the waitlist button if it is full.
When a volunteer clicks Waitlist:
The button changes to Added to Waitlist (they can click again to remove themselves).
They receive an email and in-app message confirming they’ve been added.
Their name appears in the Waitlist table on the Need’s page.
To view or export your waitlist:
Go to Volunteerism > Needs.
Select the Need.
Scroll down to the Waitlist table.
If someone unregisters or you add more spots, all volunteers on the waitlist are notified. Openings are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Waitlists are available only for volunteer Needs, not events.
FAQ
Q. Can I enable waitlists for some Needs but not others?
A. No. The waitlist setting applies to all Needs on your site once turned on.
Q. Do waitlisted volunteers automatically get added when a spot opens?
A. No. They’re notified when a spot becomes available and must register manually.
Q. Can I export or manage the waitlist data?
A. Yes. Go to the Waitlist table under the specific Need to view and export the list.