❖ Heads up! This article is only intended for Sustain Site Managers.
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Enable or disable waitlists for full volunteer Opportunities.
Choose whether to hide or show full Opportunities.
Understand how volunteers interact with waitlisted Opportunities.
Managing Waitlists for Full Opportunities
You can set capacity limits for volunteer Opportunities and shifts on your site. Once those limits are reached, you can choose to:
Hide full Opportunities
Keep them visible
Enable a waitlist
These settings apply sitewide, meaning you can’t set different visibility options for individual Opportunities.
Note: Only Opportunities with Runs Until, Happens On, or Custom/Recurring Shifts duration types can have capacity limits. Flexible-duration Opportunities cannot.
Hiding full volunteer Opportunities
If your site has several full Opportunities, you may want to hide those so volunteers can find the ones with open volunteer spots faster.
Go to Settings > Main Settings > Volunteerism.
Select No from the Show Full Opportunities dropdown.
Click Update Volunteerism Settings.
Now, when an Opportunity is full, it no longer appears in the volunteer view. If a volunteer unregisters and the Opportunity has available spots again, then it appears in the volunteer view again, and they can respond to it.
Showing full volunteer Opportunities—No waitlist
Some Site Managers prefer to show all Opportunities, even if they are full. The default setting is to show Full Opportunities without a waitlist.
Go to Settings > Main Settings > Volunteerism.
Select Yes from the Show Full Opportunities dropdown.
Click Update Volunteerism Settings.
If a volunteer clicks on an Opportunity with shifts, they can see how many sports are still open and how many are filled:
If a volunteer clicks on an Opportunity that doesn't have shifts, they can still see how many spots remain for it:
Showing full volunteer Opportunities—Waitlist option
Within the Show Full Opportunities setting, you have the option to enable a waitlist for volunteers interested in participating in full Opportunities should a spot open up.
Go to Settings > Main Settings > Volunteerism.
Select Yes, and enable a waitlist when full from the Show Full Opportunities dropdown.
Click Update Settings.
Now, when a volunteer clicks on an Opportunity, they'll see the waitlist button if it is full.
When they click the Waitlist button, several things happen:
The button changes to Added to Waitlist, which the volunteer can click to be taken off the waitlist
The volunteer gets a message (via email and in-app messaging) saying they've been added to the waitlist
The volunteer appears in the Waitlist table available to Site Managers. To access it, go to Volunteerism > Opportunities, select the Opportunity, and scroll down. The table is near the bottom of the Opportunities page. You can export this list as necessary.
If a spot opens up, either by someone unregistering from the Opportunity or a manager adding spots, everyone on the waitlist is notified. Newly available spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Waitlists are only for volunteer Opportunities—not events.
FAQ
Can I manually move a volunteer off the waitlist?
Yes! You can remove someone from the waitlist directly from the Waitlist table under the Opportunity details.
Are waitlisted volunteers automatically registered when a spot opens?
Yes. When a spot becomes available, the first volunteer on the waitlist is automatically notified and can register on a first-come, first-served basis.
Can I adjust capacity after enabling a waitlist?
Yes. Updating the Opportunity’s capacity will automatically adjust the waitlist. New openings notify waitlisted volunteers in order.