Creating a volunteer calendar—either from a volunteer calendar template or from scratch—can take a lot of time and effort. But, creating an easily accessible calendar full of searchable opportunities is a win-win for nonprofits and their volunteers—simple sign-up, calendar syncing, and easy scheduling ensure that both parties are organized and ready to make an impact.
In this article, we’ll cover what a volunteer calendar is and how to schedule volunteers with ease—plus, we'll list the exact tools and technology to launch your volunteer scheduling process in minutes.
A volunteer calendar is a tool used by nonprofit organizations to plan, schedule, and manage their volunteer activities and events throughout the year.
The volunteer calendar is an essential tool for nonprofits to:
There are lots of ways to create volunteer schedules for your volunteer program, but most require nonprofits to complete these three steps.
First, evaluate your organization's ongoing and upcoming volunteer requirements based on programs, events, and daily operations. This should give you a baseline idea of the number of volunteers you'll need.
Next, you’ll want to get into the finer details of the volunteer opportunities, including defining:
Last but not least, using volunteer management software like Get Connected, you’ll input all of the information you've compiled above — volunteer roles, descriptions, timelines, and responsibilities — into a calendar that both staff and volunteers can view at any time.
Pro tip: In addition to using your calendar to schedule event staff and volunteers, you can use your volunteer schedule to list volunteering holidays, specific months that celebrate volunteers (like National Volunteer Month), and even note volunteer vacations, too.
Get Connected's volunteer calendar and volunteer scheduling software is a simple way for your volunteers to search and sign up for your opportunities and events.
Learn more about Get Connected's Volunteer Calendar
With Get Connected, both coordinators and volunteers can manage their volunteer schedules with ease, allowing volunteers to: