Managing Volunteer Positions

To manage the volunteer positions, in the Admin, navigate to Account Settings > First Step > Volunteer > Volunteer Positions. From there, positions can be added, updated, or removed.

Adding Volunteer Page to First Step

Add the volunteer page to First Step:

1. In the Admin, navigate to First Step > Setup.
2. Click the Add Page button.
3. Enter the name for the page.
4. Select Volunteer as the page type.

The volunteer page can only be added once in the First Step and must come after the Sign Up page.

Turning Positions Into HelpOut Address Books

If your school also uses HelpOut to run volunteer events, connect the two products and every position here becomes a ready-made address book over there automatically, already filled with the people who signed up — no retyping your roster into a second tool. See Connecting HelpOut to set it up.

Once connected, this page is still where the roster lives: rename a position, and the matching address book renames with it.

Best Practices

Here are our best practices for running a successful volunteer signup drive:

1. Limit the number of volunteer positions to no more than 10.
2. If you have more than 10 positions, add a ‘Contact me with other opportunities’.
3. Use the description fields to help volunteers understand time commitments.
4. Review responses each year and remove positions with poor participation.
5. Translate your position titles and descriptions into languages natively spoken by the parents.
6. Use FutureFund to send emails to volunteers.
7. Send an email shortly after First Step thanking them for volunteering.
8. Host an end-of-season party to thank the volunteers for their contributions.