Coordinate volunteers
Volunteers get scheduled, reminded and thanked without endless messages.
Development and programs · Nonprofits · On a schedule · Updated
Works with
- Slack
- Airtable
- Microsoft 365
- Gmail
- Superhuman Mail
Slack
Airtable
Microsoft 365
Gmail
Superhuman MailHow do you coordinate volunteers?
To coordinate volunteers, tell Maito where the shifts are and when to run. Each week Maito reads the shifts, invites standby volunteers to open slots, emails reminders with arrival details to those confirmed, holds anyone missing a required check as pending, and tells you what changed.
How it's done today
Coordinators spend hours on messages.
What Maito does
- Read shifts and sign-ups
- Fill gaps
- Send reminders
Example
Loop run: Thursday 4:00 PM · Saturday volunteer check
Saturday Oct 24, food pantry. 28 slots, 26 were filled. Filled: the 9-11 AM sorting gap by Dee, from the standby list. The 1-3 PM driver slot is open, so I emailed 4 standby drivers. Reminders: sent to the 18 confirmed volunteers, with the 8:45 AM arrival time and parking details. The catch: Tomas is signed up as a driver, but Airtable shows no license check on file. I left him as pending, not confirmed. Three volunteers are new this month, so I added the orientation note to their reminders. I'll post here when a driver replies.
@Maito thanks. Ask Dee instead of Tomas for driving, she has done it before.
Emailed Dee. Tomas stays on sorting. I'll post here when she replies.
Maito (4:00 PM):
Saturday Oct 24, food pantry. 28 slots, 26 were filled.
Filled: the 9-11 AM sorting gap by Dee, from the standby list. The 1-3 PM driver slot is open, so I emailed 4 standby drivers.
Reminders: sent to the 18 confirmed volunteers, with the 8:45 AM arrival time and parking details.
The catch: Tomas is signed up as a driver, but Airtable shows no license check on file. I left him as pending, not confirmed.
Three volunteers are new this month, so I added the orientation note to their reminders. I'll post here when a driver replies.
Amara (4:10 PM):
thanks. Ask Dee instead of Tomas for driving, she has done it before.
Maito (4:11 PM):
Emailed Dee. Tomas stays on sorting. I'll post here when she replies.
How to set it up
- Ask your agent
“Every Thursday at 4pm, read the Saturday shifts in Airtable, invite standby volunteers to fill gaps, and email reminders to everyone confirmed. Tell me in #volunteers what changed.”
- Connect spreadsheet
- Airtable
- Microsoft 365
- Connect email
- Gmail
- Microsoft 365
- Superhuman Mail
Not connected yet? Your agent sends you a link to sign in.
What it won't do
It can't make anyone show up. It doesn't approve checks it can't see on file, and a person decides who is cleared for a role.
Questions
Shifts in Airtable or Microsoft 365, and email through Gmail, Microsoft 365 or Superhuman Mail.
Yes. Reply in the thread, for example to ask Dee instead of Tomas, and it emails her.
Yes. You set it up once as a Loop on a schedule, such as Thursdays at 4 PM.
