Volunteer Service Planning

Service Planning is the staff desk for reusable teams, serving roles, dated services, and assignment invitations. Coordinators build who serves where, then send invitations. Volunteers accept or decline from an email link without signing in. This is not the public signup calendar—that remains Volunteer Scheduler.

Where to find it

Open Volunteers → Service Planning. The Volunteers hub action row includes Service Planning beside Roster, Applications, and Settings. Scheduler stays on the upcoming-opportunities panel and its own page.

What you can do

• Build reusable teams and serving roles, including roles under roles when you need them
• Save assignment groups by tagging volunteers or picking people one by one
• Create a dated service from a saved service or a blank form
• Repeat weekly or biweekly without duplicating the first date
• Invite volunteers to cover a service and watch accept or decline status
• Review coverage on a calendar or a list of the same dated services

How invitations work

When you send an assignment invitation, the volunteer opens a public response page and accepts or declines. They do not need a portal login for that reply. This path is separate from Scheduler signup pages and from the volunteer portal. If someone cannot make it, they can leave a short note when they decline so you can fill the gap.

The email link works once. If it is missing, already used, or expired, the page says the link is no longer valid. It does not ask them to sign in. Volunteers who already use the portal can also reply from the portal. That reply is a different path from the public email link.

Common tasks

Plan this Sunday’s serving team

1. Open Volunteers → Service Planning and start a new service.
2. Reuse a saved service or enter a name, date, and time.
3. Check the roles this service needs. Each selected role uses its saved quantity and time defaults.
4. Save, then send invitations. Coverage status updates as people respond.

Good to Know

A volunteer has one role inside a team. Moving them to another role updates that relationship. Eligibility and time-conflict checks still apply when AlignMint tries to place someone. Custom staff positions need the Service Planning permission to open the tool.

Related: Volunteer Scheduler for public opportunities, Volunteer Management for the roster, Volunteer Portal for signed-in replies, and Volunteer Settings for program defaults.