Volunteer Settings

Quick Answer: Volunteer Settings

Volunteer Settings is the control panel for skills, activity types, and the new-volunteer checklist. Event colors and calendar categories live in Volunteer Scheduler, not on this page.

Configure your volunteer program

Open Volunteers → Settings. Changes here affect how hours are categorized and what new volunteers complete when they join. They do not rearrange the Scheduler calendar.

Skills

Skills describe what people can do—first aid, kitchen, greeter, driver. Coordinators match skills when they place someone on a service or a Scheduler event. Add, rename, or retire skills as programs change.

Activity types

Activity types are the categories volunteers choose when they log hours. Set these up to match how your organization works:

• Create activity types: Add categories like "Food Bank," "Tutoring," "Office Help," or anything that fits your programs

• Edit or retire: Rename or hide types as programs evolve

• Used everywhere: These categories appear when volunteers submit hours through the portal, when staff log hours, and in your Volunteer Hours Report

New volunteer checklist

Set up the steps new volunteers need to complete before they are fully active. This keeps setup consistent:

• Custom steps: Add items like complete orientation, sign a liability waiver, submit a background check, or read the volunteer handbook

• Track progress: See which steps each volunteer has completed and what is still pending

• Flexible: Add, remove, or reorder steps as your process changes

Good to Know

Color-coded event categories for the volunteer calendar are configured in Volunteer Scheduler, not here. Plus and above include volunteer applications and scheduler tools that read these settings.

Related: Volunteer Management, Volunteer Scheduler, Volunteer Service Planning.