Volunteer Self Sign-Up

TimelyChurch allows volunteers to sign themselves up for open serving positions through the member portal. This reduces the administrative burden on church staff and empowers volunteers to choose when and where they serve.

Enabling Self Sign-Up

Self sign-up is configured on a per-position basis when you add a position to an event.

Step-by-Step

1. Navigate to the event and open the Serving tab.
2. Click Add position and, in the Add Volunteer Position window, configure these settings:

For a position that's already on the event, open its Edit position menu (⋯) and turn on Open for sign-ups. Positions open for sign-up show a small SIGN-UP tag on the Serving tab.

How Volunteers Sign Up

Through the Member Portal

1. Volunteers sign in to the member portal and open My Schedule.
2. They tap Pick up a slot (on the portal dashboard, the My teams card also offers Pick up an open slot). The Volunteer Opportunities page opens ("Browse and sign up for available serving positions").
3. They see upcoming events with positions open for sign-up in their own teams — the page lists the teams they belong to under "You're a member of:".
4. For each position, they can see:
   • The position name and team
   • How many spots are left (e.g., "2 spots left")
   • A short reason if they can't sign up
5. They click Sign Up next to an available position.

Note: The page reminds volunteers: "Signing up expresses interest — a team leader will confirm your placement." If the position requires approval, they see "You've signed up for … A coordinator will confirm your sign-up." If it doesn't, they see "You're confirmed for …!"

If there's nothing to sign up for, the page shows No Open Opportunities. Someone who isn't on any serving team sees Not a team member yet? — "Contact your church admin to be added to a serving team."

Sign-Up Eligibility Checks

Before allowing a sign-up, the system verifies that the volunteer meets all requirements:

1. Sign-up must be open -- The position must be open for sign-up, and any deadline must not have passed.
2. Not already signed up -- The volunteer cannot sign up for the same position twice.
3. Spots available -- At least one slot must remain unfilled.
4. Team membership -- If the position belongs to a specific serving team, the volunteer must be an active member of that team.
5. Availability -- The volunteer must not be marked as unavailable on the event date.
6. Event in the future -- The event must not have already started.

If a check fails, the volunteer sees a clear message explaining why (e.g., "You are already signed up for this position," "All spots are filled," "You must be a member of this team to sign up," "You are marked as unavailable on this date").

Approval Workflow

When Require approval is ticked:

1. The volunteer signs up and their assignment is created with Pending status.
2. The sign-up appears on the event's Serving tab and on the Schedule Grid like any other pending assignment.
3. A leader reviews it and either clicks Confirm (✓) or Remove.

When Require approval is unchecked:

1. The volunteer signs up and their assignment is immediately set to Confirmed status.
2. The volunteer's serving statistics are automatically updated.

Withdrawing a Sign-Up

Volunteers can withdraw their sign-up as long as the event has not yet started:

1. On the Volunteer Opportunities page, find the assignment under Your Sign-Ups.
2. Click Withdraw and confirm.
3. The assignment is removed and the slot becomes available again.

If the event has already started or is in the past, the volunteer cannot withdraw their sign-up. Once a sign-up is on their schedule, they can also decline it or propose a swap from My Schedule like any other assignment.

Best Practices for Self Sign-Up

Tip: Enable self sign-up for positions that are easy to fill and do not require special skills, such as greeters, ushers, or coffee service. For specialized positions like sound tech or worship leader, keep sign-up off and assign volunteers yourself.

Tip: Set a sign-up deadline at least 48 hours before the event. This gives you time to review assignments and fill any remaining gaps through manual assignment or auto-fill.

Tip: Keep Require approval on for positions where you want to vet who signs up. This is useful for children's ministry or other sensitive areas where you need a second pair of eyes on every volunteer before they go on the schedule.

Managing Self Sign-Ups

On the event's Serving tab, admins and team leaders see all assignments regardless of how they were made, and can:

• Confirm a pending sign-up
• Remove any sign-up
• Close sign-up by turning off Open for sign-ups in the position's Edit position menu
• Adjust People needed at any time