Volunteer Applications

Application Flow

When a volunteer application is submitted:

1. PawPlacer creates a volunteer record with Pending status.
2. The record appears in the Volunteers workbench.
3. Staff review the profile and form answers.
4. Staff approve or decline from the pending-review alert.
5. Enabled email templates can send acknowledgments, team notifications, and an approval confirmation.

Application Form Content

The active volunteer form template controls the questions and synced profile fields.

1. Go to Settings > Forms.
2. Select the volunteer form type.
3. Create or edit a template.
4. Add sections and fields.
5. Preview the form.
6. Set the intended template as default.

Volunteer terms are managed in Settings > Contracts and appear when the form includes the relevant agreement.

Share the public application at https://pawplacer.com/volunteer/[organization-id] or copy the Volunteer Form component from Settings > Widgets.

Review a Pending Record

Open More > Volunteers, select Pending, and open the applicant. Review:

• Contact and address.
• Profile Highlights.
• Custom Details.
• Availability.
• Uploaded documents.
• Team notes and activity.

Pending records show a review alert and do not expose the normal profile edit, shift assignment, conversion, or archive controls until a decision is made.

Decision

• Approve changes the status to Active. If the approval confirmation template is enabled for automatic sending, PawPlacer queues it for the applicant's email.
• Decline changes the status to Suspended. PawPlacer does not automatically send a decline message.

Application email behavior is configured in Inbox > Email Templates.