Volunteer Applications

Application Flow

When someone applies through your public volunteer form:

1. The applicant completes the form.
2. PawPlacer creates a volunteer record.
3. The record appears in Volunteers with Pending status.
4. Staff review the compact profile and custom answers.
5. Staff approve or decline the application.
6. Enabled email templates can send submission and approval messages.

Set Up the Application Form

Volunteer applications use the volunteer form template.

1. Go to Settings > Forms.
2. Select Volunteer Form.
3. Create or edit a template.
4. Add sections and fields.
5. Preview the applicant experience.
6. Set the template as default when it is ready.

Volunteer terms are managed through Settings > Contracts when your template includes agreement or terms fields.

See Custom Volunteer Forms for form builder details.

Share the Application

Use either:

• Direct URL: https://pawplacer.com/volunteer/[your-organization-id]
• Embed: Settings > Embeds, then copy the Volunteer Form component

Share the link or embed on your website, social media, email campaigns, QR codes, or printed materials.

Review Pending Applications

1. Open Volunteers.
2. Filter by Pending.
3. Open the applicant's profile.
4. Review Contact, Home, Profile Highlights, Custom Details, Documents, Team Notes, and the Activity Timeline.

Pending profiles show an approval alert above the profile hero.

Approve an Application

Click Approve in the pending application alert. PawPlacer changes the volunteer to Active and can queue the volunteer confirmation email when the template is enabled with auto-send.

Decline an Application

Click Decline in the pending application alert. PawPlacer changes the volunteer to a restricted status so they cannot be scheduled as an active volunteer. No automatic decline email is sent, so contact the applicant separately if your process requires it.

Email Notifications

Configure volunteer application emails in Settings > Email Templates:

• Applicant acknowledgment.
• Team notification.
• Outcome confirmation for approvals.

Security

Volunteer application data is visible only to authorized staff with volunteer access.