Volunteer FAQs

What is the difference between a volunteer and a staff member?

A volunteer is a person record used for program management and scheduling. A staff member is an account member who can log in and has assigned PawPlacer permissions.

Can volunteers log in?

Creating a volunteer profile does not create an account login. Add someone as an account member separately if they also need staff access.

Which statuses are available?

Pending, Active, Training, Inactive, Denied, Suspended, and Blocked.

Where do pending applications appear?

Select Pending on the Volunteers workbench. Open a record and use the review alert to Approve or Decline.

Can I customize volunteer fields?

Yes. Go to Settings > Forms, select the volunteer form type, and edit its templates.

How do I schedule a volunteer?

Open an approved volunteer profile, edit recurring days or add one-time shifts in Availability, and click Update Schedule.

Where can I see all schedules?

Open More > Volunteers and click Schedule. Use Day, 5-day, Week, or Month view, then search or filter by volunteer.

Can a shift be marked complete?

One-time scheduled shifts can be completed from the calendar. Recurring schedule blocks cannot.

Can a volunteer also be an adopter or foster?

Yes. Use the profile action menu to convert or add the Adopter or Foster role. The conversion dialog lets you choose whether to keep the volunteer role.

Where are notes and documents?

Team notes appear on the Profile view. Select Documents in the volunteer profile toolbar for uploaded files.

Can I import or export volunteers?

Use Settings > Data Uploader for imports and Settings > Exports for volunteer exports.