Tracking Volunteer Hours for Employees and Students
You probably joined Golden for one or more of the following reasons:
- Finding volunteer opportunities for employees or students
- Creating and hosting your own volunteer opportunities and events
- Tracking volunteer hours and activity, sending out communications, and giving you access to advanced Insights for strategic decision making
Tracking hours is one of the most important and popular reasons that companies and schools invite their soon-to-be volunteers to Golden.
When your team members accept that invitation, they become "Affiliated" with your company or school (or group, etc.).
What does it mean to be an "Affiliate"?
"Affiliate" is a term that we use to define the relationship between groups like you (a company, school, religious group, etc.) and an individual volunteer. Learn more here.
So what can you do for your Affiliate volunteers? You can recommend great Opportunities (hosted by any organization on Golden!) and create Private Opportunities just for them.
It also means that you have the necessary permissions to track their volunteering hours across Golden, no matter whose Opportunities they attend.
Whoa, whoa - can you explain how Hours Tracking works?
Every volunteer can track the Opportunities that they attend and the hours that they spend on site automatically in their Profiles.
As an organizer (aka a user on an organization's Dashboard account), you can, by default, see the hours that Volunteers spend at Opportunities that YOU create on Golden. Click here for more on tracking hours and taking attendance.
But I also want to see the time that they spend volunteering with other organizations too!!!!!
You'll need to have a "Professional" Dashboard plan on Golden to track all of the volunteering that your "Affiliate Volunteers" (your students or colleagues who have accepted your "invitation") engage in, no matter what organization they end up working with (you can check out the full feature set here).
With a Pro Plan, you'll also be able to see which non-profits they work with most often - very helpful if you're trying to figure out where to send corporate donations or who to reach out to to set up a private volunteering event!!
Professional plans start at $1/volunteer per month, with discounts available for schools and similar groups. You'll get your first month free, so there's no reason not to upgrade your plan now .
Inviting Participants to Your Organization
You're not required to invite your employees or students to join Golden, but there are some key benefits to doing so!
When participants accept your invitation, they become "Affiliate Volunteers" with your organization. This special relationship unlocks powerful tracking capabilities that help you manage your volunteer program more effectively.
What happens if you don't invite volunteers?
No problem! You can still:
- Find Opportunities in the Recommend section
- Use the "Share" button to send them directly to your group members
- Create your own Opportunities and invite participants to attend
What are the benefits of inviting volunteers?
When volunteers accept your invitation and become affiliates, you gain the ability to track the time they spend at Opportunities hosted by other organizations. This makes it easy to see the full picture of your program's impact—even when your volunteers are participating in events beyond your own.
Do you need a Professional Plan?
You'll need a Professional Plan only if you want to track the time your affiliates spend at Opportunities hosted by third parties.
Without a Professional Plan, you can still create, share, and recommend Opportunities to your heart's content!
Questions? Contact us at support@goldenvolunteer.com