Assigning shifts

Created on 26 Mar 2026

There are two ways to assign shifts. Offering a shift and manual assignment

Manual Assignment:

• You directly assign a specific volunteer to a shift
• The volunteer's assignment status becomes "Pending" (they haven't confirmed yet)
• You can choose whether to send notification emails when assigning
• This is done by clicking the "Assign" button on a shift, searching for volunteers, and selecting them

Offering a Shift:

• This is a notification type you send to potential volunteers
• You're offering the shift to volunteers who might be interested
• Volunteers can then choose to accept or decline the offer
• This is done by clicking the "Notify" button and selecting "Assignment offer" as the notification type

Key differences:

1. Manual assignment = you're putting someone on the shift (they need to confirm)
2. Offering a shift = you're asking if someone wants to take the shift (they can accept or decline)

When to use each:

• Manual assignment: When you know exactly who should work a shift
• Offering a shift: When you need to fill a shift and want to give volunteers the choice to volunteer for it

After a volunteer accepts an offered shift, they would then need to confirm their attendance (changing from "Pending" to "Confirmed" status).