Events explained
Events are included with the Be Collective Pro and Full Platform plans, and are also available as a paid add-on option for Be Collective Plus subscribers. To learn more about Be Collective's subscription plans, please see the Help Centre article linked below:
Be Collective's product plans & pricing
Events are a great way of grouping multiple opportunities that take place under the same umbrella, like a fun run, fête or festival.
Events will have multiple opportunities listed within them, all grouped under the same theme. A volunteer cannot apply to join an event, but as a group administrator you can create a generic Expression of Interest opportunity under the event to gather applications if you wish. An event must have an opportunity attached to it before it can be published.
Opportunities attached to events do not necessarily need to fit within the event's specified timeframe – for example, a fun run can take place between 10am and 2pm on a Saturday but you can attach opportunities in roles such as event coordination or logistics which may have shifts earlier that morning, earlier in the week or after the event ends.
Why create an event?
The Events module has some handy functionality contained within it – which sets it apart from your regular volunteer activity. For event managers, the event module will allow broad oversight of all opportunities and shifts required for the event rather than using the traditional ‘schedule’ module, which focuses on one opportunity only.
The Events module also allows you to report on and capture the total hours and volunteers for the event in isolation rather than as part of the overall group activities, giving a better insight into the volunteer impact and contribution at the event. Data capture and reporting for each event also allows for benchmarking and year on year growth comparison on volunteer attendance and contribution.
After your event, this module will also permit you to manage timesheets in one place.
The Overview tab shows a full list of all the volunteer opportunities and shifts associated with an event. In this view, volunteer managers will see the shifts within an opportunity listed sequentially by start time. In the Overview tab, you will see shift start time, opportunity name/role, capacity (fill rate), volunteer names and contact phone number in addition to a column to mark attendance. NB: the overview was once a calendar view, now is a list.
This Overview information can be exported as either a text file or PDF – ready for use at any event. Our clients have indicated having a document is a handy way to ensure an event runs smoothly, particularly when wifi doesn’t. Some clients prefer to print out this information to share with multiple team members.
Organising events can be complex – so we introduced Capacity to the event overview. Often multiple volunteers are required for various roles: two people welcoming guests, four people cooking sausages on the barbeque and eight volunteers for set up and pack down (and so on). Understanding at a glance how many positions have been filled, helps a volunteer manager know which roles need more volunteers and where to apply additional focus.
Understanding the Capacity data
Under the heading Capacity, Volunteer managers might see a fill rate of 3/3 which indicates the (say, Set Up Crew) role has all the volunteers it needs. For volunteer opportunities where an opportunity has unlimited spaces available, volunteer managers will now see an asterix in the fill rate. So, if the (say, Site Operations Crew) opportunity says 7/* it means 7 (of the unlimited) roles have been filled.
Want to learn more?
For more details about events, we have a suit of articles in the Help Centre, including:
For more details on creating events, please see our Help Centre article here .
Do opportunities need to be attached to events? No, opportunities can be listed either as part of an event or outside one.