What is team volunteering?
Team volunteering lets organisations recruit groups of volunteers together for a shift opportunity, instead of only accepting one person at a time.
On Be Collective, team volunteering works through team applications on a shift opportunity.
A host organisation publishes an opportunity with team applications enabled. An approved member of another volunteering group that has endorsed the opportunity (the team lead) applies on behalf of their group and requests a block of positions on a published shift. When the host approves that request, Be Collective reserves those positions and gives the team lead a share link. Team members (approved members of the applicant group) use the link to complete their own application. The host then approves each member as a volunteer.
Who is involved?
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Host group manager | Creates a shift opportunity, turns on Allow team applications?, sets team size limits and reservation rules, then publishes |
| Coordinator (host) | Approves or declines team requests, optionally sends a team fee invoice, then reviews and approves each member’s application |
| Team lead | Applies as a team for a group they belong to that has endorsed the opportunity, shares the application link after approval, and tracks who has applied |
| Team member | Opens the share link and completes the opportunity application form |
How it differs from a normal application
- Teams request positions on a published shift (for example, 5 places), not a single seat.
- Only groups that have endorsed the opportunity can submit a team application — the host organisation’s own group cannot apply as a team.
- After approval, capacity is reserved for that team until members apply and are approved, until the reservation window ends, or until the team lead or host cancels the remaining reservation.
- Members apply through the team’s share link and are tied to the team’s reserved shift — they do not pick arbitrary shifts.
- If the host enables Charge teams?, a team fee invoice can be sent to a billing contact. Payment is tracked separately and does not block reservations, share links, or member approval.
Plan availability
Team applications require the team applications feature on the host group’s plan. In the product, the setting may show as coming soon until your plan includes it. Contact Be Collective if you need this enabled for your organisation.
Related articles
How do I enable team applications on an opportunity? — host managers
How do I review and approve team applications? — coordinators
How do I request an endorsement from another group for an opportunity? — so partner groups can apply as teams
How do I apply as a team? — team leads
How do I apply to an opportunity with a team link? — team members