Category

Event Volunteer Best Practices

Volunteers are important in ensuring your in-person event night runs smoothly and many of them will need access to Go Time. Here is a collection of some of the most important best practices and things to know when it comes to setting up and preparing your volunteers within Greater Giving’s software.

Recommended Numbers of Volunteers:

• Check-In/Checkout: 1 check-in station per 75 attendees and 1 volunteer per check-in station.
  • If additional information is being handed out to guests (e.g. programs, bid cards, etc.), plan to have a few “runner” volunteers.
  • In most cases you will need less volunteer staff for checkout than check-in so we recommend you have enough staff to assist with package pickup and accepting payments for non-express pay bidders.
• Bid Assistants (if you're using Online Bidding during your event): 2 volunteers per 100 attendees or 5 volunteers per 100 packages.
  • Provide the Bid Assistants with something that will help them distinguish themselves from the guests!
• Entering Sales (particularly live auction, paddle raise, and silent auction if not using Online Bidding): 2 volunteers, one to read off the names and bid numbers from the sheet and the other to key the information into Go Time.

Volunteer User Setup:

• Every volunteer should have their own username. With the introduction of MFA (multi-factor authentication), users cannot actively use the software on multiple devices at the same time using the same username. Making sure every volunteer has their own username will provide greater transparency and tracking ability for changes within the software and improved security.
• The volunteer will be sent a link to sign in and set up their password as soon as you create their account. This password link will be valid for 7 days. We recommend setting up their usernames a few days before your event so they have time to set up a password they will remember.
  • **Reminder** They will have access to the software as soon as you create their accounts, so you should wait to assign them permissions until the day of your event if you want to ensure they do not access your project ahead of time.
• Add the volunteer's email address AND their mobile number! Volunteers don't always have easy access to their email at your event, especially if they're using a work email address, so adding their mobile number will allow them to receive the MFA verification codes via text message instead. This can make the login process quicker and simpler at your event!
• Assign only the permissions that the volunteer needs. We recommend using the Event Volunteer Role when setting up the new user and giving them access to only the current project to ensure they’re working on the right event.

Event Day Volunteer Training:

• Have your volunteers login to the software before the event begins. MFA must be completed once every 24 hours when logging in through a browser. Having them login prior to the event ensures that they aren’t trying to complete MFA as attendees are showing up or during the event.
  • The timeout period for the software is now after 1 hour of inactivity. Users do not have to complete MFA again after the inactivity timeout if it is still within the 24 hour period.
• Create a test supporter that volunteers can practice with. Once they’re done practicing with that test supporter - checking them in, swiping a card, adding sales, sending a receipt, etc - you can simply delete the test sales and be ready to go.

After the Event:

Most of the time, event volunteers do not need to retain access to the software once the event is over. We recommend deleting the volunteers' logins after the event so that the do not continue to have access to your projects.

Recommended Volunteer Training Materials:

• Short Go Time Check-In and Checkout videos
• Short Storefront video
• Go Time Volunteer Cheat Sheet
• Storefront Volunteer Cheat Sheet
• Bid Assistant Volunteer Cheat Sheet

---