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Groups serve 3 main functions:
Restrict volunteer access - Certain volunteers should only see the missions (volunteering activity/ tasks) that are relevant to them. Groups control what missions are visible to volunteers in the app.
Restrict staff access - Groups control what information and functions are visible to staff users on Volunteero, so staff can only see the volunteers, clients, missions, and all other data relevant to their assigned groups.
Reporting - Groups make it easy to filter reports and insights, so you can view data on specific volunteers and missions linked to those groups.
We commonly see groups being used for regions, role types, and training levels.
Note: Volunteers cannot see what groups they are part of.
Create a group
To add a group:
Go to the "Groups" page on the left-hand side of the Staff Dashboard.
Click the "+ Group" button
Give the group a name and description. (Note that the descriptions are internal only.)
We recommend naming groups based on what they define, such as volunteer roles or regions. For example, "Volunteer Role - Befriending", "Volunteer Role - Events".
For consistency, use the same colours for groups of the same attribute type.
Create a group hierarchy
You can create group hierarchies by adding subgroups. This is really handy if you have a larger area of a category that's made up of smaller sections. For example, you might have a main group for a whole region, and then create subgroups for each of the local areas within it.
Start by creating groups for both your main area and all the smaller regions you want as subgroups.
Open the group you want to be the top-level group (the parent group)
You'll notice a tab labelled "Subgroup"; open this tab.
Next to the group name, thereâs a little + (plus) icon. Click it, and youâll be able to select which groups you want to add as subgroups.
Groups on Volunteero ensure volunteers only see information relevant to them. Volunteers should always be assigned to the most specific (lowest-level) group they belong to, theyâll automatically inherit access to any parent groups above. For more advice on hierarchies please check our this article here.
You can view your full hierarchy or multiple hierarchies, when you click on the hierarchy button, see image below.
You can view the hierarchy in tree view or list view and you can also find groups that are currently not attached to any hierarchies here.
Edit a group
To edit a group:
Head to the âGroupsâ page in the left-hand menu of the Staff Dashboard.
Open the group you want to update.
From here, you can change the name, description, and colour.
Keep in mind, any changes you make will update the group wherever itâs being used. If you're changing how a group is used, you may need to check the volunteers and missions linked to it. For example, renaming âVolunteer Role â Befriendingâ wonât affect whoâs in the group or what missions they see; itâs just a name change.
Deleting a group is not advised. If a group is linked to any roles, volunteer profiles, or missions, you wonât be able to delete it. Plus, deleting a group means youâll lose access to its historical reporting data.
If you need to stop using a group, a good workaround is to rename it with âNot Live/ archived" at the end. This makes it clear to all staff whether a group is still active or not.
Groups to restrict access
You can use groups to control which missions volunteers can see. When creating a mission, you can assign it to one or more groups. Any volunteer in any of those groups will be able to see and claim that mission in the app.
Itâs important to note: if you add multiple groups to a mission, it works as an âORâ rule, meaning volunteers in Group 1 or Group 2 will see it (not just those in both).
Groups for reporting
When looking at your insights you can filter by volunteer groups and mission groups:
Volunteer Groups are linked to the volunteers themselves. When you filter by a Volunteer Group, you will see all hours submitted by the volunteers in that group, no matter which missions they completed. The focus is on who did the volunteering.
Mission Groups, on the other hand, are linked to the missions. When you filter by a Mission Group, you will see all hours logged against missions with that group attached,regardless of which volunteers carried them out. The focus here is on where or what the volunteering activity was for.
In short: Volunteer Groups report on the people contributing the hours, while Mission Groups report on the missions receiving the hours.
Groups for staff access
Groups can also be used to control what staff can see and manage in the Staff Dashboard. To do this, go to âSystem Settingsâ and open the âUsersâ section. From there, you can assign groups to a staff memberâs profile to limit their access to specific volunteers.
Groups on Volunteero ensure volunteers only see information relevant to them. Volunteers should always be assigned to the most specific (lowest-level) group they belong to, theyâll automatically inherit access to any parent groups above.
For staff, group permissions work differently. If a staff member is restricted to a specific subgroup, they can only view volunteers and missions within that subgroup and can only create missions there. Therefore you assign staff to the highest group they are allowed to see. They will get access to the volunteer in that group and all subgroups under it.
Other than group restrictions you can also restrict staff access to certain features.
Please view our article on staff user roles for more info here.
We realise that correctly setting up your groups may require some thought, so the Volunteero team are on hand to help! Please contact us on support@volunteero.org for any help + recommendations.
Video Tutorial
As always, if you require any further assistance with this, please use the support button in your Staff Dashboard or email us at support@volunteero.org. Our team will be happy to help! đ