Report statuses allow you to create workflows and actions based on the reports your volunteers submit. For example, if a volunteer flags an issue in their report, you or your team can raise an action, assign it to a staff member, and add comments to track the steps taken.
Note: Statuses, assignees, and comments are internal only; volunteers will not be able to see them. Reports are designed as one-way communication from volunteers to staff, to maintain data integrity and address safeguarding concerns that could arise if volunteers were able to edit reports.
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What does the status mean and its purpose?
Most reports will automatically display the status “No action required.” This simply means it’s a standard volunteer report where no alerts have been triggered.
If your report template includes an alert toggle, you’ll be notified when it’s selected, and the submitted report will automatically be flagged as “Action required.”
If no action is initially required, you can still review the report and decide to update the status if needed. Read on to learn how to make these changes.
Statuses help you and your team address anything raised by volunteers, collaborate on actions that need attention, and track progress across all reports.
How to update the status and assignee
To update the status, find the report you’d like to update and click the drop-down arrow next to the status. Then, select the relevant status from the list.
To update the assignee, locate the report and click the drop-down arrow next to the “Assigned to” field. Choose the appropriate staff member to assign the report to. They’ll automatically receive an email notification letting them know they’ve been assigned a report.
How to add comments and notify team members
If you open a report, you’ll be able to view any previous comments and add your own. These comments are internal only, so volunteers will not be able to see them.
To add a comment, type your message in the “Type a new message” box. Anyone listed in the “@” field will be notified of new comments.
If you’d like to update who receives comment notifications, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the “@” box and select the relevant staff members. You can also remove users from notifications if they no longer need to be included.
How to filter reports by status
To filter reports across all missions, go to the 'Missions' section on the left-hand side of your staff dashboard, then open the ‘Reports’ tab at the top. This view displays all reports submitted across your missions.
To view reports linked to a specific mission, open that mission and navigate to the ‘Reports’ tab on the left-hand side. Here, you’ll see all reports related to that mission and can use the filtering and sorting options shown in the screenshot below.
We recommend that managers and team leaders regularly review reports marked as 'Action required' or 'In progress' to stay on top of important actions and any outstanding risks.
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!😊