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Chat overview

In this article we'll cover the features of Volunteero's native chat feature

Written by Ash

With our chat feature, you can message volunteers one-to-one or create group chats. Read our full collection on chat here for all of the capabilities, hints and tips!

Individual chats with volunteers

  1. Press the bar labelled "Search for people and chats"

  2. Here you can find the volunteer you wish to message. When you press on the volunteer, one of 2 things will happen.

  • "Create volunteer chat" - This means that no one in the organisation has directly messaged that volunteer before. Select this option to start the chat with that volunteer. You can then send them a message.

  • "Join" - This means someone from the organisation has directly messaged this volunteer before. If you join, then you will be able to contribute to that chat and send messages to that volunteer.

Access further information in our message a volunteer guide

Group chats

Volunteero's chat feature can facilitate group chats with a smaller number of volunteers. Follow these steps to set up your own group chats.

  1. Press the bar labelled 'Search for people and chats'

  2. Click 'Create Group Chat'

  3. You'll then be presented with a number of options to configure your group chat.

    1. Chat history is shown to new chat members.

    2. Whether the Chat is available to all volunteers - toggle this OFF for smaller group chats.

  4. Which volunteer groups can join this chat? Here is where you select the groups that should be part of this group chat. When new volunteers are added to Volunteero and to certain groups, they will automatically be added to the chats that group is part of. You can also select no group in cases where you want to just add individuals.

  5. Default volunteer role - Every member of a chat group has a role; this option dictates what role volunteers will have as a standard. For more information on chat roles and permissions, see our full article here.

  6. Add operational hours toggle, see below or read our full article here.

  7. Once you have selected all the relevant options and added the relevant groups, you can press "Create chat" You can now begin sending messages on the chat.

All volunteer chats

Use the chat feature to send messages to all volunteers with app access on your account in one go!

  1. Press the bar labelled "Search for people and chats"

  2. You'll then be presented with a number of options to configure your group chat.

  3. Chat history is shown to new chat members.

  4. Whether the Chat is available to all volunteers - toggle this ON to create a chat that is open to all of your volunteers.

  5. Default volunteer role -Every member of a chat group has a role; this option dictates what role volunteers will have as a standard. For more information on chat roles and permissions, see our full article here. For a chat with all volunteers, you may wish to customise a 'read-only' role for your volunteers if you are using this chat as a newsfeed.

  6. Once you have selected all the relevant options and added the relevant groups, you can press "Create chat" You can now begin sending messages on the chat.

Pinning messages in group chats

Staff users can 'pin' important messages in group chats by following these steps:

  1. Open up the relevant chat

  2. Click the small arrow in the top right-hand corner of the message you want to pin

  3. Select 'pin'

  4. Your message is now pinned!

Send emails directly from chat

You can send emails straight from within the chat feature.

  1. Head into the relevant group chat

  2. Click the “+” button on the left-hand side of the message bar

  3. Click "Send as email"

  4. Compose your message

  5. Send it to all participants in the group chat via email; the message will also be posted in the chat itself.

This feature is available for group chats only and is not supported in one-to-one conversations. Additionally, only staff members with moderator permissions are able to send emails.

Send attachments and GIFs from chat

Note: If you would like to enable attachments and GIFs in chat, please make sure that staff and volunteer role permissions allow this

You can send an attachment on the management dashboard by:

  1. Select '+' on chat bar

  2. Select 'Upload attachment'

  3. Select attachment

  4. Click send

If you select 'Files' at the top of the chat, you can view all attachments sent in the chat:

You can send GIFS via the app by:

  1. Select '+' on the chat bar

  2. Select 'GIFs'

  3. Choose GIF and select send

Note: You can only send GIFs via the Volunteero app

Create polls in chat

You can create polls so that you can gauge volunteer opinion directly and quickly! In order to create a poll on the management dashboard, follow these steps:

  1. Click '+' on the chat bar

  2. Select 'Add poll'

  3. Add in a question, options and whether volunteers can select more than one answer

  4. You can choose whether the poll has a deadline or it will be open indefinitely

  5. You can choose whether the poll will be sent as an email as well as in the chat

  6. Select 'Send Poll'

Directly link to missions, shifts, articles or files in chat

If you would like to send links to directly send volunteers missions, shifts, support articles or files that have been previously sent, you can do this by:

  1. Click '+' on the chat bar

  2. Select 'Link to...'

  3. Select what you would like to link

  4. Click 'Attach ... Link'

  5. Remember to click send!

Add operational hours

Operational hours allow you to 'close' your chats based on your schedule. As a staff user, you will still be able to send messages, and volunteers will still be able to access the chat, but they will not be able to send messages outside operational hours.

To set these times, do the following steps:

  1. Create a chat

  2. Toggle on 'Operational Hours'

  3. Choose the hours that you would like the chat to be 'open' (you can add a message that, in your own words, relays to the volunteers that the chat is closed)

  4. Select 'Done'

Your volunteers will now only be able to use the chat within those selected hours.

Managing chats

As a staff user, you can manage chats within Volunteero, including:

  • Adding extra users to chats

  • Removing users from chats

  • Deleting messages

To do any of the above, follow these steps:

  1. Head to the relevant chat you want to manage.

  2. Click on the chat image, 3 dots on the right-hand side or a small arrow to open up the manage chat panel on the left-hand side

  3. For adding and removing members in a chat, click into the 'members' section.

  4. Here you can invite or remove members.

  5. To delete a message in the chat, click the small arrow on the relevant message and select 'delete' from the drop-down options. (Please note, your user role will need to have sufficient permissions to do this action)

You can also choose to archive or delete any chats within your account in this section.

Favouriting your chats

Keep your important chats at the top of the list by:

  1. Go to the list of your chats and hover over the one you would like to favourite.

  2. Click on the downward-facing arrow in the corner

  3. Select 'Favourite'

    The chat should now move to the top of your list. A star will appear next to chats you have favourited.

Video Tutorial

This video gives you the essentials, and if you’d like to dive deeper, we’ve got plenty of articles that cover specific features in more detail.

If you require any further assistance, please use the support chat to ask a question to our friendly support team. We will be happy to help! 😊

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