Typically, most Opportunities are created by Admins or Organizers, while Volunteers can participate by signing up for an opportunity. With User Submitted Opportunities, Volunteers can submit needs, like Volunteers, Items, or something else that they would like to be published on their Organization's Hub. Let's walk through how to turn on the User Submitted Opportunities Feature and allow anyone to suggest needs your Volunteer Hub:
1. Turn on User Submitted Opportunities:
Start by heading to your Org Settings under the Settings menu in the navigation bar. Scroll to the bottom and Show Advanced Options. Then, scroll down until you see User Submitted Opportunities. Yes will need to be selected in order for Suggested Opportunities to be an option to be created.
When this feature is on, you will see a Submit Needs button added to your Hub:
2. Encourage Volunteers to Submit their Needs
Using the Hub, Volunteers can submit their needs. They will need to include the Type, Name, Quantity, and Description of the Need, as wells as when and where these items are needed.
When a needs is submitted, the Admins of your Organization will get an email that looks like this:
3. Review Suggested Needs and Publish them as Opportunities:
To review the Suggested Need, navigate to the Suggested Opportunities under the Opportunities tab in the left-hand menu. From there, you'll select the Suggested Opportunity that you want to review. If you decide that you want to use it, you can convert the need to a draft opportunity select the blue button in the top right. From there, you'll be given the opportunity to edit the need before publishing.
4. Follow Up Communication
When a Need is published as an opportunity, the person who submitted the Need will get and email that their need was reviewed and published. There will be a link to the Virtuous Volunteer Opportunity Page in that email so that they can signup and share the opportunity with their network.