Configure How Volunteers for Salesforce Handles Sign-Ups

Automatically Confirm Web Signups and Update Shift Availability

When a volunteer signs up for a Shift from the website, Volunteers for Salesforce automatically creates a Volunteer Hours record with a status of Web Sign Up, which does not affect the Shift's # of Volunteers Still Needed number. So a full Shift could still display a signup link because the web signups haven't been counted.You can automatically confirm web signups by creating a workflow rule that updates the Volunteer Hours status to Confirmed.

1. From Setup, enter Workflow Rules in the Quick Find box, then select Workflow Rules.
2. Click New Rule.
3. Select Volunteer Hours, then click Next.
4. Give the rule a name, such as Confirm Volunteer Web Signups.
5. In the Evaluation Criteria section, select created.
6. In the Rule Criteria section:
   1. Select criteria are met.
   2. Define the criteria as Volunteer Hours: Status for field, equals for operator, and Web Sign Up for value.
      
7. Click Save & Next.
8. In the Immediate Workflow Actions section, click Add Workflow Action, and then select New Field Update.
9. Give the action a name, such as Convert Signup to Confirmed.
10. Review the Unique Name that's automatically filled in for you.
11. In Field to Update, set the values to Volunteer Hours and Status.
12. In the Specify New Field Value section, specify A specific value and Confirmed.
    
13. Save your changes.
14. Click Done.
15. Back on the Workflow Rule detail page, click Activate.
    

Customize Rules for Matching Volunteer Signups with Existing Contacts (VolunteersSignUpFS and VolunteersJobListingFS only)

When your volunteers sign up from a Sites page, Volunteers for Salesforce tries to match the person with an existing Contact in Salesforce. By default, Volunteers for Salesforce looks for an exact match with First Name, Last Name, and Email. If you're using VolunteersSignUpFS and VolunteersJobListingFS, you can edit custom settings to match against a subset of these fields (for example, just Last Name and Email) or against additional fields.

Note The Contact Matching Rule, Contact Match Email Fields, and Contact Match First Name Fields custom settings apply only to the newer versions of the Volunteers Sign Up and Volunteers Job Listing pages (VolunteersSignUpFS and VolunteersJobListingFS.)

1. From Setup, enter Custom Settings in the Quick Find box, then select Custom Settings.
2. Next to Volunteers Settings, click Manage.
3. Click Edit to edit custom settings as needed.
   • As you can see in Contact Matching Rule, by default, V4S requires matching on all three fields, "Firstname;Lastname;Email". Edit this setting as needed to match on a subset of these three fields, for example, Lastname;Email, or Firstname;Lastname.
     

     Note If you're using the Nonprofit Success Pack and the Contact Matching Rule includes Email, V4S tries to match against Work Email, Personal/Home Email, and Alternate Email.
   • To match against additional Contact email fields, you must include email in the Contact Matching Rule. Then in Contact Match Email Fields, for each custom email field you want V4S to match on, enter the field's full developer name, including the namespace prefix. Separate fields using semicolons.
     

     Note You don't need to include email fields from NPSP; they're automatically checked as long as Contact Matching Rule includes email.
   • To match against additional Contact first name fields, such as a nickname field, in Contact Match First Name Fields, enter each field's full developer name, including the namespace prefix. Separate fields using semicolons. Note: Contact Matching Rule must include FirstName for V4S to match against additional Contact first name fields.
4. Save your changes.

Tip If signups from Sites pages aren't being recognized as existing Contacts, and you get duplicate Contacts created from signups, check the Sharing Settings for the Contact object. Make sure it's not set to Private. Refer back to Configure Data Access in Organization-Wide Sharing Defaults.

Customize Rules for Matching Volunteer Signups with Existing Contacts (VolunteersSignUp and VolunteersJobListing Only)

If you're using the older versions of the Volunteer Sign Up and Volunteer Job Listing pages (VolunteersSignUp and VolunteersJobListing), by default they create a new Lead (VolunteersSignUp) or Contact (VolunteersJobListing) record for every new signup. To prevent duplicating volunteer records, you can edit a custom setting to require that Volunteers for Salesforce try to match the volunteer with an existing Contact in Salesforce.

Note We recommend using the newer versions of the Volunteer Sign Up and Volunteer Job Listing pages instead (VolunteersSignUpFS and VolunteersJobListingFS.)

When the Signup Matches Existing Contacts custom setting is selected, V4S tries to match on First Name, Last Name, and Email. (The fields for matching are not editable.) If V4S can't find a match, it creates a new Lead record. You can have V4S create a Contact record instead by selecting the Signup Creates Contacts if no Match custom setting.

Customize Rules for Creating Contacts with Specific Record Types

If a volunteer signup can't be matched with an existing Contact, Volunteers for Salesforce creates a Contact record without a record type specified. If you require these newly created contacts to have a specific record type, such as Volunteer, customize one of the out-of-the-box Workflow Rules to automatically assign a record type.

1. From Setup, enter Workflow Rules in the Quick Find box, then select Workflow Rules.
2. Click Volunteer Signup - Contact.
3. In the Workflow Actions section, click Edit.
4. Click Add Workflow Action, and then select New Field Update.
5. Give the action a name, such as Set Volunteer Record Type.
6. Review the Unique Name that's automatically filled in for you.
7. In Field to Update, choose Contact Record Type.
8. In the Specify a New Field Value section, specify your desired Contact record type.
9. Save your changes.
10. Click Done.
11. Back on the Workflow Rule detail page, make sure your rule is Active. If not, click Activate.

Specify the Account Name for Automatically Created Contacts

Contacts that are automatically created from volunteer signups have an associated Account that's also created automatically.

• If you're using the Nonprofit Success Pack with the Individual Bucket account model, set up V4S to assign an Account name that accommodates NPSP. (For users of the Household account model and One-to-One Individual model, the default custom setting is blank and should remain so.)

• If you're not using the Nonprofit Success Pack, set up V4S to assign an Account name.

As an Admin, you can allow your volunteers to update their contact information on your site pages. Here's how:

1. From Setup, enter Custom Settings in the Quick Find box, then select Custom Settings.
2. Click Manage next to the "Volunteers Settings" Custom Settings.
3. If Custom Settings have not been set, click New. If Custom Settings have been set, click Edit.
4. In the Signup Bucket Account On Create field, enter the name of an existing Account (it must be unique).
5. Save your changes.