Volunteer Scheduling That Fills Itself

Here's how to set up a duty roster in FaithfullyGiving. As a church admin, open Church, then Duty Management. Everything lives on these tabs: duties, templates, schedules, assignments, swaps, and coverage.

Start with the duty itself. On Manage Duties, click Create Duty. Give it a name, like Ushers, a short description, how many people it needs each time, where they serve, and how often it happens.

Click Create, and Ushers joins your list of duties.

Next, a template tells the system when the duty happens. On the Templates tab, click Create Template. Name it, choose a weekly pattern and the service it belongs to, then add the duty and how many people it needs. Options like auto balance and avoiding back-to-back weeks keep things fair, and volunteers get a reminder a couple of days before.

Your template is ready to use again and again.

Now build the schedule. On Schedules, click Generate Schedule, pick the template and the dates, and click Preview to see every Sunday and how many ushers each one needs. Leave auto-publish off for now, so nobody is notified until the slots are filled.

Click Generate. The schedule is saved as a draft, with eight open slots.

Open the Assignments tab and filter by the duty. Each open slot shows as Unassigned. Click it to choose a volunteer.

First, a member who has an account. Start typing their name, pick them from the list, and click Assign. Because they have an account, they're notified, can accept or request a swap, and see it under My Duties.

If that person is already serving somewhere else at the same time, you're warned before you double-book them.

Here, both slots for the eleventh are filled by members with accounts.

Not everyone who serves uses the app, and that's fine. To add someone without an account, go to Directory, choose Add People, then Add a Person. Enter their name, and a phone or email if you like, and uncheck Create User Account. No login is created, and no invitation is sent.

They're now in your church directory.

Back on Assignments, search for them. People without an account are marked no account, and once selected, you're reminded they won't get notifications, so you'll let them know yourself.

You can even assign someone who isn't in the directory at all. Just type their name and choose the as-typed option. It's marked not in directory, and works the same way.

Now members and non-members serve side by side on the same roster.

When you're ready, go back to Schedules and click Publish. Members with accounts are notified of their assignments, and the schedule is locked in.

The Coverage tab shows any slots still open over the next two months, with a Fill button for each.

For volunteers who don't use the app, click Print Roster on the Assignments tab and generate it. Everyone appears, with or without an account. Print it, save it as a PDF for the bulletin board, download a spreadsheet, or email it to your volunteers.

And members can open My Duties, then Sign Up, to tell you which duties they're willing to serve. Auto-assign uses those preferences to fill your next schedule. That's your duty roster, ready for everyone who serves.