We previously ran volunteers in a web service called 'VolunteerHub'. We moved over to managing them in Marcato in 2018. The decision was based on the fact that VolunteerHub changed their charging model so we had to pay for a full year rather than by the month, and we were already paying for Marcato, which included a volunteer module. At the same time, Marcato database had got much, much faster…in an earlier trial it had proved impossible to work with.
Some of the great functions of VolunteerHub have unfortunately been lost, chiefly the ability of volunteers to select their own shifts (and therefore be generally happier with the times). However, an online system allows too much flexibility - people learned how to to cancel and rebook in a new area, or across several areas, with better shift times. We don't like that! It's a bit disappointing for some area managers who really liked the VolunteerHub system. However, the upside has been great - if a little invisible to area managers. We previously had to do all volunteer ticketing over the phone with manual EFTPOS payments. With Marcato, we can now take payments for tickets via an online portal. This process isn't as nice for some volunteers, but it makes things a lot easier for the organization. Overall, the move to Marcato has been positive for the festival because of the economic benefits.
1. To list all volunteers who have applied in your area and email them or contact individuals. Watch the YouTube list volunteers tutorial
2. To roster volunteers in the Marcato scheduler Watch the YouTube scheduling tutorial
We have changed a setting on the back-end so that all area managers will automatically see ALL volunteers in the system. In 2019 this was frustrating for many area managers! We had a setting selected where most users could only view volunteers who had a “volunteer type” applied to them. However, we needed to strip all the 2018 volunteer type data so we could count how many volunteers had applied for each area! So previous volunteers were only visible if they had a type applied to them - either by Gareth or by filling in a form. It was a really frustrating system - but we needed to do it that way to ensure we didn't oversubscribe. Thankfully in 2020 we've discovered we can change the setting – so we have made it so all area managers can see all volunteers!1) If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask Gareth or Maisie.
See more info on volunteer types and teams.
See the page below on how to deal with any u18 volunteers in your team:
To solve those curly questions of how many hours a volunteer needs to work in a combination of pre-fest, on-event and/or post-festival time we now have a Volunteer Points Calculator. points_calculator_for_ff_volunteers_released_to_wiki.pdf
If you need to check with someone whether a volunteer qualifies for free camping, you can comment on the volunteer's profile to ask Gareth directly.
Below are various notes from Gareth made in 2019. Watch this space as we update these notes for 2020. If you need to know something and can't see it here, PLEASE just email us or use the Request Form. We are trying to get these details online as quickly as possible and want to make sure you have the documentation that you need!
Volunteers are fundamentally split into TYPES in Marcato. TEAMS are used to show who worked in an area in previous years.
In the top line of the database filter select Show ‘Active’ and ‘Approved’ volunteers… On Line 2, of ‘Pre-Fest work : Street Team promotion’ type on ‘any’ team…
NOT …on ‘Street Team’ team!
Hi Ros, I have uploaded the accept and decline emails. Nowhere to put the “Reserve Accept” text…I suggest you email these two people directly with a version of this text to follow their Acceptance through Marcato.
As a reminder, what you need to do now is:
A volunteer does receive the payment link when their credentials are approved.
To ensure we’re all doing the same thing, can we please ensure that we update records in the same way:
Pull up the volunteer name and click on the pencil icon next to their name to Edit.
5. This info goes into the Comments tab under ’Add a comment’. Check the list of people that need to see this info in the ‘Who’s receiving email updates?’ list on the right. This makes the commentary much easier to find later on and keeps it all together 6. ‘Notes’ on their details page are what the volunteer has written when they apply. Don’t add more in that field – is not easy to see 7. Remember their ‘History’ page is the gospel for the interaction we have had with the volunteer – what they have received and when
8. Please search for the name and check there’s not a duplicate. If there is, you can delete it but be very careful…make sure all the details including relevant tags (e.g. volunteered 2019') are transferred onto the record to be kept
9. Great idea! Well done Jess and El for doing this last year 10. Write this into the ‘Performance Evaluation’ field on their ‘Detail’ page
If a volunteer withdraws there is a process for cancelling them – How to Cancel a Volunteer
Kristin said she had volunteers registered that she didn't want to use due to issues last year. How does she complete her roster?
1. Pull up the vollie's profile page in Marcato, click on the Edit icon next to their name, and make a short note under ‘Performance Evaluation’ as to what you think’s wrong with them and why you don’t want to use them. If you think they could be good in another area, note this down. For example: “Friendly and willing but unable to stand or work fast enough for the required time to work in the shop”.
2. If you think that someone was truly awful and shouldn’t be let back as a volunteer to do any job, give the names and reasoning to Gareth to decide.
3. In principle, Marcato only allows the number of people to signup who are required in each area. So there should be no ‘spare’ people. There’s also no easy way in Marcato of searching for people who aren’t rostered yet, or don't have enough hours…you need to run a report
4. It’s always worth checking as you’re rostering that someone doesn’t already have shifts allocated in another area. A quick check on the ‘Itinerary’ tab in their profile will show this. People can – and do- submit multiple applications and may update their desired work area
5. For now, use the team of people who have signed up for ‘Volunteer Topup’ as an initial resource to pick from. If using someone from this pool, please change their volunteer type from Volunteer Topup to your selected area in their profile. That means the counter for the number of people in that team will go down and the positions will automatically be readvertised. Topup people are rostered on specific shifts, but I haven’t done it yet
6. If still short, then we have just opened a ‘Waitlisted’ volunteer type which will form an unallocated pool of people. It’s currently empty, but will slowly fill over the coming days
Blacklisting volunteers - http://marcato.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/11000069507-blacklisting-volunteers
Volunteer Types - http://marcato.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/11000067372-volunteer-types
Volunteer TYPES are public (as in, volunteers can self-select their type via public forms) whereas volunteer TEAMS are only accessible internally.