Platform guide for event organisers with videos

I have already worked with Swiss Volunteers: 
If you have already worked with Swiss Volunteers, your event organisation already exists. If you have the role of "Event Organisation Administrator", you can manage the event organisation and create new events and order them for a fee. Under "Events" you can copy existing events or create a new event. After the creation process you have the possibility to order the event for a fee to be able to use it without restrictions.
If you do not have the rights of the "Event Organisation Administrator", contact the person with these rights, so that he assigns you the created event including the rights as "Event Administrator".

I have never worked with Swiss Volunteers before:
On the Swiss Volunteers platform, you can directly create your event organisation and your event. As soon as you have completed the creation process, your event organisation and your event will be created.
Important: After the event has been created, the platform can either be tested free of charge for 14 days or the event organisation administrator can order the event directly in the creation process or later under "Events" for a fee. Every created event is only available in the limited demo version until the final order and payment of the invoice amount. Additional persons can be added to the administration of the event in the menu item "User administration" and assigned the appropriate roles.

Edit billing address
By clicking on "Manage billing address" under the "Orders" menu, you can enter a different billing address for an event.

View orders/invoices
As "Event Organisation Administrator" you can view the invoices of your ordered events under "Orders". You have the possibility to download the receipt in PDF version. In this view you will also find the payment details and the access to the payment page, where you can settle outstanding amounts.

On the Swiss Volunteers platform, people can be assigned one or more roles. These can be seen at the top left and can be changed by clicking on the user name using the drop-down menu. The existing roles are described below in descending order:

EO Administrator
The Event Organisation Administrator has all the rights of an organisation to which the events are connected. He can create new events himself and order them with costs and assign roles. The EO administrator is defined during the registration process of the organisation. Additional EO administrators can be added to an organisation by adding a registered person or a newly created person under "Users".

Event Administrator
The Event Administrator manages events and has no influence on the parent organisation. Event administrators are assigned the role for the respective event by the EO administrator. Additional Event Administrators can be added to an organisation by adding a registered person or a newly created person under "Users".

Sector administrators*
A sector administrator sees in his role the volunteers who have been assigned to his sector, including their contact details. In addition, the sector administrator sees the allocations made in his sector and can export them as a list if required. The event administrator can assign the role of sector administrator to a registered person or a newly created person in the event under "User administration".

Helper Group Manager*
Helper Group Manager is the contact person in the run-up to an event for an individual group. He or she may be different from the group leader, who leads the group on-site. The group leader can manage his group as well as his volunteers and finally confirm the group so that the volunteers registered to the group are available to the event administrator for scheduling. The event administrator can assign a registered person or a newly created person with the role of the volunteer group manager in the event under "User administration".

* These roles are not mandatory for the execution of an event.

Differentiation between tasks and assignments
Tasks describe an activity (e.g.: entrance control) and are assigned to sectors or sub-sectors. Tasks allow an improved overview of the ongoing activities at the event. Assignments, on the other hand, describe the place and time of an activity (e.g.: Löwenplatz / Mon 31.03. 08.30 - 11.30). 

Important: The creation of assignments is mandatory, the creation of tasks is optional. We recommend to keep the event structure narrow for smaller events.

Tasks
Tasks function as a description of the activity and are associated with related assignments. The description of the task is not displayed in the registration form, but appears on the sector plans as soon as they are released. The times and locations are defined via the associated assignment. Tasks are not mandatory for the assignment planning, but allow the event organiser to have supplementary activity descriptions and a clear event structure.

Analogous to the sectors, the tasks are created under "Tasks" and, once created, can be assigned to sectors or copied.  In addition, specific requirements can be added here as well. For repetitive tasks, it is recommended to create a rotation and then copy and adjust it as desired.

The "Manage requirements" button can be used to store mandatory requirements and information for the respective task, which are not mandatory for the event organiser, but are relevant. This information will be requested from all volunteers during the registration process.

Assignments
The assignments are created under "Assignments". For the sake of clarity, it is advisable to designate the respective assignments specifically. Assignments can be assigned to a sector, a sub-sector or a task. For each assignment, a location can be entered to indicate to the volunteers where their assignment will take place.
Important: The number of volunteers is now no longer a planned value, but the actual number of volunteers required for the assignment.

The selection of "Single assignment" or "Create one assignment per day" determines whether only a single assignment is created or whether this assignment should be repeated on the following days.

There are two different types of assignments: "Registration form" and "Schedule line". The type "Registration form" is only for the registration (announcement on assignments) and allows the event administrator to announce on exact time slots. For allocation, these entries can be copied and the purpose of use can be adjusted. Assignments of the purpose "Allocation" are mandatory for the allocation and can also be created directly. An assignment of this type can either be attached to a sector or to a task (see in-depth assignment types).

Registered Volunteers
In the menu item "Registrations" you will find all registered volunteers with their personal information and registration data. The list can be sorted or filtered as desired. In addition, the columns can be shown or hidden as desired. The registration data selected by the volunteer (desired sectors and availabilities) can be called up via the button "Show registration data". In the "Manage availabilities" tab, the availabilities of the individual volunteers can be adjusted. The same applies to the remarks, which can also be adjusted by the event administrator. This should only be done at the explicit request of the volunteers. In case of changes, the affected persons will receive a notification through the platform. Furthermore, in the list "Registrations" in the column "Assigned" you can see whether a volunteer has already been assigned or not.

Communication with volunteers
All volunteers who have registered for the event are listed under "Registrations". By clicking on "Send confirmation", an automatic message with the following content is sent to the volunteers (see example). In the column "prov. confirmation sent" you can also see to which volunteer an automatic commitment has already been sent. The automatic message reads as follows:
Hello "First name volunteer"
You have registered for the following event: # Event / Name Event
This message is to confirm in advance that you will be at the event. More details will follow later - we look forward to your participation!
----
This is an automatically generated reply. Please do not reply to this email address.

By clicking on the "Send Message" button on the right side of the list, individual volunteers can be contacted via a system message. The volunteers will receive the message on their volunteer profile as well as via e-mail. If several or all volunteers are to be contacted, they can be selected at the top left of the list and written to (Cf Communication).

Deregistering volunteers
Under "Registration" and "Deregister" volunteers can be deregistered. There are several reasons for deregistration, e.g. if enough volunteers have already registered for the event. However, with the "deregister" function, excused or unexcused absences of volunteers can also be added. Therefore, the event administrator has three options to choose from when deregistering a volunteer:

1. Other reason (volunteer not needed, etc.): The volunteer is not needed or has logged off before confirming his/her assignments.
2. Excused absence: Volunteer signs out after confirming their assignments.
3. Unexcused absences: Unexcused absences include no-shows for no reason and leaving the event during an allocated assignment.

In case of a deregistration, the volunteers will be removed from the registration list and the assignments and (if already existing) the calculated assignment hours will be deleted automatically. Important: A deregistration cannot be reversed.

Handling surface of the assignment allocation
The volunteers who have registered for the event can be assigned to the previously created assignments of the type "Allocation" in the "Allocation" area.

By clicking on "Assign/Allocate", the user interface for assignment and allocation is opened. If necessary, already allocated volunteers as well as partial availability of volunteers can be displayed. 

Four windows with the following functions appear on the interface:

• The event structure (top left window) is an image of the previously stored sectors and tasks with the respective assignments attached. These can be expanded and collapsed as desired.
• By clicking on the respective level of the event structure, detailed information on the selected organisational level appears in the lower left window.
• Under "Assignments" (top right window) all volunteers registered for the event are listed. They are listed according to their desired sectors. The MQ (matching quota) corresponds to the value of how well a volunteer fits the respective assignment, according to the information provided during the registration process.
• By clicking on the volunteer, all relevant information about the volunteer (event history, absences) will appear in the lower right window.
  

Assignment and allocation of volunteers
The assignment and approval process takes place in three steps:

1. Assignment
With the selection of the respective sector, the volunteers who have indicated the selected sector as their wish appear first. By clicking on the boxes in front of the respective volunteers, the "Add" and "Remove" functions are activated. The volunteers can now be assigned to a sector, sub-sector or task. A volunteer can be assigned to several sectors, sub-sectors and tasks. Attention: The assignment does not correspond to a definitive allocation, but serves as an overview and is a prerequisite for the second step, the allocation.

2. Allocation 
The volunteers assigned in the first step can now be allocated to the assignments already created. The platform automatically indicates who cannot attend an assignment, who is already prevented by another assignment and who can be allocated an assignment. In the columns, various information such as the number of hours already assigned per volunteer, desired sectors and their priorities can be viewed. By clicking on the info button in the column "Personal info", detailed information about the volunteers can be viewed. Additional columns such as "Postcode" and "City" can also be displayed, e.g. if volunteers from the area would like to be allocated for an early assignment. Already allocated assignments of a volunteer are indicated via the info button as well as in the information field below. Once the allocation has been completed, the window can be closed. The volunteer does not yet see his assignments after they have been allocated. The completed allocations now appear under "Allocations" and can be removed again with "Delete allocation" if necessary.

3. Activate
To enable volunteers to view their allocated assignments in their profile, they must be activated. The menu item "Allocations" shows an overview list of all allocations. By clicking on the button "Activate allocations", the allocated assignments become accessible for the volunteer on his profile. He will also receive a system message on his profile. The schedule lines can be released individually or by mass command. After the allocations have been activated, the volunteer will be informed of any changes in his profile.

View profile picture of volunteers & download for accreditation purposes
The event administrator can view the profile picture under "Registrations" as well as in the placement window under the "Personal Info" of the volunteers. The event administrator can either download a single profile picture under "Volunteers" with the  access "Download profile picture" or select with the action "Download profile pictures" if he wants to download the profile picture only for the selected volunteers or for all volunteers. Individual images are downloaded as JPG files, multiple images are bundled in a ZIP file. If the  access "Download profile picture" is activated, the volunteer has stored a profile picture and if this is grayed out, no profile picture is available.

Proof of the communication measures carried out
After the event has been held, the event organiser must upload a corresponding proof via "Settings" under "Communication measures" for the respective communication measures via "Manage". For material communication measures such as banners, a corresponding image must be stored. Communication measures that cannot be documented will be charged to the organiser in the invoice.

Enter Volunteer Hours & Absences
After the event has taken place, the hours worked by all volunteers must be entered. All the hours calculated for each volunteer on the basis of the allocations are stored under "Hours". These can either be confirmed or adjusted accordingly via "Edit". The hours must be entered for all volunteers according to the hours worked.
If a volunteer has not completed his or her assignment or several assignments, the incorrectly calculated hours do not have to be manually set to 0. In these cases, the volunteers can be deregistered directly under "Registrations" by selecting the radio button "excused/ unexcused absence" (for details, see "Deregistering volunteers"). This absence will be saved in the volunteer profile and will be visible for event administrators in the future.

Final invoice
Once the proof of the communication measures and the volunteer hours have been fully recorded, Swiss Volunteers triggers the final invoice. The volunteers assigned and the communication measures carried out are checked and invoiced accordingly. As soon as the final invoice is ready, you will be informed by e-mail.

Removing user roles
The EO administrator can administer user roles in his organisation under "Users" and remove them if necessary. Especially for recurring or several simultaneously administered events on Swiss Volunteers, the EO administrator can manage the user roles after the event has been completed and remove people who no longer need access to the event as "event administrators". In this way, these persons only see the currently relevant roles in their personal profile.

Event administrator role: Create groups
Groups allow the event organiser to map clubs and organisations involved in the event. These can be created by the event organiser via the menu item "Helper groups" and the associated information can be stored. The group manager takes the role of the group administration, while the group leader is responsible for the group during the on-site operation. For groups with fictitious volunteer, a group leader (registered to the group) is mandatory. In principle, this can also be the same person as the group leader. A group can also be supplemented with payment details and address, should a credit note for the hours worked flow to the club or organisation after the event.

In the role of event administrator, volunteers who have already registered can be added to or removed from a group individually or collectively via the menu item "Volunteers". Thus, even after the opening, further groups can be created and equipped with registered volunteers.

Real and fictitious volunteers
The platform distinguishes between two types of volunteers. Real volunteers are persons who have a volunteer profile with Swiss Volunteers, can create one, and whose assignments can be assigned to a specific person. Fictitious volunteers are persons whose assignments cannot be allocated to specific persons. For example, an organisation that provides a number of people as volunteers, but it is not clear which people will actually perform the assignment.

We recommend working with real volunteers whenever possible. Direct communication via the platform is not possible with fictitious volunteers. The combination of real and fictitious volunteers in a group is up to the event organiser. It is possible for the group organiser to create fictitious volunteers.

Options for volunteer registrations for groups
A registration with group membership is possible either by sending specific group registration links or (if enabled by the event administrator) in the public registration. Prerequisite for both is that a group registration link has been created for the helper group! 

1. Registration via public registration
   For this purpose, the event administrator can select the checkbox "Allow registration to this helper group in the public registration" in the created helper group under "Edit" and "Group registration links". By activating this function and creating the login link for the group, a volunteer can select the corresponding group in the public login.
   
2. Registration via group-specific link
   In order for a volunteer to register for a group, they must register via the group-specific registration link. The event administrator creates this link under the menu item "Registration". The link is visible in the respective volunteer group under "Settings" and "Group registration links". The group administrator in turn then distributes the link among the potential volunteers of the club or organisation. The registration form for groups is basically the same as the general registration form, but can be customised by the event administrator when creating the registration link. When registering via a group registration link, the volunteer's group affiliation is stored in the background.

Role Group manager: Edit groups
If a group manager registers one or more helper groups, he/she receives an overview of all helper groups in the role "Group manager" under the menu item "Helper groups" and can manage them with the following  accesses:

• Confirm helper group (Attention: without confirmation, the registered group helpers will not appear under "Registrations" at the event administrator and thus cannot be assigned).
• Manage helper group: Show registration link, determine group leader, enter payment details and address.
• Overview of all group helpers: fictitious volunteers can be added and deleted here.

As the group manager, the individual groups can be edited at any time after their creation under "Manage helper groups". Here you can display the registration link, determine group leaders, enter payment details and address.

Each group must be confirmed by the group manager. Only after the confirmation, volunteers of a helper group can be allocated by the event administrator. Volunteer groups with fictitious volunteers must first define a group leader before the group can be confirmed. By clicking the gray checkmark on the right side, the respective group will be confirmed. 

Roles group manager / group leader / event administrator: View group assignments and assigned hours (before and after the event)
The released assignments of the helper group can be viewed and downloaded as an Excel list in the role of the "group manager" and "group leader" under "group assignments".

The event administrator and/or the group manager can see how many assignment hours are assigned per helper group (before the event) under "Helper groups" in the column "Assigned hours". Fictitious volunteers are also counted. In addition to the allocated hours before the event, the event administrator can also see how many hours have been completed per helper group (including fictitious volunteers) after the event has taken place under "Helper groups" in the "Confirmed hours" column.

General
The communication measures in favor of Swiss Volunteers enable the organiser to reduce the price of the basic amount by up to 70%. The measures are to be selected according to the specifications when ordering. The various communication measures are awarded points; the maximum of 100 points corresponds to a price reduction of 70%.

Administration
The communication measures of an event can be viewed and managed by the event administrator at any time via "Settings" under "Communication measures". The services to be provided and the communication measures to be approved by Swiss Volunteers are listed. Approval must be given before production/implementation and is mandatory. Communication measures that do not require approval can be implemented directly. All relevant information, examples and the associated downloads can be accessed via the Info button. At the end of an event, all completed communication measures are to be made available in this area via upload for the final invoice.

Adjustments
If communication measures cannot be implemented, this will be recorded accordingly in the final invoice and the price reduced when the event was recorded will be charged by the corresponding amount. If the organiser would like to implement other or additional communication measures, then he must contact the office via .

Communication with the volunteers before, during and after the event is essential for the volunteers' loyalty to the event. For this reason, the Swiss Volunteers platform offers various options for communicating directly with volunteers.

E-mail
Under the menu items "Registrations" and "Volunteers", any volunteers can be contacted individually or collectively via e-mail. If a message is to be sent to all registered volunteers, the first step is to adjust the "Results per page" so that all registrations are visible on one page. With a click in the upper left corner all are marked and with "Send message" the action is opened. This way, in the run-up to the event, the publication of the operational plans or even specific information can be pointed out. We recommend to maintain a regular and content mediating contact with the volunteers in the run-up to the respective event.

SMS
During the registration process, the SMS option can be activated for a flat fee of CHF 40.00 and a cost of CHF 0.05 per SMS. This allows the direct sending of messages to the selected volunteers. This is particularly useful around the event when selected volunteers need to be provided with specific information. The SMS function can be added to the order at a later date. To do this, the organiser must contact the Swiss Volunteers office via info@swissvolunteers.ch.