This article applies to all Connect site administrators.

Site Managers can create special labels, or tags, that agency/program managers can apply to their own agencies and needs. These special labels, called clusters, are a level of categorization beyond the 32 available interests (skills) and causes. With clusters, site managers can feature agencies/programs and needs that meet criteria not specified in the standard interests and causes.

Note: When searching for needs and agencies/programs, volunteers can filter by cluster name by selecting the Phrase filter and entering the name.

This article covers the following topics:

Cluster Language Override

If you want to use a term other than cluster, you can request to have "cluster" overridden on your site by a term of your choice. Contact our Customer Care team to make a request.

Clusters: Agency/Program Manager's Perspective

Before looking at how clusters operate from a Site Manager standpoint, it might help to see what clusters look like to an agency or program manager.

Agency/Program Profile

If agency clusters have been added in the manager panel, then a Clusters dropdown will be visible in the agency/program manager's profile-editing area, right after the Interest & Abilities field.

An agency or program may select one or more options from the Clusters dropdown.

Need Postings

A Clusters dropdown is also available in the needs-posting area, right after Interests & Abilities. An agency or program manager may select one or more options from the Clusters dropdown.

Adding Clusters

The items in each Clusters dropdown are established in the site manager panel. To add a cluster:

  1. From your Manager Panel, go to Volunteerism > Agencies (or Volunteerism > Programs, for Community Connect) to add an agency cluster, or to Volunteerism > Needs (or Volunteerism > Opportunities, for Community Connect) to add a need cluster.
  2. Click the applicable Clusters item.
  3. Enter a cluster name, and then click Add New Clusterto add it.

    Note: A cluster name should consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both. It can include spaces but should not include special characters such as ampersands (&) and hashtags (#).

  4. Repeat the process for additional clusters. Added clusters will be shown in the Clusters table.

Note that you can see how many active agencies/programs (or needs/opportunities) have been assigned a particular cluster.

Deleting a Cluster

To delete a cluster:

  1. From your site manager panel, go to Volunteerism > Agencies or to Volunteerism > Needs, as applicable.
  2. Click delete in the row of the cluster to delete.

Note: Once you have deleted the cluster, it will no longer be assigned to any need or agency. Any links associated with the delete cluster will no longer work. 

Sharing Clustered Items

Once you've established your clusters and agencies/programs have selected them, you can share agencies or needs that share the same cluster. These can be shared on the Dashboard via spotlights or the image rotator. Alternately, you can share links to clustered items via social media, newsletters, and email.

To share clustered items:

  1. From your site manager panel, go to the applicable area under Volunteerism. Note that each cluster has an associated number, as applicable, showing how many active agencies or needs are part of that cluster.
  2. Click on the number for the cluster you wish to share. A new page shows only those agencies or needs that are associated with the cluster.
  3. Copy the link from the address bar onto your clipboard.

Once you have that link, you can paste it into your social media posts, newsletter, email blast, etc.