With Volunteer Check-in, volunteers can easily check into and out of their volunteer opportunities. Volunteer hours are automatically submitted based on check-in and check-out times.

There are two types of volunteer check-in:

  • Check-in Kiosk: Volunteers check in on their own using a device (such as a tablet) that you provide at the site of the volunteer work.
  • Self Check-in: By clicking a link in an email or going to the Need Responses area of their profile, volunteers access options for checking in, and can later access options for checking out. Volunteers can also schedule their check-in and check-out times in advance as needed. This option is only available for shift needs.
  • Agency Check-in: Volunteers check in and out using a device (tablet, laptop, etc.) provided by your agency at the site of the volunteer work. This option is available for all needs, including advanced-events needs.

This article focuses on how to use the check-in feature available to agency managers. For more information on how the self check-in works, click here. For more on the Kiosk, click here.

Note: Agency check-in is available for both regular and advanced-event needs. Self-check-in applies for shift needs only. It is not available for Ongoing, Runs Until, Multi-date, or Happens On needs (including advanced-event needs).

Managing Volunteer Check-in: Agency Tool

With your agency's Volunteer Check-in tool:

  • Volunteers can electronically "check in" when they arrive at the site of a volunteer opportunity.
  • Agency managers can electronically check volunteers in as needed.
  • When a volunteer "checks out" of the opportunity, your Connect site automatically assigns and approves the volunteer hours to that volunteer.
  • If the volunteer forgets to "check out," the system still assigns and approves volunteer hours based on the number of hours specified previously by the agency manager.
  • Volunteers who did not previously respond to the need must agree to the waiver (if one was attached to the need) when checking in. Click here to learn more about adding a waiver when posting a need.

Note: With Volunteer Check-in, there is no need for the volunteer to manually log their hours and no need for the agency manager to later approve them. It's all done automatically!

Accessing Volunteer Check-in

To access Volunteer Check-In:

  1. Log into your Connect site and click My Agency to open your agency management area.
  2. If you manage more than one agency, select the applicable agency from the options provided.
  3. Click Check-in from the agency management toolbar.

You will now see all of the active needs posted by your agency.

Selecting A Need for Check-in

Needs appear in two formats, depending on whether a duration (the number of hours) has been specified for the need.

  • Needs with a duration - If the posted need has a specified duration, the need is ready for check-in. You can click Individual to check volunteers in one at a time, or List to check them in in bulk.
  • Needs with no duration - If no hours have been specified for a need, you must provide the number of hours in order to activate check-in. Type a number into the Hours Needed text box and click Add. The screen will update to display the Individual and List options for the need.

Note: If you will be using Volunteer Check-in for multiple needs at the same time, you can right-click the Individual or List button as applicable to open the sign-in pages in new tabs.

Individual View

Individual view is ideal for signing volunteers in one at a time. You should use this view if you expect to check in volunteers who have not yet signed up for the need.

To access this view, click Individual. For shift needs, you'll need to select the shift first.

Note: Because this setup is ideal for volunteers to check themselves in, your utility bar, navigation menu, and other Connect features available for agency managers are not visible on this page.

Once on the individual check-in page, you (or the volunteer) should type the volunteer's email address and then click Find My Account. When your Connect system pulls up the account, you may see options, as applicable, to answer questions or select a user group prior to clicking to check in.

Once the volunteer has checked in, you'll see a confirmation and can proceed to check in the next volunteer.

Checking In Volunteers without a Need Response

A volunteer does not need to have an existing response to the need in order to check in to the need.

If your Connect system does not recognize the email - If an email address is not associated with a registered account, the volunteer will be taken to a screen where they can enter their first and last name to open an account. Once they've registered, they'll be able to check in. They'll also receive an email welcoming them to the site.

If the need includes a waiver - If volunteers were required to agree to a waiver when signing up for the need, the waiver check will be displayed at check-in for those volunteers who haven't yet responded to the need.

List View

Click List to view a list of volunteers who have responded to the selected need.

Note: For shift needs, you'll need to select the shift first.

When you're ready to check the volunteers in, mark the check box next to each name (or mark the top check box to select all) and click Check In Users. Once the volunteers are checked in, the Checked In column entries change from No to Yes.

Viewing Checked-in Volunteers

While the List view shows who is checked in, the Checked In Now section of your agency management area provides that information and more.

Not only does the table show when the volunteer checked in, but it also shows:

  • Whether they checked in using the agency check-in tool (/agency/check in above) or the self-check-in tool (/home/check in above).
  • Whose account was used to check them in. In the first two rows above, the agency check-in tool was opened from agency manager Annelise Ferry's account. In the third row, Hannah Keough logged into her own account and checked in from there.

In addition, you can easily access the Check-Out option when the volunteer is ready to check out.

Note: If the volunteer does not check out, they will remain in the Checked In Now table until 11:59 PM of the day they checked in. The system attributes the default number of hours for the need or shift to a volunteer who does not check out after checking in.

Checking a Volunteer Out of a Need

When volunteers are ready to check out, they can use their self check-out tool, or you can check them out using your agency check-out tool. The steps you take to access the check-out feature depend on where you are in your agency management area.

There are two ways that you can check a volunteer out from a need:

These two options have different benefits:

  • With the Individual view, volunteers can easily check themselves out, and their check-out times are recorded the moment they check out. With this option, volunteers cannot see the names or email addresses of the other volunteers.
  • In the Checked In Now section, you have the option of customizing the check-out time as needed. This option shows information for all checked-in volunteers at once.

Regardless of which method you use, the volunteer's hours will be calculated accordingly.

Note: Hours are calculated for the volunteer based on their check-in and check-out times. If the volunteer is not checked out of the need, they will be given credit for the full shift. All hours calculated from the agency's volunteer check-in tool will be approved automatically.

Using the Individual View to Check Out

If you used the individual view to check volunteers in, you may still have that view displayed when it's time to check people out. If that's the case, go to Step 2 of the following procedure.

To check out a volunteer (or to have volunteers check themselves out) using the individual view:

  1. Go to the Check-insection of your agency management area, where you'll see your agency's active needs displayed.

    Note: Because this setup is ideal for volunteers to check themselves in, your utility bar, navigation menu, and other Connect features are not visible on this page.

  2. Click Individual under the applicable need.You will be taken to the check-in/check-out page for individuals.

    Note: For shift needs, you'll need to select the shift first.

  3. In the Email field that is displayed, type the email address of the volunteer you are checking out.
  4. Click Find My Account. If the person is already checked in, you'll see a button indicating that.
  5. Click the You've Already Checked In button.

Once the volunteer has been checked out, you'll see a confirmation message on that page.

Using the "Checked In Now" Area to Check Volunteers Out

The Checked In Now section of your agency management area includes a Check-Out column with options for checking volunteers out.

Options are as follows:

  • Check out with the shift end time - (Available for shift needs only) If you select this option, the system will automatically check the volunteer out at the time specified in the End column shown above.
  • Check out with a custom time - Select this option to specify the time that the volunteer should be checked out. This is the option to use if you want to check the volunteer out at the current time.

Viewing Hours Details

Once the volunteer has checked out, you can view their check-in and check-out times in the Active Need Hours table in the Stats section of your agency management area. 

You can also export this information into a spreadsheet. The export also shows the source of each check-in and check out (in other words, how they were checked in and out, and whose account was used).

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