Once you’ve opened your Connect account, start making the most out of it by updating your user profile. Your profile page contains, at minimum, your basic contact information.
This article covers how to access and edit your profile information. You'll learn about the following:
- Your Profile Menu
- Updating Your Causes, Interests, and Fanned Agencies
- Sharing Your Accomplishments
- Editing Your Profile Picture and Other Profile Information
In addition, you'll find links for managing other areas through your profile menu, like My Teams, Qualifications, and Need Responses.
Note: Some organizations override the language used on their site. For example, some sites say agencies, while others say programs, and some sites say needs while others use opportunities.
Your Profile Menu
Your profile menu is located in the top right-hand corner of your Connect screen. To view it, click on your initials or your profile picture if you've already uploaded one. This menu is only available for logged-in volunteers:
The profile menu may have the following selections, which appear as applicable (for example, the User Groups selection only appears if you belong to a user group):
To use the table filter:
1. Click Table Filter, located just above the far right-hand column of a table.
2. Mark the boxes for the columns you wish to see and clear the boxes for the columns you wish to hide.
In this example, the volunteer has marked the User Group box, which caused the User Group column to appear—this column doesn’t appear by default:
Updating Your Causes, Interests, and Fanned Agencies
A site will recommend volunteer opportunities based on your favorite causes, volunteer interests, and community organizations. It does this in several ways:
It recommends opportunities for you in the "Suggested Needs" area of your volunteer dashboard.
It recommends agencies or programs for you on your volunteer dashboard.
It sends a weekly email with information about new opportunities you may be interested in (based on your selections) that were posted in the past week.
On some sites, you may also receive a special email updating you on your fanned agencies' or program’s new needs and events.
To enter or update your causes, interests, or fanned agencies:
1. From your profile menu, select View Profile.
2. Click the applicable Manage button (Manage Causes, Manage Interests, or Add Agencies) on the My Profile page.
3. On the page that follows, click on an item to select it. Once you've made a selection, a border with a heart icon will appear around the selection. In this example, "Arts and Culture" has been selected.
4. Click the Update button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.
ⓘ So you know:
- Some sites do not include causes.
- When clicking on a new agency to fan, you'll be taken to the agency's profile page to fan the agency.
Sharing Your Accomplishments
If your site uses benchmarks and awards badges based on your submitted volunteer hours, that information will show up on your My Profile page, under a Benchmarks heading.
While you cannot edit your benchmarks, you can share them on social media. To do so, click on a benchmark, and then select to share on Facebook or Twitter.
Once Facebook or Twitter opens, follow the instructions provided to share your accomplishment!
Editing Your Profile Picture and Other Profile Information
To edit your other profile information, click Edit Profile from your profile menu. If you're already in your profile, you can click the Edit Profile heading.
From here, you can edit the following types of information:
Your profile picture
Your password
Your basic information (including contact information, personal information, and favorite agency)
Your availability (days and times of day you are available to volunteer)
Your disaster profile (if applicable)
In addition, you can use this area for the following tasks:
Opt out of automated notifications
Indicate that you'd like to be contacted in the event of a disaster
Deactivate your Get Connected account
Note: Your site manager has the option to remove certain profile fields for all volunteers, which means your profile page may not feature all of the items listed.
Updating Your Profile Picture
To upload your picture (or replace a current picture), go to the Edit Profile area and click Upload Photo.
After selecting the photo, choose one of two options:
Crop the photo (if needed) and click Save Profile Photo.
If the photo doesn’t need to be cropped (i.e., if you want the photo displayed as is), click Skip Crop and Save.
Note: Only image files (e.g., .jpg, .png, or .gif) are accepted. The image should be at least 540 x 540 pixels. If it's larger, Get Connected adjusts the image to fit the space.
To remove an uploaded photo, click remove. Click Yes to confirm the removal.
Updating Your Password
If you’re logged into Get Connected and want to update your password:
Go to your Edit Profile area.
Complete the fields under the Change Password heading, entering your current password once and your new password twice.
Click Update Password.
ⓘ So you know:
- Passwords must be at least eight characters long and aren’t case-sensitive.
- Forgot your password? See Resetting Your Password to learn how to reset it.
Updating Your Contact and Personal Information
To update your contact and personal information in Get Connected:
Go to your Edit Profile area.
Under the Basic Information heading, edit the applicable fields. Most fields aren’t required by default, though your site manager may opt to require fields as needed.
Click Update Basic Information.
Adding a Favorite Agency
If your employer participates in a Dollars for Doers type of program, where your employer donates money to a nonprofit for each hour you volunteer there, select the nonprofit you wish to benefit. Please keep in mind:
- Adding a favorite agency isn’t the same thing as fanning an agency.
- If you wish to receive notifications about an agency's latest needs and events, you should fan the agency as explained here.
Once you’ve selected a favorite agency from the Favorite Agency dropdown, click Update Basic Information to add it to your profile.
Indicating Your Availability
Your availability information appears in the email that is sent to an agency when you respond to one of its needs. This data is helpful to agencies if you've responded to an ongoing need, or if they would like to reach out to volunteers who are available for a certain day. If you include your availability in your profile, you may be contacted by your site's manager if there are upcoming needs/opportunities and shifts scheduled for your available times. This may happen if not enough volunteers signed up for the shift.
To indicate your availability:
- Click on your initials or image in the menu bar and select Edit Profile.
- Scroll to the Availability area and check the boxes for the days and times that you're available to volunteer.
- Click Update Availability to save your changes.
- Check Morning if you are available for needs starting between 6 a.m. and noon.
- Check Afternoon for needs starting between noon and 6 p.m.
- Check Evening for needs that start after 6 p.m.
- Check Don’t schedule me for days that you aren’t available.
Note: If you're a student who has a new schedule each semester, or if you have a job where your shift schedule changes periodically, remember to update your volunteer availability accordingly.
Updating Your Disaster Profile
If your Get Connected site includes the ReDI System (for disaster response), you can provide important information for disaster response. The disaster response fields are part of your Edit Profile page. To access it:
Go to your Edit Profile area.
Complete the fields under the "Disaster Profile Information" heading. Fields are listed below.
Click Update Disaster Information.
Note: To indicate that you wish to be contacted in the event of a disaster, scroll to the Settings heading and turn on the option to be contacted. Remember to click Update Settings to save your changes.
Opting Out of Notifications
Automated notifications are triggered by various actions in Get Connected; for example, if you respond to a need/opportunity, then two emails are sent automatically:
You’ll get an email thanking you for responding to the need or opportunity
The agency or program manager will also get an email that informs them you have responded to the need or opportunity
If you don’t want to receive notifications, you can opt out. To opt-out of notifications:
Go to your Edit Profile area.
Scroll down to Data and Communication Settings.
Select Yes to receive notifications or No to opt out of notifications.
Click Update Settings to save your changes.
ⓘ So you know:
You can also turn off notifications from your email. When you receive an automated notification, the email will include a link to unsubscribe.
Opting out of notifications doesn’t prevent you from receiving the password reset email, should you need to reset your password.
When you register for a site, you’ll be required to affirmatively accept Galaxy Digital’s privacy policy and will also be asked to opt-in or out of email notifications there.
Important: If you're an agency manager, you shouldn't opt out of notifications unless there's another agency or program manager (either a primary or secondary) that's responsible for agency/program-manager emails.
Opting Out of Volunteer Scheduling
A manager on your site has the ability to schedule you for a shift if you’re available. If you don’t want a manager to schedule you for shifts on your behalf, you can opt-out of volunteer scheduling in the Data and Communication Settings area of your profile.
Deactivating Your Account
If you deactivate your profile, you’ll receive an email containing a link to your volunteer résumé so that you can have a record of your volunteer service.
To deactivate your Get Connected account:
Go to your Edit Profile area.
Scroll to the Deactivate Account heading.
Click Deactivate Account.
ⓘ So you know:
You can contact your site manager if you wish to reactivate your account.
If you deactivate your account, the option to anonymize your account will appear: