A user group is a tool for grouping volunteers and their hours under a single "umbrella." User groups make it easy for organizations and other groups to track hours submitted for their group. A user group may be a company, club, church, or other organization whose members volunteer as agents of their larger group. It can also be a group of selected volunteers who have expertise or training in an area (for example, volunteers who are veterinarians or who are qualified to prepare tax returns). When a user group member logs their volunteer hours, they have the option of selecting one or more user groups to which they belong. You can then see the impact your various groups are having on the community!
As a site manager, you can:
- Create, edit, and deactivate user groups
- Add or remove user group members
- Assign needs privately to one or more selected user groups.
- View a variety of useful reports and data exports for user groups
- Require that users associate their volunteer hours with at least one user group, as applicable
Here are a few resources for learning more about user groups:
- Setting Up User Groups for Court-Ordered Community Service - Provides the steps, with links to instructions, for setting up a user group for those doing court-mandated community service
- Guide to Volunteer Groups - Explains how user groups and teams are different
- A Volunteer's Guide to User Groups - Guide for volunteers who are in user groups
- User Groups: Volunteer FAQs - FAQs for volunteers
In addition, here are a couple of fun infographics on user groups!