A volunteer schedule works when every assignment has exactly one named person, everyone can see which assignments are still empty, and the organizer confirms the week before. Schedules fail when assignments are vague (“help with setup”), shared by “everyone,” or hidden in one person’s head. Here is a simple way to build one that holds up week after week.
Step 1: Write down every assignment, per event
Walk through the event in your head from arrival to lock-up and write down each assignment: open the building, set up chairs, run the welcome table, make coffee, lead the warm-up, pack the equipment, lock up. Name each assignment by what it is, not by who usually does it.
Step 2: One assignment, one person
An assignment given to two people is an assignment each of them assumes the other has done. Give every assignment a single owner. If an assignment really needs several people, split it — “set up chairs, left side” and “set up chairs, right side.”
Step 3: Make the gaps visible
The most useful view of a schedule is the list of assignments nobody has taken yet. Keep unassigned assignments in their own column where everyone can see them, so a willing volunteer can pick one up without being asked. A board with three columns — unassigned, assigned, done — is easier to read than any spreadsheet.
Step 4: Confirm the week before
- Seven days out: look at the unassigned column and ask specific people for specific assignments.
- Two or three days out: send a short reminder to everyone with an assignment.
- On the day: tick assignments done, so next week’s organizer can see what actually happened.
Step 5: Spread the load
Volunteers burn out when the same five people do everything. Once a month, look at who has done the most assignments and who has done none. Ask the quiet ones directly — a specific, small, one-off assignment is the easiest yes.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Vague assignments like “help out” that nobody can tell are done.
- Shared assignments with no single owner.
- Keeping the schedule where only the organizer can see the gaps.
- Reminding only on the day, when it is too late to find a replacement.
Log volunteer hours
When an assignment is done, log the hours against the person who did it. On the Schedule page, a finished assignment shows “Log volunteer hours”: enter the hours — a quarter of an hour at a time, up to a full day — and it is recorded against that person for that event. Hours also show as one line each in the person’s Care timeline, and the Reports page adds them up per person, so you can see who has put in the most time without keeping a separate sheet.
Swap requests
When a volunteer declines an assignment through their reply link, they can ask for a swap instead of just saying no. The assignment card then shows a “Swap requested” badge, so you know at a glance that the assignment needs a new person rather than a chase-up. Open the card and use “Edit / swap person” to give the assignment to someone else.
Doing this in Kanbei
Kanbei’s Schedule shows assignments as unassigned, assigned, confirmed and done, so the gaps are visible. Each assignment has a private link the volunteer uses to accept or decline, with no account, and to add the days they are away; Kanbei warns you if you book someone on a day they marked as away, and “Fill open jobs” skips them. “Fill open jobs” assigns empty upcoming assignments, taking turns fairly, and an event can email a reminder (with the accept or decline link) to everyone on its schedule before it starts, through your own email account. It costs $20 a month, plus applicable taxes, for the whole organization, with unlimited members and admins. The demo includes a sample board with a declined assignment and an away date.