Resources for Nonprofits Using our Volunteer Site & Frequently Asked Questions 

  • Our volunteer website is used to help organizations recruit volunteers by giving them a platform to post volunteer opportunities and events as well as to help match potential volunteers to opportunities they are interested in. Please review our FAQ's and Resources to become familiar with the site. Feel free to reach out to volunteers@uwkc.org if you have any questions. 
     
  • First steps: Before using the site, we recommend watching a pre-recorded training video or signing up for a live training led by our site's vendor, Galaxy Digital. The live training is done on a test site so the site and language may look slightly different but the steps for navigating the site will be the same. Here is a document that outlines how to post opportunities/needs on the site.  
     
  • Website Terminology: Please note that our website uses different terms than our vendor, Galaxy Digital, but they have the same meaning. Here is a list of our language override glossary: 

Galaxy Digital’s Terms 

United Way’s Terms 

Need, Needs 

Opportunity, Opportunities 

Event, Events 

Community Event, Community Events 

Agency, Agencies 

Organization, Organizations 

Fan, Fans, Fanned 

Follower, Followers, Followed 

Interest, Interest 

Activity, Activities 

Cause, Causes 

Focus Area, Focus Areas 

Team, Teams 

Group, Groups 

Advanced Events 

United Way Events 

General FAQs:  

  • Q: Do you have Terms and Conditions?  
    • A: Yes, click here to read! 
  • Q: Is there a document that shows the steps to navigate the system? 
    • A: Yes! Click here. This document outlines the steps for signing up, listing volunteer opportunities, tracking volunteer hours, and posting community events. Additionally, it offers instructional videos and provides contact information for technical support with our vendor and team. 
  • Q: What is the sign up process to join United Way’s Volunteer Website? 
    • A: Click here to sign up. It should take no more than 10 minutes provided you have all the information listed below available. 
    • Employer Identification Number (EIN) – if you don’t know your EIN, check Guidestar. 
    • Your organization’s primary contact info 
    • Your organization’s address 
    • Your organization's mission statement 
    • A brief description of what your organization does and your priority programs 
    • Once you have created your organization account you can begin to post listings with us! We will review your profile and listing and either approve it as is or contact you if we have questions. 
  • Q: What should we do if we are an organization with multiple sites and different volunteer management staff? 
    • A: If your volunteer management is centralized, it is easiest to list all your opportunities under one organization and add multiple organization managers to your profile (ex: Boys and Girls Club is the organization and all branches post through this one account). Each manager can post opportunities using their site’s address. 
    • If your sites are decentralized, you may find it easier to create multiple organization accounts so the volunteer managers at each site can be the organization manager for that site. However, you’ll be better able to track that all your locations are in the system if you list your parent organization at the beginning of your organization name for sorting and searching purposes (ex: YMCA: Accelerator is one organization account, YMCA: Earth Service Corps is another organization account, etc.). Please contact volunteers@uwkc.org if you have specific questions about this or would like advice on how your organization should be set up. 
  • Q: Can an organization enter multiple Facebook pages on their organization profile?  
    • A: Not at this time. Currently, you can only enter a single URL for Facebook and a single URL for Twitter. 
  • Q: Is there a way to send notifications to volunteers via text?  
    • A: Not at this time. 
  • Q: From a volunteer’s perspective – what does following an organization mean? 
    • A: Volunteers can choose to become a follower of your organization. The organizations that they choose to follow will show up on their dashboard and populate suggested volunteer opportunities based on who they are following and the activities they have selected. 
  • Q: Can you simply ‘follow’ an opportunity vs. an entire organization?  
    • A: The organization only.  
  • Q: What will happen if I select more than 3 Focus Areas? Will it make the volunteer search less effective?  
    • A: Focus Areas are either/or, not “and”. The volunteer will still be able to match a focus area just as effectively as if the organization selects 1 or 5 focus areas. 

Opportunity and Community Event FAQs:

  • Q: What is the difference between “Community Events” and “Opportunities”? 
    • A: A Community Event is used when you want people to attend (not volunteer at) an event such as a fundraiser, walk-a-thon, community meeting, training, etc. An Opportunity is when you are recruiting volunteers to do a specific activity. Opportunities can be listed as ongoing, date specific, or shifts. Events may need volunteers – in which case you would list as an opportunity and link to each other. 
  • Q: How do I post an opportunity? 
    • A: Here is an article that explains how to post opportunities or events.
    Q: How do I view volunteer responses? 
  • Q: Do I get notified when someone has responded to my opportunity? 
    • A: Yes, you will get an email from no-reply@galaxydigital.com when a volunteer has responded to your opportunity. Then you can log in to your profile to see the details. You will also receive an in-app message. Please update your email settings to make sure that no-reply@galaxydigital.com is not going to your junk mail, so you receive future communication from our site. 
  • Q: Can I add links to an application or registration platform within my opportunity description? 
    • A: You cannot add links in the description of your opportunity that lead to other registration forms. The way we measure how effective our website is for our nonprofit partners is by tracking the referrals that come through the site. The referrals are created when a potential volunteer clicks the respond button on your opportunity page. When a volunteer responds through the site, you will get an email from no-reply@galaxydigital.com (make sure this is not going to your junk mail) and will be able to log in to your account and manage volunteers that have responded as well as easily communicate with them directly through our tool. All their information lives in your organization’s profile and can be exported. 
  • Q: Can I link the opportunities I post on United Way’s website to my organization’s website? 
    • A: Yes! To find the link, log into your organization profile, click on the opportunity tab and select the opportunity you would like to link, then scroll down to “Opportunity Links” and copy and paste the link to be used on your website, newsletter, emails, etc. 
  • Q: How do I bump up my opportunity listing to the top of the page? 
    • A: Our site ranks volunteer listings that have been created or updated more recently than those that have not been modified in a while. To help your listing rise to the top of volunteer searches, make sure to update them frequently (once a week or once every two weeks) by clicking on the blue update opportunity button. Recently updated listings are also highlighted on the landing page that volunteers see.
  • Q: How do I use keywords to get my opportunity listing noticed? 
    • A: Often, when a volunteer conducts a search on the volunteer site, they type a keyword into the search box related to the type of opportunity they are looking for. When you write your volunteer listings, think about what terms someone might use to search for it and include those words in the title and/or description of your listing. 
  • Q: Can we post unlimited opportunities or events?  
    • A: You may post as many opportunities and events as you have; no limit. You have unlimited characters for descriptions; however, we recommend keeping it short and to the point, especially for mobile users. 
  • Q: When a volunteer uses the location to search for opportunities, if my organization has alternate sites where the opportunity can take place, will it know the organization spans a greater area than just my headquarters?  
    • A: The system cannot recognize additional locations unless opportunities are posted for them. The best suggestion is that if an opportunity spans multiple locations, use the “Clone Opportunity” feature and create opportunities for those specific areas you are targeting. 
  • Q: Can volunteers search for family or group opportunities?  
    • A: Yes! Volunteers can search for group and family friendly opportunities. 
  • Q: Is there a way for court ordered volunteers to only see court ordered volunteer opportunities?   
    • A: Yes, they can filter by clusters. Clusters are how we group opportunities together. Simply select the court ordered cluster within your opportunity and it will show up when a volunteer is searching for opportunities that accept court ordered volunteers. A volunteer can search for this by going to Keyword and searching for “court ordered”. 
  • Q: Can we add more than one waiver?  
    • A: No, however you can attach one document with multiple pages and forms. The volunteer will need to print out and return to you. 
  • Q: Can you add a photo to an opportunity or event?  
    • A: Yes! Just use the text editor's "Insert/Edit Image" icon. 
  • Q When posting a community event can they make the event exclusive/only invite a particular audience or set of people vs. making public to the ENTIRE site?  
    • A: No-Anything posted as an event will be visible to the entire site. 

Links to Get you Started: