Take in a new volunteer

Write down what someone said when they offered to serve, place them in an area, and keep their serving page up to date.

When someone says they'd like to serve, the office takes them in: who they are, what they said, and, if it's clear, where they go. Anyone not placed yet waits on a list until someone places them. Taking people in is for the office: admins, staff and the Serving role.

Take someone in

Open Serving, then Volunteers.
Press Take someone in.
Under Who, find them by name or email. If they aren't in Trellis yet, press Not on the people list yet and give their name, email and phone. Trellis adds them to the people list.
Under What they said, fill in what you know: Interested in, Availability, Skills, background, How they came to us and Notes for the office.
Under Place them now, tick an area if it's already clear. Leave them all unticked to place them later.
Press Take them in.

Placed in an area, they're on its roster and count as serving. Not placed, they wait under Waiting to be placed.

Ask Silas where they fit

If Silas is on for your church, Ask Silas where they fit reads their interests, availability and skills, not your notes, and suggests up to three areas, each with a short reason. A dashed label means he's guessing from their skills. On the intake form, his picks come ticked; untick any you don't want before you press Take them in. Nothing is placed until you do. See What Silas does.

Take many in at once

For a sign-up sheet or a team that's been serving for years:

On Volunteers, press Take many in.
Tick each person. Search narrows the list; Tick all shown ticks everyone in it. People already on the volunteer list are hidden unless you tick Show people already on the volunteer list.
Under Place them in, pick one area, or leave it on "Nowhere yet" so they wait to be placed.
Under How they came in, write where they came from, like "Sign-up sheet".
Press the button, which says how many you ticked: Take 6 in.

Nobody is emailed. People already on the list aren't added twice.

Place everyone waiting with Silas

When two or more people are waiting and Silas is on for your church, the office sees Place with Silas beside Waiting to be placed on Volunteers. It opens Place everyone waiting: Silas reads what each person said and matches them to the areas short of people in the next 4 weeks. The chips at the top show how short each area is.

Check each person. Their own words are under their name, and the line under the area says why Silas picked it. Silas is guessing means he isn't sure, and matched them from their skills or tone.
Change the area if it's wrong, or untick Place to leave them waiting.
Under Left for you are the people Silas couldn't place, because they didn't say or nothing they said fits an area. Choose an area for anyone you can place, and their tick goes on.
Press Place 6 people. The button says how many you ticked.

They join each roster in training, and nobody is emailed. You land back on Volunteers, which says how many were placed and how many are still waiting.

Silas reads up to 40 people at a time, oldest sign-up first. With more waiting, the page says how many more there are; place these, then open it again for the next ones.

Place someone who's waiting

On Serving's This week page or on Volunteers, press Place them beside their name.
Under Serves in, press the square beside an area. They're on its roster straight away, and its director sees them.

Press the square again to take them off that area.

Being on a roster is what makes someone Serving, from the moment they're placed, unless they're taking a break; how many times they've served doesn't matter. Off their last area, they go back to Interested, unless they're taking a break or stopped.

Keep their serving page

Each volunteer has a page. The office can change:

Status: Interested, Onboarding, Serving, Taking a break or Stopped. Someone on a roster can't be set to Interested.
Interested in, Availability and Skills, background.
Background check cleared and First served, as dates.
Notes for the office.

Press Save. The page also lists their Schedule: every day they were asked for and how they answered. Person record opens their full record in People.

Remove [name] from serving, then Remove them, takes them off every roster and the volunteer list. Their person record stays.

A director can open a volunteer's page to read what they said, and place them in or take them off the director's own areas. Only the office changes the rest.

When people offer through Trellis

A person who signs in can offer to serve from Your serving with I'd like to serve. They land on Waiting to be placed, marked "Signed up", with the areas and times they gave. See How volunteers answer.

Still stuck? Ask Silas