How volunteers answer

How a volunteer says yes or no to serving, by email with one tap or in Trellis, and how reminders go out before each day.

When a director or the office asks someone to serve, the volunteer answers yes or no. They can answer from the email, with no Trellis account, or in Trellis if they sign in. Their answer shows on the day's page straight away.

From the email

The moment someone is asked, they get an email asking "Can you serve?". Before the day, everyone who's on gets a reminder. Each email lists every seat they hold that day: the area, the position and when the area gathers, plus anything the office wrote for the volunteers.

If they haven't answered yet, the subject asks "Can you serve?" and the email has a Yes, I'll be there button and an I can't make it this time link.
If they've already said yes, it's a reminder, with a Something come up? Let the team know link.

Either one opens a short page with the day and their seats. They press Yes, I'll be there or I can't make it, and can leave a line under Anything the team should know? (optional). One press answers for all their seats that day. They don't need to sign in: the link works for that one person and that one day.

A day that has passed takes no answers. A link to a day that was removed says "That link doesn't work".

In Trellis

A volunteer who signs in sees their asks in a few places:

Your serving, in their own menu (their photo or initial): each day they're asked for, with I'll be there and I can't. I can't asks for "A word for the director (optional)", then Send. The answer they gave is marked with a check. To change it, they tap the other one.
Your week, for members: "Can you serve on…?" with Yes, I'll serve and Not this time.
Today, on a phone, for those who also lead a group or an area or have an office role: a "Can you serve?" card with Answer, which opens Your serving.

Your serving also lists the teams they're on and the days they've served in the last three months. If a service has a Score in Worship planning and their team has a part on it, Open the Score opens it; on a phone, at their part.

Someone who'd like to serve

A signed-in person who isn't serving yet sees I'd like to serve on Your serving. They tick the areas they'd like (or Wherever I'm needed), say what they'd like to do and when they can serve, and press I'd like to serve. They land on the office's waiting list. See Take in a new volunteer.

What the office sees

On the day's page, each person's seat shows a tick once they said yes, or "not answered". People who said no are listed under "Can't". A note from someone still on shows when you press their name.

When someone says no, the seat opens again. The director asks someone else from Ask someone.

Reminders

Reminders go out by themselves before each day. Only admins change when:

Open Serving, then Settings.
Under Send reminders, pick The day before, two, three or five days before, A week before, or Don't send reminders.
Under At, pick the hour. It's in your church's own time zone.
If your church has Communications and a shared sender on a verified domain, pick who Reminders come from.
Press Save.

A church starts at two days before, at 9 am.

What to know:

Each email covers the whole day, listing every seat the person holds.
People who said no get nothing.
The automatic reminder goes to each seat once. Someone asked after it went out, or earlier on the day it goes, gets just the one email, when they're asked.
With Don't send reminders, no serving emails go out by themselves, including the one when someone is asked. The office can still send them from the day with Remind all 12 now.
People with no email address, or whose address bounced before, are skipped.
Nothing goes until the church can send email. The automatic reminder doesn't catch up afterwards: if its time came while the church couldn't send, send it from the day with Remind all 12 now. See Send from your domain.

To send now, open the day and press Remind all 12 now (or Remind them now). It's the main button once the seats are full and before any reminder has gone; otherwise it's under the … menu. It emails everyone still on, whether or not they were reminded before.

Still stuck? Ask Silas