brahm neufeld

Online Volunteer Sign-Up System

Problem:
A large, multi-day, student-powered event like Spectrum, VetaVision, or High Voltage Classic needs dozens (sometimes hundreds) of volunteers to run successfully. Paper volunteer sign-up sheets are static, inaccessible, and unreliable.

I wrote this simple sign-up system in the fall of 2006 for Spectrum 2007. The code got an excellent generalization update from Engineers Without Borders in 2008 to make it usable by any student group. In 2010 I updated it to authenticate users via the University of Saskatchewan's CAS servers.

Online Volunteer Sign-Up System: See it in action.

If you want a sneak peek at this administrative page, shoot me an email with your NSID and I'd be happy to authenticate you.

Usage

This online volunteer system is ideal for events that span multiple days and require volunteers to sign up for a variety of different jobs. A job type can be created for a volunteer task that reoccurs in different shifts over an event's duration. For instance: Concession Stand. Multiple positions can be created for each job type. Each position can be assigned a time and the number of volunteers it requires. For example, two Concession Stand positions can run from 9am-noon and from noon-3pm. Each position could require two volunteers.

Features

  • Authentication via U of S CAS servers ensures that volunteer spots can't be filled with a spoofed identity.
  • CAS validates identities without the possibility of volunteer event organizers ever seeing an NSID password. Authentication happens on a secure U of S server and a authentication token is sent back to the server hosting the volunteer system.
  • Easy retrieval of NSIDs (by job type, by day volunteering, or all) to send email updates to volunteers who have signed up already.
  • Basic auto-install script (thank to EWB).
  • Separation of public and admin features by NSIDs (specify in config.php)

Drawbacks

  • CAS authentication means it's only usable by U of S students, staff, and alumni with a valid NSID. If this is an issue, CAS authentication should be easy to hack out of the code.
  • Admin interface is bare-bones and not polished. But it gets the job done.
  • You DO need a bit of tech know-how to get it all set up - the installation documentation is bare-bones. You should know some PHP and MySQL to get it set up for yourself.
  • One installation = one massive volunteer event. If a student society installs this system to schedule volunteers for Event A, they'll have to do some hacking or create a new installtion to recruit volunteers for Event B.

Get it

Download here. I'm making this available without any warranties or guarantees whatsoever, so use it at your own risk. However, I hope that some people find it useful, and it would be really cool to see some additions or improvements made.

If you do hack something together that works for your group, shoot me an email! I'd be really curious to see what people come up with.

Last Modified February 7, 2010