There is no one Groups feature, rather, Samaritan has several solutions to allow for volunteers groups. There are many considerations to consider when choosing which method to use, including but not limited to: scope, configuration, process flow, record management, hours reporting, and technical limitations.
One of the major considerations is how you would like hours to be calculated. Do you want the responsibility of reporting hours to be placed on one person, i.e. the Group Leader, who must calculate the total hours on behalf of the entire group and report in bulk? This is not an option in the Group Reservation solution, because each group member is forced to create a volunteer account and report on behalf of themselves.
None of the options below are a direct solution to large scale event sign-up, where there is no screening and no waivers, aka “warm body” positions. The closest solution is Group Sign-In where you sign in as guest and an automatic LBE is created for you.
Group Affiliation
Group Affiliation shows the volunteer a list of Groups that is searchable. If they type in their group name and their group appears, they can choose to join the group. If the volunteer does no find their group, they see a message that says “Click here to create a group” and they can add their group to the list. The group will now appear for the next volunteer who would like to join that group.
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Used in many ways, with other configurations and automations (more on this later).
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Group Affiliation is a stand alone option from Group Reservation; it does not require Group Reservation to be enabled. However Group Reservation requires it.
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Does not meet the need of “warm body” volunteers.
Group UDF
Volunteers can be given the choice to select a UDF that identifies them as with a group or as an individual.
Group Sign-In
Group Sign-In gives the volunteer the option to add a number for their group size at the sign-in station.
Friends & Family
Friends & Family is a very simple process flow that allows one member of the group acts as the “Account Holder” for their group. This “Account Holder” creates the profile for every single member of their group.
For example, if the group is a family unit, one parent (the Account Holder) would add their spouse, their three children, and their parents to the profile. This Account Holder has the power to place, unplace, and report hours on behalf their family unit.
This solution cannot be merged with Group Reservation.