How to organise the volunteers for an event
A shared spreadsheet three people edit at once, a group chat where nobody remembers who is running the bar at 3pm: past a dozen volunteers, coordinating takes longer than the event itself. Here is the method, and how Count Me In handles each step for you.
Break the event down into tasks and time slots
A task is a job to be done: bar, barbecue, till, car park, setting up, clearing away. A time slot is a stretch of time on that task, with the number of volunteers it needs — two on the bar from 2pm to 4pm, three from 4pm to 6pm.
That breakdown is the whole job of organising; everything else follows from it. A volunteer no longer offers "to help at the fair", they take "till, 10am – 12pm", and you can see at a glance what is still unfilled.
Share a link, not a form
Every event has its own link. Send it however you like: an email to the parents list, the club group chat, a post on your page, a QR code by the entrance.
The volunteer opens the link, sees the slots still open, takes theirs and leaves a name and an email address. No account to create, no password, nothing to install. They get a confirmation, then a reminder before the day.
- A volunteer link, to sign up
- A read-only link, to show the schedule without handing over control of it
- A check-in link, to tick people off on the day
Volunteers or participants: two ways of counting
Not every sign-up works the same way. On a volunteer task, what matters is how many people are needed: the slot shows "1 of 3 left" and closes once it is full. On an activity open to the public — a workshop, a tour, a meal — what matters is how many places there are, and you set the cap.
Both live side by side in the same event: the morning volunteer rota and the sign-ups for lunch sit in one place.
On the day
Open the check-in link on your phone: the volunteers expected, slot by slot, in alphabetical order. Tick them off as they arrive; a filter shows who is missing. If you would rather work on paper, the attendance sheet exports to PDF.
And if the event runs over several days, there is still only one event to create — each date has its own slots.
What about volunteers’ data?
Their name and email do one thing: send the confirmation and the reminder for their slot. No advertising trackers, nothing sold on.
One month after the event date, everything is deleted automatically. You are warned a week ahead, with a link to export whatever you want to keep.
Frequently asked questions
Do volunteers have to create an account?
No. Only the organiser has an account. Volunteers sign up from the link, with their name and email address.
Is it free?
Today, yes: everything described on this page is free. In time a contribution of €1 to €2 per event will be asked of the organisations behind them — associations, clubs, councils, companies — to keep the service running with no advertising and no data resale. Next to nothing against the time it saves, and it will not apply to private individuals.
Can several people organise together?
Yes. An invitation link brings other organisers into your team, and they manage the same events you do.
Can a volunteer cancel their sign-up?
They let you know, and you remove the sign-up in one click from the event page — the slot reopens straight away.
How many volunteers can it handle?
There is no limit on the number of tasks, slots or sign-ups.
Ready to try it?
Creating an event takes five minutes, and there is nothing to install.