There are times when a volunteer cannot make a particular assignment or may want to swap with another volunteer. They can submit a replacement or swap request to resolve these without needing to involve an admin. This can be done either through the email the volunteer receives when they are scheduled, or from the service plan itself after signing in to One Church.
By default, a volunteer scheduled on a service plan can submit a replacement or swap request up to 3 days before they are scheduled to serve. The number of days can be changed if needed, and if that option is turned off, no replacement or swap requests will be allowed.
Submitting a request from a serving email
When responding to a serving request, in addition to the Accept Assignment and Decline responses, two more options may appear for a scheduled position: Find Replacement and Swap with Another.
With Find Replacement, every volunteer on the team roster who has the same position, is available to serve on that same date and time, and has an email address is listed. The volunteer can choose who the replacement request should be sent to, add an optional comment for them to read, and then click Save to send the request.
All selected volunteers get an email letting them know someone is looking for a replacement. They can either take the assignment or indicate they cannot. If someone accepts, the original volunteer is removed from the schedule for that day and time, the new person is added in their place, and the assignment moves to the Accepted status. If every volunteer declines, the original volunteer is emailed that the replacement request was unsuccessful and the assignment reverts to Pending so they can make a new selection. The volunteer can cancel the replacement request at any time before all responses come in.
With Swap with Another, a list of future services appears for the volunteer to choose from. These are services that contain at least one scheduled volunteer with a Pending or Accepted status, have the same position, and have an email address. When a service is selected, all scheduled volunteers appear underneath to choose from, all selected by default. The volunteer can add an optional comment and then click Save to send the request.
All selected volunteers then get an email letting them know someone is looking to switch places with them. They can either accept or indicate they cannot. If someone accepts, the two volunteers switch places and both assignments move to the Accepted status. If every volunteer declines, the original volunteer is emailed that the swap request was unsuccessful and the assignment reverts to Pending so they can make a new selection. The volunteer can cancel the swap request at any time before all responses come in.
Submitting a request within One Church
When a volunteer signs in to One Church, their pending and accepted assignments appear in the Upcoming Serving widget on the dashboard. Clicking an assignment opens its service plan. From there, the volunteer can submit a replacement or swap request.
