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A volunteer group is a named role category scoped to a specific event. Groups connect volunteers to shifts: each volunteer belongs to a group, and each shift declares how many volunteers it needs from each group via the required_groups field.

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What groups are used for

  • Shift requirements — the required_groups JSON on a shift (e.g. {"Medical": 2, "Security": 1}) references group names directly. The auto-assign engine reads this to match the right volunteers.
  • Volunteer classification — every volunteer has a group field that determines which shifts they are eligible for.
  • Analytics — the dashboard’s “Volunteers by group” pie chart breaks down your roster by group.
  • Kiosk filtering — the kiosk can surface shifts relevant to a volunteer’s group during check-in.

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Creating a group

1

Open Volunteer Groups

From the event Command Center, navigate to Volunteers → Manage Groups, or go directly to /events/[id]/groups.
2

Click Add Group

Click the Add Group button in the top-right corner of the page. A form panel expands.
3

Fill in the group details

Complete the following fields:
FieldRequiredDescription
NameYesThe role label. Must be unique within the event.
ColorNoA hex color used for the group’s visual badge and left border.
DescriptionNoA short note about the role’s responsibilities.
Default max hoursNoA cap on how many hours a volunteer in this group can be assigned per event. Accepts values in 0.5-hour increments.
4

Save

Click Save Group. The group card appears in the grid with a colored left border.

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Color coding

Every group has an optional hex color. If you do not set one, the system defaults to blue (#3b82f6). Colors appear as:
  • A left border on the group card in the Groups page.
  • A colored indicator next to the group name in volunteer lists and shift views.
The color picker in the group form accepts both the native color input and a direct hex value input, so you can paste an exact brand color. The available preset colors the system auto-assigns to discovered groups include: 
#ef4444  red
#f97316  orange
#f59e0b  amber
#84cc16  lime
#10b981  emerald
#06b6d4  cyan
#3b82f6  blue
#8b5cf6  violet
#d946ef  fuchsia
#f43f5e  rose

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Editing and deleting groups

Click Edit on a group card to re-open the form with the existing values pre-filled. Update any field and click Update Group to save. Click Delete to remove a group. Deletion will fail if volunteers are currently assigned to that group.
Deleting a group does not automatically unassign its volunteers. Reassign or remove those volunteers first, or the delete will be rejected.

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Discovered groups

When volunteers are imported via CSV with a group field that does not match any explicitly created group, Shift Scheduler surfaces these as Discovered Groups at the bottom of the Groups page. Discovered groups are auto-colored using a deterministic hash of the group name. Click Customize on a discovered group card to promote it to a full group with a description, custom color, and default max hours.
Discovered groups function normally for shift matching — they are not second-class. Customizing them is optional but recommended for color control and adding a description.

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How groups connect to shifts

When you create or edit a shift, the required_groups field maps group names to headcounts: 
{
  "Medical": 2,
  "Security": 1,
  "General Volunteers": 4
}
The group names here must match the names of groups in your event exactly (case-sensitive). If a group name in required_groups does not match any volunteer’s group, those slots remain unfillable by auto-assign. You can also restrict or block groups using allowed_groups and excluded_groups on a shift. See Shifts for full details.

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How groups connect to volunteers

Each volunteer record has a group text field. When you add or edit a volunteer, you select their group from the groups defined for that event. Volunteers can only belong to one group per event. The volunteer’s group determines:
  • Which shifts they count toward in required_groups
  • Whether they pass allowed_groups or excluded_groups filters on a shift
  • Which chart segment they appear in on the dashboard analytics

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Best practices

Group names appear verbatim in shift requirements JSON, CSV exports, and auto-assign logic. Avoid spaces at the start or end, and pick one canonical casing — Medical or medical, not both.
A group like Medical is more reusable across shifts than Paramedic – Zone A. Use the shift name to convey specific placement. Groups express capability categories, not individual positions.
If you import volunteers via CSV with group names, those names will appear as Discovered Groups if they were not created first. Explicitly creating groups beforehand lets you assign colors and descriptions ahead of the import.
The max_hours_default on a group acts as a sensible baseline. You can still override max hours on individual volunteers, but a group-level default reduces manual work when adding many volunteers of the same type.

Shifts

Reference groups in required_groups, allowed_groups, and excluded_groups.

Volunteers

Assign each volunteer to a group when creating or editing their profile.

Bulk import

Import volunteers with group assignments from a CSV file.

Dashboard

See volunteer distribution by group in the analytics bar chart.

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