Comparison
Volunteer schedule template or scheduling software?
Almost every local field program runs on a shared spreadsheet. It is free, everyone knows it, and it works right up to the week that matters most. This page is about that week.
What the spreadsheet cannot see
The double-booking
Two organizers edit two tabs. Now Jasmine is at two sites for the same 10am shift. The spreadsheet shows two filled cells. We flag the clash the moment the second booking lands, because both cells are the same person.
The gap hiding in a tab
With 74 sites and more than 700 shifts spread across tabs, an empty cell is invisible until someone scrolls to it. The gap panel lists every open shift in one place, sorted by urgency, with people to ask attached. Nobody scrolls tabs at midnight.
The no-show with no history
A spreadsheet records that a cell was filled. It does not record that this person has missed twice. We carry that record across campaigns, so the panel already knows who shows up.
The midnight report
Someone still has to turn the tabs into an answer to "are we covered tomorrow?" That someone is the field director, at midnight. The 7am report answers it for you. During early voting, it arrives by email at 7am.
Start from the spreadsheet you already have
Switching costs nothing but the upload. The importer reads your workbook as it is. It matches your columns, cleans phones and wards, and merges duplicates by email, then phone, then close name match.
We built it against real campaign workbooks. Ten minutes of setup, one upload, and the grid is live.
The price gap is smaller than it looks. The 14-day trial is free and long enough to import your workbook, build the grid, and read two reports.
A spreadsheet costs nothing plus one gap at 6am. After the trial, $99 a month buys the election week where that gap got filled Monday night.
Free volunteer schedule templates
- Volunteer sign up sheet: names, phones, and time slots in Excel, Google Sheets, Word, or PDF.
- Event volunteer schedule template: enter your sites and days, then download a shift plan with one row for every shift.
- Walk list template: one canvasser's doors for one shift.
A volunteer management template like these works well for one event or a small team. When the same people work many shifts at many sites, a template starts to hide the gaps.
Volunteer schedule questions
Is there a free volunteer schedule template?
Yes. Download the free volunteer sign up sheet, or use the volunteer calculator to build a shift plan from your sites and days.
When should we switch from a spreadsheet?
Switch when one person works shifts at more than one site, or when you can't see open shifts at a glance. That is when double-bookings and gaps slip through.
Know by Friday who is covering Saturday
- Every shift sits on one grid, from canvass launches to election day.
- The gap panel ranks who to ask by ward and by who shows up.
- Reminders go out the day before, and no-shows are tracked.
The gap panel tells you who to text for each open shift. In a 2020 test with 1,220 volunteers, people asked by text showed up more than 3 times as often as people sent only an email. Read the study.
Start 14 free days, then $99 a month
More ways to pay: card, Cash App, Link, or Amazon Pay.
Nothing is charged for 14 days. We email you 3 days before. Cancel before then and you pay nothing.
Want to talk first? Book a 30-minute call or email me the pricing.