When you create incredible opportunities to share with your community of volunteers, you're able to establish the duration type for those opportunities. There are five duration types to choose from. In this article, we'll cover those five duration types and when to use them! 

Duration types and when to use them

The five duration types include: 

• Flexible: This duration type is great for Opportunities that volunteers complete on their own timeline! 
  • Do you want to reach a goal by the end of the year? Then this is the duration type for you! 
  • Use this duration type if you have a goal to reach by a certain time or an opportunity that is open for an extended period that doesn't require special shifts. 
  • Example: We're collecting bereavement bears until December 31, 2022! 
• Happens On: This duration type is best for opportunities that are scheduled for a specific date, or the day it "happens on".  
  • Use this one for special opportunities that happen on a specific date. 
  • These opportunities are usually one-time events that don't require special shifts. 
  • Example: We need 50 volunteers to help clean up the gardens around Chapel Hill on Saturday, October 8, 2022! 
• Multi-date: This duration type is best for opportunities that happen on multiple dates. 
  • Use this duration type if you have an opportunity happening over several days. 
  • This is great for opportunities close to the holidays or when you have an opportunity that isn't a recurring event but occurs on more than one day. 
  • Example: Our annual Spooky-Bash starts October 29th and lasts through Halloween! We need volunteers to help collect tickets, set up and breakdown, and more! 
• Custom Shifts: This duration type is great for opportunities with scheduled shifts—especially if those shifts are at different times on the same day or different days. 
  • Use this duration type when you have an opportunity that requires special shifts that aren't recurring. 
  • Example: Are you ready to help the Farm? We need farmstand volunteers to hand out food on Friday, October 7th from 8 am - 5 pm. 
• Recurring Shifts: This duration type is best for opportunities with scheduled shifts that are recurring—daily, weekly, or monthly. 
  • Use this duration type when you have an opportunity that requires special shifts that are recurring. 
  • Example: Our clinic is growing! We need volunteers every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 am - 2 pm to help distribute clean linens!