Add or Edit Event
STEP 1: On the Admin drop down menu (the green bar at the top), select "EVENTS".
STEP 2: This page shows all active events. From here you can
- click the pencil to edit an existing event
- click the + symbol to make a copy of a current event.
- click the "Add Event" button in the upper left to create a new event.
EVENT FORM FIELDS:
Event Name: A typical name would be July 11th, 2026. Or if you have several events it might be July 11th, NW Santa Rosa. The name is only used by the Chapter and Event Managers, so just make it meaningful to distinguish one event from another.
Event Type; Select Donor/Driver or Community (see section 'Events' above for more details).
Event Start Date; Use the calendar tool to pick the event start date, then enter the start time and end time.
Event End Date; if its a Community Event it may cover more than one day, if so enter an end date and time.
Event Contact; This is the person running the event. Their contact information is displayed at the top of the "Event Page" and is added to notification emails. An "Event Contact" is created by going to any Users profile and setting "Event Manager" to true.
Zones; these match to the Zones created in the CHAPTER PROFILE . A zone is a collection of zip codes. Add the Zones that make up the event.
Self Deliver Location; this is the default set up on the CHAPTER PROFILE . If you wish to have a different self-deliver for donors to use make sure it's first created in Locations, then select it here.
Event Active?: this is blue (switched to true) if it's an active event. If the event is no longer valid, slide this to inactive. Once inactive you can still see it on the main Event window by clicking "Show inactive"
Event Locked; a locked event can no longer allow donors to sign up to be added. They can still opt out. The event locks automatically when route emails are sent.
Create Route button; this is for advanced users, and will create a route once everything in the event has been set up. This mainly is to set up the drivers. A route is typically made the day before the event.
EDITING AN EVENT:
To Edit an event you click the 'pencil'. However, if the event has already sent notifications to donors you should be very careful to make changes. For example, if you delete a zone you will remove some donors from the route that have already been notified. Use the Messaging tools to inform donors of any changes to help alleviate confusion.
”Edit Event” form is explained, field by field, in the section above.
Driver Selection
Once an event is created the next step is that 10 days before the event notifications are automatically sent to the drivers to see if they will participate. Once this occurs you will need to monitor and manage the 'Driver Selection Process'.
An easy way to understand the process is to know that these are the steps (and the related 'status') each driver will go through.
- Drivers receive a 'Will you drive?' email/text 10 days before event date. Their status is set to notify.
- Drivers can respond 'yes', 'no', or not respond at all. Drivers that respond 'yes' or 'no' will have their status change to 'yes' or 'no'.
- A driver in 'yes' status can then be set to 'confirm' status by the Chapter Admin or Event Manager. They will receive an email and text that says they are confirmed to drive.
- Any driver in 'yes' or 'confirm' status can be set to 'backup' status. Backup status means they get an email asking them to be ready to drive if needed.
- Note, a driver can at any time change their status to 'no', even if confirmed or backup. This of course means their plans have changed and they can no longer driver. Chapter Admin will get an email if a driver changes to 'no' from 'confirm' status.
VIEW DRIVER SELECTION TOOL:
Step 1. Click "Admin" then select "Events". Pick the Event you are working on. A Green button titled "Actions/Reports" will have a drop down menu that changes based on your event status. It will always include "Driver Selection".
Step 2. View the Driver Selection Tool to understand each section;
TOP SECTION:
There is a row of data, the left side shows "Driver Totals" and the right side "Donor Totals", and in the middle is "Route Ratio".
The Driver Totals show the # of Eligible Drivers and what their status is. (see below for status types). The Donor Totals are similar, # eligible and status. NOTE: Donor data is not accurate until donor notifications have gone out, which is 7 days before the event.
MID SECTION:
3 Tabs; Driver Notifications (main page), Driver Start Locations, and Driver Drop Offs. This section explains the main page, scroll down to see how "Start" and "Drop off" tabs work,
"Send Notifications" button is used to process the notifications you wish to send to drivers. Read on to learn more.
Override Status is used to bypass the normal procedure, this is explained in more detail below.
Add a Driver; this is used to add a driver that exists in your chapter that is not in the zones used for this event. (they must have "Driver set to yes" in their profile.). This may come in handy if you have a driver that lives in a different town, but works in your community. You can manually add them to this event. NOTE; when adding a driver, they are automatically set to "confirm".
BOTTOM SECTION:
This has important detail about each driver. To the left are the notification types. For example, you can "notify" a driver (ask if they want to drive), "confirm" a driver that has said 'yes' to the 'can you drive?' notification. and you can set any driver that has said 'yes' to be a backup driver.
You can click on any driver name to get more information about that driver, open their profile or send them a message.
Level: this is set by the Chapter as a free-entry field. You might want to set your favorite drivers to a 1, and if a driver has been a problem you may set them as a 10. Or vice-versa. How you use this field is up to you.
Status; this is their current status. 10 days before an event all drivers are notified, so it will show "notify". Once they say "yes" or "no" that will appear. If they say "yes" you may want to "confirm" them and then the word "confirm" will appear once you've sent those notifications. Read below for more information.
To the right side are history for each driver. This is so you can see their experience. We recommend using a mixture of veteran drivers and new drivers. Don't just use the same veteran drivers. If a driver is always set to backup, they will stop saying they are available. Spread it around!
”Edit Event” form is explained, field by field, in the section above.
Driver Status Types and Workflow
A driver will always start with no status, this is the case 10 days before the event.
10 days before an event the system automatically sends a "will you drive" email, and sets their status to "notify".
When drivers receive that email/text, they may respond yes, no, or they may not respond. Those that say "yes" will have their status change to 'Yes'. The same for 'no'. If they don't respond they remain in 'notify' status.
NOTIFY DRIVERS AGAIN: It is common to not hear back from all drivers. Click the "ALL" button at the top of the Driver Section to put a check mark into all drivers "notify" checkbox that have not responded. Or do it one by one. Then click the "Send Notifications". This will re-notify them, and update the "Status Updated" field.
CONFIRM DRIVERS: Its important to confirm drivers quickly, soon after they say yes. The reason is simply because people want to know if they need to block the time on their calendar. Even if they aren't needed, the sooner they know the better.
Do this by clicking the "Confirm" checkbox to all drivers you wish to confirm (they must be in 'yes' status), then click "Send Notifications". Email/text will go to these drivers letting them know they are confirmed.
SET TO BACKUP: Hopefully you will have extra drivers. If not, take a look here to get some suggestions to solve it. Any extra drivers need to be set to "Backup". It is a very good idea to talk to at least one or two of these for every dozen or so drivers you do have, just to be sure they are truly going be standing by to driver. Once you determine a driver did not show up, you'll need to take quick action.
The method is to click the checkboxes next to the drivers you wish to change, then click "Send Notifications".
WORKFLOW: Think of the workflow as; 1) drivers set to notify, 2) 'yes' drivers are set to 'confirm' or 'backup'
OVERRIDE STATUS: If you wish to skip the workflow you can click "Override". this allows you to put a check in any checkbox, and send notifications. They will get a "Chapter Admin" has set your status to....
”Edit Event” form is explained, field by field, in the section above.
How Many Drivers Are Needed?
Estimate # of Donors in the Event; If you’ve run several events you can just look at the Route Summary (Reports/Route Summary) to see how many donors you had last time. The top of the Driver Selector Screen gives you good data to consider. As the date comes closer the data will get more useful.
Hard Yes; these are the donors that have said yes, so the number reflects that these donors will be on routes.
Soft Yes; Historically about 50% of these donors will be routed. As the event draws nearer, the # will go down as some answer “yes” and become a “Hard Yes, and some say “no“.
Total Yes: This is “Hard Yes” plus “Soft Yes”, and on the day before the routes this is how many get routed.
Require Yes; these are donors that have missed at least their last two pick ups, where they were routed and did not leave a bag. About 10-20% of these will become a “Hard Yes” and about the same amount will become a “hard No”, the rest won’t respond historically.
DRIVER RATIO: This is the total number of confirmed drivers in ratio to “Total Yes”. Right before you “Create Routes” you’ll want this ratio between 12 and 22. 12 if your area is rural and drivers have a long way to between stops. 22 if urban and donors are very close together. A good average for most events is a ratio of about 1 to 16 or 18.
TOO MANY DRIVERS? This is a good problem to have, just set some from ‘confirm’ to ‘backup’. Read here for more information.
NOT ENOUGH DRIVERS? Read here for more information.
”Edit Event” form is explained, field by field, in the section above.
Event Screen Examples
The Events Screen accessed by clicking the Admin drop down displays all active Events, sorted by most recent. Click the pencil icon to edit an event. Click the + icon to create a copy of an event (a quick way to create a future event with the same info), and click “Add Event“ to create a new event.
The “Edit Event” form is the same as "Add Event" with the exception of adding the "Create Route" field and including the "Actions/Reports drop down box (green button).
The Actions/Reports drop down provides other tools related to an event. Driver Selection sets up drivers. Bag Pick up handles bag delivery to drivers. Route Map provides the routing details. Route Update allows Admin to update route data for each driver. And Event History shows data related to drivers and donors.
Route Map Images (under development)
Route Edit Images (under development)