Getting started for captains and vice-captains
Everything a group leader needs in their first fortnight, in the order you'll need it
As a captain or vice-captain, you're the local face of your group. You run events, communicate with supporters, and help organise activities. Follow these steps to get up and running.
Understand your role
| Role | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Captain | Run events, send communications, manage the group |
| Vice-captain | Draft events and communications for a captain or admin to approve |
A few permissions come from settings your admin controls as well as your role, including whether you can export supporter details and whether vice-captains can edit event details. Ask your admin if something you'd expect to do isn't there.
Vice-captains
Your drafts go to a captain or admin to approve before they send. Use it to get feedback on your first few.
Full reference: Access levels
Get to know your group page
Your group page is the public front door, where supporters find your events and work out whether to come.
Read your public page cold
Open your group's public page and read it cold, the way a supporter arriving for the first time would.
Keep the description short
Keep the description short and concrete: "Who are we, and what do we do together?" beats a mission statement every time.
Full reference: Group management
Run your first event
Create the event
Go to Events > Create new event and fill in the time, date, location and contact person.
Edit the RSVP message
Edit the message supporters get when they RSVP. Your admin may have set a default for this event type already.
Set a capacity
If the room only holds forty, set a capacity and the event stops accepting RSVPs itself. Guests count towards the total.
Share the event
Send the event link to your group by email or SMS blast.
Name events consistently
Something like "Group name - Event type - Date" makes events easy to find later, and much easier to report on.
Tutorial: Build your first event
Organise who's doing what
For anything with jobs to fill, build a roster of shifts.
Build the roster in draft
Your changes stay private until you publish, so nobody sees a shift before you're ready.
Publish when you're ready
Publishing emails everyone affected. Read how draft and publish work before your first roster.
Guides: Rostering · Tutorial: Build and publish your first roster
Talk to your supporters
Send an email or SMS
Use the Email or SMS buttons on your supporter list. Segment with filters when you want to reach a particular group.
Handle the replies
Answers land in the SMS inbox or the mailbox depending on the channel. Mark conversations as responded so other leaders know what's been handled.
Pick up the phone
Calling gets far better results than any blast. Build a call list of who to ring, then run a calling session that tracks where you got to.
If you're organising other volunteers to call, read what the dashboard is telling you first. Ten calls producing three conversations is a good night.
Email or SMS greyed out?
The supporter's contact details are missing or in the wrong field. Talk to your admin.
One ask per message
Short, clear, one call to action: RSVP, share, attend, donate. Messages that ask for three things get none of them.
Tutorials: Contact an individual · Blast email and SMS
Keep supporter data clean
Accurate data is what makes everything else reach people.
- Fix details when you notice they're wrong, especially phone numbers.
- Flag duplicates and missing details to your admin.
- Respect opt-outs. Never re-add someone who has unsubscribed.
Mobile numbers belong in the mobile field
A mobile saved in the home or work field won't receive SMS. This is the single most common reason a blast reaches fewer people than expected.
Secure your account
You have access to supporters' contact details, so protect it.
Turn on two-factor authentication
Click your own name at the bottom of the left-hand navigation, then turn on Enable two-factor authentication and verify by SMS or QR code.
Store your backup codes
Store your backup codes somewhere safe. They're shown once, and they're how you get back in if you lose your phone.
Make it part of onboarding
Add 2FA to your group's checklist for new leaders, so nobody is the weak link by accident.
How-to: Set up 2FA