Groups
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      1. Bloomerang Volunteer Knowledge Base
      2. Managing Your Opportunity (Administrator)
      3. Groups

      About Group Types

      Bloomerang Volunteer offers three types of volunteer groups: account-based groups, number-based groups, and email-based groups. Volunteers can be a member of only one group at a time.

      Account-Based Groups

      • Account-based groups include any number of volunteers that have Bloomerang accounts.
      • Account-based groups can include volunteers that have not claimed their accounts yet.
      • Account-based groups are publicly visible during the signup process.
      • Both administrators and volunteers can create account-based groups.

      Number-Based Groups

      • Number-based groups are associated with a single group leader.
      • Number-based groups can contain a specific number of other unspecified volunteers, up to a maximum of 101.
      • The number of volunteers in the group must be set when the group is created, and cannot be changed later.
      • Members of the group are not required to have accounts in Bloomerang Volunteer. Both administrators and volunteers can create number-based groups.
      • Volunteers do not directly join number-based groups. Number-based groups are not visible during the opportunity signup process.
      • Number-based groups are used to reserve headcount for an event. For example: if someone knows that they can commit to bringing a certain number of volunteers to an event, but they do not know the names or email addresses of those volunteers, they can create a number-based group. This headcount information can be helpful when planning the event.

      Email-Based Groups

      • Email-based groups are groups of volunteers that each have their own Bloomerang accounts, but share a single email address.
      • Each volunteer uses a slight variation of the underlying email address with the format address+identifier@example.com. The identifier portion of the variant email address must be unique for each volunteer in the group.
      • When someone sends an email to one of the volunteers using their unique email address variant, the message goes to the underlying email account.

      For example:

      • The Doe family (Jane, John, Susan, and Robert) want to create Bloomerang Volunteer accounts, but they all want to share the email address doe@example.com.
      • Jane sets up her account first. She uses the email address doe@example.com.
      • The other members of the family set up their accounts. Each of them uses a variation of the basic email address:
        • doe+john@example.com
        • doe+susan@example.com
        • doe+robert@example.com
      • The Doe family is now an email-based group with 4 members.
      • If someone sends an email to doe+susan@example.com, the email goes to doe@example.com.

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