Volunteer hours you don’t have to chase
Every family owes the co-op some hours. Most of them do them. Working out who did, by how much, and who still owes is the part that eats an evening at the end of every term.
CircleUp keeps the hours where the work is signed up for, so the count builds as the season goes and you approve it instead of reconstructing it.
If this is how hours work now
- A sign-up sheet in one place and the hours tally in another.
- Parents emailing to say they did a shift that nobody wrote down.
- Not knowing who is short until the season is already over.
- A buyout fee that nobody wants to work out, so it never gets billed.
How it works in CircleUp
Set the requirement for the season
Set the hours each family owes this season, with extra hours per child if that is how your co-op counts. Adjust a single family’s requirement when they have an arrangement.
Shifts count toward hours
Mark a sign-up sheet as counting toward volunteer hours. Parents claim a slot, and CircleUp reminds them before it.
You approve the hours
When an admin marks someone as attended, those hours count. Hours marked by a shift organiser, and shifts nobody marked once the day has passed, wait in a pending list for an admin to approve.
Hours done somewhere else
A parent can log hours they worked outside a sign-up sheet. Those wait for approval too; hours an admin logs count straight away.
Everyone can see where they stand
Families see their hours against what they owe, and you see the whole co-op on one page.
Bill the shortfall, or let it bill itself
Set an hourly buyout rate and CircleUp works out each family’s shortfall and adds it to their account as a charge — when you press the button, or automatically the day after the season ends.
What it doesn’t do
- Hours are not logged automatically. They are credited from attendance and wait for an admin’s approval unless an admin marked them.
- CircleUp does not stop a family from registering for classes because they are short on hours. Tracking and buyouts, yes; enforcement, not today.
Questions co-ops ask us
Is volunteer tracking a paid feature?
No. Volunteer hours are on every plan, including the free plan for up to 10 families.
Do parents have to remember to log their shifts?
Not for shifts they signed up for in CircleUp. Attendance credits the hours, and anything not marked after the day passes is treated as attended and waits for your approval. Parents only log hours for work done outside a sign-up sheet.
Can families pay instead of volunteering?
Yes, if your co-op allows it. Set an hourly buyout rate and the shortfall is billed to the family’s account as a charge they can pay like any other.
The other jobs CircleUp takes on
Start this season’s hours here
Volunteer hours are on every plan, and CircleUp is free for up to 10 families. Set a requirement, post one sign-up sheet, and watch the count build.