Support Articles

Customized Event Confirmation Messages   We are pleased to an additional tool for customizing your confirmation message.     Where can I find this message area? This is located in your Application tab for an event.   Where is this message seen? The message you create here will be visible on the registration confirmation page (regardless if the event requires approval or not).   How might we use this? This customized message block is a great place for you to load next steps, key links, and other pertinent data you need to share for instruction.

Additional features for event management are:   "Awaiting Approval" Tag Participants waiting approval now have a tag "Awaiting Approval" on their Registration Details page for simpler identification of registrant status.      Manage Trip Button Trip leaders now have a link directly from their personal event page to the event management page for simpler access to management pages.    

Moving participants has a completely new functional process and more powerful tools. You can now move participants while they are waiting for approval (or after they are approved like before) and the system will gracefully handle the different scenarios where the original trip and the trip the participant was moved to have different application fees. Attached are the three different modals that you can get when you are approving a participant.  Scenario One - Initial trip application fee is equal to or more than current trip (this is the same display page an admin would see even if the participant was not moving from one trip to another).  In this case, the admin would get a choice to charge the original application fee or ignore the fee. Scenario Two - Original trip did not have a fee.  In this case, since the participant was not charged a fee when applying, the fee will need to be obtained via other means (outside of ServiceReef) as the system does not have a card "on file" to charge. Scenario Three - Both trips have fees, but the initial trip application fee less than the destination trip application fee.  In this case, since the pre-approval on the card was on the original application fee amount, ServiceReef cannot charge more than was originally "held" when the card was first verified.  For example, if the application fee was originally sent to the credit card for approval of $50, that is now the maximum that can be charged to that card for the application fee.  In this scenario, the Admin is given a choice between charging the original fee (e.g. $50) or skipping the fee entirely.  If the admin desires to have the participant submit additional payment, then it can either be done by the participant as a "donation" through the system or as a "manual" payment and the Admin can collect it outside of ServiceReef.com.   We tested over 75 different scenarios including donations, trips with auto-approve, trips with approval required, approving participants, refunding participants, moving participants and all of the payment variations. This project was a significant undertaking as we had to split payments up for trip applicants registering together when approvals are turned on, but we feel that the user interface improvements have resulted in a more straight forward and intuitive experience for you as an Admin.  If you have questions or run into any scenarios not covered here, please let us know. What has changed? The checkout page Splitting payments for each registration Ability to move a participant in pending status

ServiceReef has updated the Opportunities page to allow admins to search by status and by date independently. This page now defaults to showing all upcoming trips that are in draft or published (hiding cancelled by default)... from here admins can search to show all or just past, or just draft, etc.

How are individuals connected to our organization in our member database? The following outlines enhancements beyond full registration to associate an individual with your organization.   Scenario 1: If a user: Registers for a trip Donates to a trip Donates to your organization Favorites your organization Joins a group The user is added to the group/trip organization member list.   Scenario 2: If the user is within your white label when any of the following actions occur, they will get added to your organization's member list. Registers for a trip Donates to a trip Donates to your organization Favorites your organization Joins a group Logs in   These two scenarios can happen independently of each other. For example, a user can register for a trip when not in a white label (or on the same white label as the trip), and they will get added to your organization's member list for the trip. Additionally, if the user is on a different white label than the trip they are registering for, the user will get added to both organizations member lists.

Now a better way to manage passport! Managing passport information can be a challenge each participant may have a passport, may be applying for one, or even your favorites who don't even know.  ServiceReef has built a simpler way to manage passport data in a way that matches how your participants live life and manage their own passports.  Let's explore how this now works.   How do I make passport data part of an application?  A new field has been created in the application builder (both for the Master Application and the Event Application) to require passport field data.  You can drag and drop this block of data at any point into either of these applications.  We do recommend you not do both.  For most organizations this is best to keep at the event level as you may have a number of domestic events where a passport is irrelevant.  Once you have added this item you will also have the option to make these fields mandatory.   What information is collected? The fields include: Passport Status Full Name on Passport Passport Number Passport Date Issued Passport Issed By Passport Expiration Date Passport Image Upload (encrypted)   How do we access this information once it has been entered by the participant? If you add this as an application field, the data is accessible through the participants application and the export fields for your team.   Can the user update their information? Yes, ServiceReef dynamically links these question fields with the user's profile so they can go into their profile at any time and update any passport information.  You can instruct your participants to log into their accounts and find the Passport tab to the left of their account.      

2015 was an exciting year for ServiceReef and this PDF is a quick review of what's new. CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILE.

Many events will require a background check, especially events that have participants working with children.  You can now make a notation per participant if they have a background check.  Here's how... What is a background check? A background check is something you (the organization) will do to validate if a participant is clear from any criminal history.  Third party vendors offer these services.   Where do I note if a participant (member) has a completed background check? This is managed at the organization level (note: NOT at the opportunity level).  Access the management page for your organization and then click on Members.  Here you will see all members who have served or participated in a small group with your organization.  To the right you will see an actions drop down.  Click Actions and then click "Background Check".  This will display a pop up window asking you to enter a date.  Entering a date will then validate this person as having a background check.  A check will also display in the master list of members showing they have a background check.                     What happens at the trip level? Once you have noted someone's background check (at the organization level) then a notation will be displayed on every opportunity they apply for or have applied for showing the date of the background check.   Why is this setting at the organization level? Background checks deal with secure information.  Even though ServiceReef does not store the background check file, we feel it wise for only organization admins to have access to this feature.  Additionally, by setting this at the organization level the notation for someone's background check will cascade down to all opportunities for those admin to know that piece of information. Can we upload the background check report? No, not at this point.  Because of the sensitive nature of this information we feel it best for you to keep this information in your organization's files and somewhere safe.  The admins who are managing ServiceReef may not be those you wish to give such sensitive information to all of your member's background checks.  This is more a matter of legal protection for you that we do not offer that feature.      

We understand that the standard communications will not cover all of the touch points you need with you team.  To get started, click on the green “Schedule Email” button on the Communications tab of your opportunity management.   Building your Email Audience - Are you sending this to your opportunity participants, everyone who has applied, or to all who have donated?  The default is to your participants.  The donor selection will send an email to anyone who has donated to any of the participants of this opportunity (say for example you have ten team members and each have ten donors… this would generate an email to 100 people).  NOTE: These donors must donate to the participants through your ServiceReef organization account in order to populate in this email. Message Subject - What shows up in the title bar Message Body - Your message Signature - Your organization’s name, your name, etc. Attachment - Perhaps you need to send out a medical form or some waiver, simply attach that file here. Schedule - You can either send the email immediately or set a date/time for the email to send.  To send immediately simply click the “Schedule Email” button.  If you select a date/time then the email will sit in your email directory and send on the specified date and time.   We do recommend that you send a test email of your communication before sending out to your audience group - this simply helps you to make certain you’ve communicated what you intended to communicate. Customized emails will be posted in a list on the Communications tab page allowing you a view to see all emails (sent email and future emails).  You can edit emails waiting to send.  

Communicaitons to your team are extremely important as you need to keep participants up to date and informed.  We break down email communications into two major areas and will discuss in two separate postings.  This article will be to address the automated communicated while the next article will address the customized email builder.   Automated communications are the standard communications generated by ServiceReef.  You can de-select any of these communications to not be sent to your team.   Automated Communicaitons Directory  Registration Confirmation - Each participant is emailed after registering for this opportunity with the details about the opportunity (immediately following registration). Registration Notification - The Admins that you setup for this opportunity will get notified every time someone registers for this opportunity (immediately following registration). Participant Approved/Declined - An email will be sent to the participant after you approve or decline his/her registration (when admin approves/declines). Weekly Update - This email goes out every Friday reminding registrants of the trip date, upcoming meetings, and their financial progress (if applicable) (every Friday leading up to the event). Meeting Reminders - An email will be sent to all approved registrants reminding them of any upcoming meetings you have set up (3 days before meeting). Week Before Reminder - This email goes out the week before your event to remind your team about the details of the event. The date and time, location, and contact information are included (week before event). Day Before Reminder - This email goes out the day before your event to remind your team about the details of the event. The date and time, location, and contact information are included (day before event). Opportunity Follow-up - This email thanks your team for participating in the event and prompts them to complete the follow-up survey and share their story from the event (day after event). Week After Follow-up - This email thanks your team for participating in the event and prompts them to complete the follow-up survey (if they haven't done so already), share their story from the event, and sign up for another opportunity from your organization (week after event). Event Admin Summary - This email emails each event administrator weekly with the details about registrations and fundraising progress during the past week (every Friday while donations are active).   NOTE: ServiceReef also offers a premium feature to edit the content of the standard communications - contact us for more information - support@servicereef.com.  

Application questions are the specific pieces of information (questions) you want to ask those who are applying for one of your opportunities.  You do not have to build  application questions but most organization determine a need to ask a few basic additional pieces of information.  We also recommend that you do ask a few questions to help gain a better perspective on your applicants, their interests, and their fit with your organization.   Some example questions you might ask: How did you hear about us? How have you been involved in missional living? What other short term trips have you attended? What have you learned from other short term trips? Why are you applying for this opportunity? What do you hope to learn from this opportunity?   What fears/concerns do you have? How does your family feel about you attending this opportunity? What are your personal strengths? What are your personal weaknesses? What skills do you have to offer? What is your profession? Do you attend our church / are you a member of our organization? Do you have any dietary restrictions? Are you physically fit to perform the team tasks of this opportunity? Is there anything else we should know? You are given the ability to add various types of questions for an application.  Simply click and drag from the right listing of question types to start.  You can always add questions, edit questions, or delete questions.  Questions can also be noted as mandatory or not.   Here are the types of application questions you can build: Single Line Text - Perhaps you were asking how many global opportunities someone has participated in to date. Paragraph Text - Perhaps you were asking for someone’s reason for applying for this opportunity.   Drop Down List - Perhaps you want to know how someone heard about your organization. Single Selection - Perhaps you want to know which activity someone desires to serve in most.  Multiple Selection - Perhaps you want to ask all that apply to someone’s interests and or skills. Section Break - Perhaps you want to divide your questions into understandable categories  Page Break - This segments the user experience to move to a new page in answering questions.  We recommend this for two reasons - first, each time someone moves from one page to another the information is saved, and second, this helps make your application not seem to cumbersome in length.   Upload File - Here you can require a file to be uploaded during the application process - perhaps you require a copy of their driver’s license or their proof of insurance… or you require someone’s resume to apply.   NOTE: ServiceReef requires basic participant information, such as name, email, phone, and address.  You don’t need to add these as additional questions in your application.  When you view a participant’s application all of the ServiceReef data will be displayed with each user along with their answers to your specific questions.  

Qualities of your team members What personality traits are we looking for? Do they need to have certain professional skills? How many is our ideal team size? What if someone can’t make it? What types of cultural awareness is needed? What age ranges work best? Is this a mixed gender event or just for men or women? What expectations do you have for your team members (before, during, and after)? Creating a grading scale (example to the right) Write out each of the application areas by title (left column) Make a sheet for each individual who applies Score each individual with an objective tool like this Discuss with review team each applicant and their score Use comments area to expand your thought