Creating a volunteer profile

How do I create a profile?

1. Make sure you have created an initial volunteer account with Reach. You will be asked to provide a name, display name and email address, and then will be contacted with a verification email to complete your account set up.
2. When you next login, you should see the ‘Complete your profile’ prompt on your dashboard: 

3. On the next two steps, you’ll need to confirm you meet Reach’s criteria for volunteers, and agree to our community agreement. Read more about Reach’s criteria for volunteers.

4. After this, you will be directed to complete your profile.

What do I need to include in my profile?

Your work experience

We’ll ask you to upload a copy of your CV or a link to your LinkedIn profile. You can also add an optional link to your website or portfolio.

When you submit your profile, our team will use this information to ensure you meet our criteria for volunteers. For this reason, it’s helpful to upload your most recent CV, or check your LinkedIn is up to date. 

Your skills

You can select up to 10 skills you’d like to offer organisations. Check out our guidance on how to select the right ones.

Search by keyword or use the dropdown to select.

Your address, work location and distance

Your address won’t be public, but your postcode and town will be visible to organisations if you choose to make your profile publicly visible (see below: privacy). 

We’ll also use your location information to send you suggestions of roles that might be a good fit, after your profile is approved. For example, you can let us know that you’re only interested in roles within 10 miles of your address. 

Photo

A photo is completely optional, but it does help your profile look complete!

About you and what you’re looking for

These are the most important parts of your profile. 

Use this opportunity to paint a picture of what you care about, your prior experience - including any volunteering - and what you’re able to offer organisations.Organisations have told us that understanding why volunteers are passionate about their causes is very important to them, so don’t be shy in talking about what you are interested in, and why.  

Remember: Reach is a volunteering platform, so it’s OK to be informal and share more about yourself than you would on a jobs site. 

Not sure what to write? Click ‘See an example’ on any field for some inspiration. 

Causes

By default, we opt you in to all causes. However, if you untick ‘I'm open to all causes’, you can manually select as many as you like. 

As with skills, search by keyword or use the dropdown to select.

Type of role

Select the type of roles you’re interested in: 

• Short-term projects: A project that can be completed within about six months
• Ongoing roles: A longer lasting role within the organisation that does not sit at board level
• Trustee roles: A trustee, governor, director or committee member who, together with the rest of the board, has overall legal responsibility for the charity and sets its strategic direction.

Availability 

Let organisations know when you’re available to work. You can add some detail here if it doesn’t fit a clear pattern!

Profile visibility

Your new profile is set to public by default, but you can later change this here, or by visiting your dashboard and editing your profile.

You’ve got two options: 

• Public: Your profile will be visible in our searches and organisations will be able to suggest roles to you. Your LinkedIn, CV and/or portfolio will be hidden from organisations however, when you apply for a role, your full profile and work history will be available to them.
• Private: Your profile will be hidden from search, so organisations cannot suggest roles to you. However, when you apply for a role, your full profile and work history will be available to them.

Review and submit 

After you’ve filled out your profile, you can review what you’ve added and make any changes before submitting. You can also click on the steps at the top of the page to go backwards. All your changes will be saved.

What happens when I submit my profile?

Once you submit your profile, someone from the Reach service team will review it and check you meet our criteria for volunteers. If you do, we’ll approve your profile within three working days - although it can take longer during busy periods. If the team has any questions, they will be in touch. More information about How and Why Reach reviews volunteers.

Can I apply for roles while I’m waiting?

Yes! You can apply for as many roles as you like while your profile is being reviewed. These applications will be held until your profile is approved, after which they’ll be sent immediately. 

Can I apply for an unlimited number of roles?

Yes - with a volunteer profile, you can apply for as many roles as you would like to. However, we would  recommend not having more than a few open applications at a time, as it might be difficult to juggle too many applications at once.

Does what I include in my profile affect how I can use the site?

• The information you provide on your profile is what will be visible to organisations. Depending on your profile visibility, organisations will either see your profile in our volunteer search, or when you apply for roles with them.
• We also use your preferences to set up a Profile Match email, which we’ll send to you each week with roles that match your interests, skills and availability. This email can be turned off by going to Dashboard > Saved Searches and Alerts.
• You can apply for any roles on the site, no matter what you’ve included in your profile. For example, if you have a preference for trustee roles, you can still apply for ongoing roles. However, we would encourage you to apply for roles that reflect your interests, skills and availability, so you can better match with organisations. 

If you have any questions about our platform, please contact us on [email protected] or 0203 925 7721

Our Knowledge Base is full of articles to help you use our service.