For some organizations, volunteers are required to complete a certain number of hours per semester or reporting term. There are a few options to set this up so volunteers and organizers can easily track progress.
Custom Time Period
Best option if your reporting year is evenly divided into recurring cycles and you want progress to reset automatically. Ex. Volunteers must complete a set number of hours every quarter (3 months) or semi-annually (6 months), and hours reset back to zero at the start of each new cycle.
With this option, you don't need to manually create new milestones each term—the system automatically resets volunteer progress at the end of each recurring window. To set this up, go to Organizer Dashboard > Settings > Milestones. Under the section "Over what kind of time period?" select Custom and enter your recurring interval (e.g., every 3 months or 6 months).
To ensure your recurring cycles line up with your organization's calendar (such as a fiscal year starting July 1st or an academic year starting September 1st), you can establish an anchor date by going to More Settings > Other Configurations and updating the Start Date.
Fixed Time Period
Best option for academic semesters, trimesters, or seasonal cycles with distinct start and end dates. Ex. Fall semester runs from August 25 to December 15, and hours must be completed strictly within that timeframe.
To set up an exact reporting window, go to Organizer Dashboard > Settings > Milestones. When creating or editing a milestone, select Fixed Time Period and enter the exact start and end dates for the active term.
When the term concludes, you can make the milestone Inactive. This freezes the data to preserve historical records and ensure past term totals remain unchanged. To set up the next term, click Duplicate on the archived milestone and enter the new term's start and end dates.
Multi-Level Milestones
Best option to track key benchmarks as the volunteers work towards the total hours required. Ex. Hours can be completed anytime during the year, volunteers may log more hours during one term vs. the other.
For this option, you can set up multiple milestones that progress towards the total hours required. For example, if 15 hours are required each year, you can add milestones for 5 hours and 10 hours.
Organizers can use the summary report to track progress during the year to see if volunteers are on track to complete their hours.