How to keep an event “Invisible”

You have an event coming up and you want it to be exclusive (at least initially) to one specific group. You want to be able to promote it to them, possibly add some of them to the roster yourself but do not want the general volunteer pool to be able to sign up for the event. In order to have access to both the promote and roster features you will have to publish the event.

Here is how to keep your event “Invisible” to all.

When creating the event, under Event Location, give it a zip code of 00000 before you publish it. Since the system bases what opportunities to display on the Home Page and Event Calendar by way of the end users zip code, the event will not appear for anyone (it will still appear within the Manage pages to any managers with access to the group it is assigned to).

By using the Promote feature you can then target your specific group and it will send an email to them with a direct link to the event so they will be able to see it and sign up for it. You can also click on the “View as a volunteer” link from within the event description after you have published, copy the URL from the browser and send that directly to users you want to have sign up.

Once the group you are focused on having sign up has done so, or you choose to open the event up for all to see, simply go back and edit the event description and put in the valid zip code.

Note: The “Driving Directions” link in the event will not function properly until you enter a valid zip code.