Mosque and temple volunteer roster
A volunteer roster for mosques, temples and gurdwaras
The weekly prayers, the community kitchen and the festival that brings a thousand people all depend on volunteers. FairTurns keeps the regular jobs and the big days on one calendar, and shares the turns out across everyone who helps.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
The weekly jobs, then the big days on top
Every week has its fixed points: the Friday car park, the Saturday clean, the kitchen for the weekend school. In a gurdwara the langar kitchen needs people every day; at a Hindu or Buddhist temple the festival calendar brings weeks when everybody is needed at once. The volunteers are generous, and they are also busy with work, family and study.
Usually the roster is a group chat. Someone posts “who can do the car park Friday?” and the same reliable people answer. Before a festival or the last ten nights of Ramadan, the committee spends hours on the phone working out who is cooking, who is on the gate and who is cleaning up.
How FairTurns works for a mosque, temple or gurdwara
Teams for each job
Kitchen, Car park, Cleaning, Security, Weekend school: each team with its own colour and its own coordinator.
The weekly rhythm set once
Click a Friday, set the time and choose “Every week on Friday”. The dates are kept up to 12 months ahead.
Festivals as one-off dates
The lunar and festival calendars move each year, so add Eid, Diwali, Vaisakhi or Vesak as one-off dates with Just this once, then press Fill.
Turns shared out
Fill gives each place to whoever has had the fewest turns in that job, so the same few aren’t on every week.
Men’s and women’s teams
Where men and women volunteer in separate teams, make two teams and put each person in the one that fits.
Many languages, one link
The public roster shows names, days and times, so it reads the same whatever language the group chat is in.
Set it up
- 01
Create your organisation
Create the mosque, temple or gurdwara and add a team for each job.
- 02
Set the places
Add positions with headcounts, such as “Car park, 3 people”.
- 03
Add the volunteers
Share a join link in the community group, or paste a list of names.
- 04
Add the dates
Set the weekly dates, then add festivals and special nights one at a time.
- 05
Fill and share
Press Fill, check the Turns booked chart and post the public link in the group.
When you want it to run itself
Pro emails volunteers who have accepted an invitation a reminder before their turn and the roster on the day you choose. If they can’t make it they say so from the email, the coordinator is told, and the next volunteer in line is asked, which helps most in the busy weeks before a festival.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- For a busy month such as Ramadan, add each night as its own date and Fill the whole month at once, so families can plan around their turns.
- Keep the join link off except when you’re recruiting, and switch it off again once people have joined.
- Volunteers don’t pick their own dates: you put them on, and they mark the days they’re away. FairTurns works around those.
- FairTurns shows dates and times only. Prayer times, religious calendars and announcements stay with your usual notices.
Questions
Can we roster the community kitchen every day?
Yes. Make a kitchen team and add a weekly repeat for each day you cook, for example Every week on Monday through to Every week on Sunday. Each repeat is kept months ahead.
Can volunteers who don’t read English use it?
The public roster is mostly names, days and times, which most people can read on a phone. Volunteers without email can be added by name and still appear on the roster and the printed copy.
How do we handle Ramadan or a festival week?
Add those dates as one-offs in the teams that need them, or make a Ramadan team with its own headcount, and press Fill for that month. The weekly roster carries on underneath, and nobody is put on two jobs at overlapping times.
Can the committee see every team while volunteers only see theirs?
Yes. Administrators see everything; members see the teams they are on. A team moderator runs one team, such as the kitchen.
What does it cost for a community centre?
The roster is free with no limit on volunteers, teams or dates. Pro, with reminders and replies, is A$1 a month for the whole organisation.
Free templates and guides
Volunteer roster template
A volunteer schedule with shifts, roles, a contact column and a spot to tick in on the day.
How to make a volunteer roster
Roles, headcounts, away days and a roster people can check: a volunteer roster that lasts the season.
Repeating dates
Every Saturday, every second Tuesday, the last Sunday of the month: set it once, kept ahead.
Similar rosters
Church rosters
Music, sound, welcomers, kids and morning tea on one shared church roster, free for every team.
Food bank and community meals
Pick-up drivers, packers and a kitchen lead for food relief, with the right people on each job.
Event volunteers
Gate, car park, raffle and pack-down shifts for a fête or festival, on one page every helper can open.