A food bank volunteer rota in Google Forms, with helpers per shift and role
List each shift and role with the number of helpers it needs. A full role closes on the form, and extra helpers go on a waiting list.
Install from MarketplaceFree for one form up to 25 responses. Then $12 once, with no subscription.
Food bank helpers, this week
Which shifts and roles can you do? (checkboxes)
- Monday morning, sorting4 helpers
- Monday morning, driverFull · 2 waiting
- Wednesday evening, packing5 helpers
- Saturday morning, front desk2 helpers
Who it is for
Helpers pick their shifts on your ordinary Google Form. You see who is doing what in Your list, without counting answers in a spreadsheet.
Food bank rota
- Food banks and community pantries with sorting, packing and driving shifts.
- Charity shops and community kitchens with a weekly rota.
- Community groups running a one-off collection or appeal.
Food bank helpers, this week
Which shifts and roles can you do? (checkboxes)
- Monday morning, sorting4 helpers
- Monday morning, driverFull · 2 waiting
- Wednesday evening, packing5 helpers
- Saturday morning, front desk2 helpers
- Saturday morning, packing4 helpers
The options and their limits
Each option is one shift and one role, with the number of helpers it needs. A helper can tick several, and each one they tick takes one place.
When Monday's two drivers are found, that option closes on the form. The sorting shift on the same morning stays open.
In this example Monday morning, driver is full and two people are waiting for it.
17 places in total. That fits the free plan, which covers up to 25 responses after limits are turned on.
How to set it up
Start from a copy of this form, or from a form you already have.
- 1Add each shift and role as one optionMake a checkbox question with options such as "Monday morning, driver". Add a short-answer question for the helper's name.
- 2Collect email addressesIn the form's Settings, under Responses, turn on Collect email addresses.
- 3Type the helpers each option needsOpen Choice Limit from the add-ons button and type a number beside each one.
- 4Choose Show it as full, with a waiting listExtra helpers then have a place in line if someone cannot make it.
- 5Turn on and sharePress Turn on, then send the form link to your helpers.
Food bank helpers, this week
You are on the waiting list for Monday morning, driver
Every place for Monday morning, driver is taken at the moment, so you are on the waiting list.
Option
Monday morning, driver
On the waiting listWhat people see
People fill in your ordinary Google Form. Under the question they see how many places are left for each option. A full option is hidden, or marked "full, join the waiting list".
- Anyone who joins a waiting list gets an email with their number in line.
- When a place opens up, the next person gets it and an email saying so.
- Emails come from your own Google account, so replies come to you.
Good to know
What Choice Limit does and does not do for this kind of form. Read the help page for more.
Shift and role together
Choice Limit counts places for each option on its own. Put the shift and the role in one option, so a driver place and a sorting place are counted apart.
Someone cannot make it
Free this place frees only that shift. Their other shifts stay as they are, and the next person waiting moves up.
Helpers without a Google account
Set Collect email addresses to Responder input so they can type any address. Anyone without one is marked Not emailed in Your list.
A weekly rota
The free plan covers up to 25 responses after limits are turned on, which a weekly rota soon passes. Unlocking costs $12, paid once.
Set limits on your food bank rota form
Install Choice Limit from the Google Workspace Marketplace, then make a copy of this form. Free for one form up to 25 responses, then $12 once.
