What is the difference between an Event and an Opportunity?

Opportunities are persistent events at a fixed location. They have a fixed Start Time and End Time, and any volunteer can check into them on the Civic Champs mobile app for the entire duration between that Start Time and End Time. For example, if I create an Opportunity with a Start Time + Start Date of 9:00am on July 1st, and an End Time of 9:00pm on July 10th, the Opportunity exists to be checked into starting 9:00am on July 1st, and is available the entire time through July 10th at 9:00pm. Opportunities do not track registrations, so there is no way for a volunteer to signal intent to show up for an Opportunity.

Events, on the other hand, can be set to recur with a fixed schedule, so you could make a 9:00am - 12:00pm event that occurs every day between July 1st and July 10th, and it would only be available to be checked into during that three hour window. Events can also specify a maximum number of roles available, so volunteers can register ahead of time.

We generally recommend Opportunities for open-ended volunteering activities -- situations where regular volunteers might be coming and going with irregular schedules, and can track their hours either through a kiosk, or the Civic Champs mobile app.

If you have a big event with capacity limitations, or a large one-time volunteer base, Events are probably better suited. Registration limits communicate when your organization is in need of volunteers, and registering ahead of time lets them get all of their onboarding paperwork (questionnaires and waivers) taken care ahead of time.