How a Volunteer Management System Helped Apple Fest Organize 350+ Volunteers
Managing volunteers for a large community festival requires more than publishing a sign-up form and hoping every position gets filled.
The Glastonbury Apple Harvest & Music Festival requires approximately 354 volunteers across five days of setup, festival operations, and breakdown. Volunteers serve in around 12 different areas, each with its own schedule, responsibilities, and staffing needs.
When Faithful Marketing & Events first became involved in 2023, the festival did not have a centralized system capable of managing that complexity.
What began as a volunteer commitment grew into a multi-year partnership and a complete transformation of the festival’s volunteer management process.
Case Study at a Glance
Organization: Connecticut River Valley Chamber of Commerce
Event: Glastonbury Apple Harvest & Music Festival
Location: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Partnership: 2023–2026
Volunteer need: Approximately 354 volunteers
Volunteer timeframe: Five days, including setup and breakdown
Volunteer areas: 12 roles and service areas
Average positions filled: Roughly 75%
Estimated returning-volunteer rate: 63%
Primary services: Volunteer recruitment, registration, role development, training, scheduling, communication, check-in, on-site coordination, recognition, and evaluation
The Challenge: Managing Volunteers Without a Centralized System
Before Faithful became involved, Apple Fest was using SignUpGenius alongside emails, text messages, and direct outreach to individuals and community groups.
The festival had dedicated people willing to help, but it lacked a single source of information. Some volunteers registered online. Others committed through an email, text message, or conversation with a member of the Chamber team.
Volunteer roles also lacked detailed job descriptions, making it hard for people to understand what they were agreeing to do or how to prepare.
The challenge became even greater when the festival’s previous volunteer lead left. The remaining team was suddenly responsible for coordinating hundreds of volunteers without a clear system for determining:
Who had committed to volunteer
Which shifts volunteers had selected
Where each person was supposed to report
Which positions were fully staffed
Where significant staffing gaps remained
Which volunteers had received the information they needed
The problem was not a lack of effort. It was the absence of a volunteer management system that connected recruitment, registration, training, scheduling, communication, and on-site execution.
Experiencing the Problem Firsthand
Faithful Marketing & Events founder Erin Hostetler first became involved with Apple Fest as a volunteer in 2023.
Having recently moved to Connecticut without an established local network, Erin offered her time as a way to serve the community, meet people, and become more connected to the area. She was asked to help manage volunteers during the festival weekend but was not involved in any of the advance planning.
When she arrived, the volunteer sign-up information did not accurately reflect what was happening on-site. It was difficult to determine who had registered, who was actually coming, and where each volunteer was supposed to serve.
Erin managed the information and resources she had been given, but the experience revealed a much larger need. The festival did not simply need another person helping during the event. It needed an organized process that could support hundreds of volunteers before, during, and after the festival.
Recognizing the value of Erin’s experience, the Chamber invited her back in 2024 as a paid professional to rebuild and manage the volunteer program.
The Approach: Building One Volunteer Management System
In 2024, Erin revamped the entire volunteer management process using the same foundational strategies now included in Faithful’s Volunteer Management Operating System.
1. Developing the Volunteer Training Manual
The first step was defining what the volunteer program actually required.
Faithful developed a comprehensive Volunteer Training Manual containing the information volunteers needed to serve confidently, including festival details, role descriptions, arrival instructions, policies, check-in procedures, and other essential information.
With 12 volunteer areas and numerous shifts, Apple Fest could not rely on general requests for help. Each role needed clearly defined responsibilities, schedules, and expectations.
The festival does not need every type of volunteer at the same time. Setup and breakdown teams serve outside regular festival hours. The Kids Zone only operates during the day. Parking, box office, and other operational areas each require their own staffing plans.
Documenting these needs in the Training Manual gave the festival a clear structure from which the rest of the volunteer program could be built. It also gave every volunteer one consistent resource to reference rather than requiring them to piece together information from separate emails or verbal instructions.
The Volunteer Training Manual became the backbone of the program.
2. Building One Central Registration Process
Once the roles, schedules, and volunteer needs were clearly defined, Faithful used that information to build a new registration system through Signup.com.
Each registration opportunity was connected to a specific role, date, shift, and number of available positions. This allowed volunteers to understand what they were signing up for and select opportunities that matched their interests, availability, and comfort level.
Faithful also established a clear expectation: every volunteer needed to register through the same system.
This change received some initial resistance. Individuals and groups were accustomed to committing through emails, text messages, or personal conversations. Asking everyone to complete a formal registration felt like an unnecessary additional step to some longtime participants.
However, central registration gave the team something it had not previously possessed: an accurate, accessible view of who intended to volunteer, when they planned to arrive, and where they were scheduled to serve.
Instead of piecing together information from several people and communication channels, the staff could work from one shared source of information.
3. Strengthening Recruitment and Communication
Filling more than 350 volunteer positions requires ongoing recruitment rather than a single public announcement.
Faithful recruits through multiple channels, including:
Returning volunteers
Schools and college students
Civic and community organizations
Local businesses
Churches
Parks and Recreation
Social media
Email marketing
Direct community outreach
Volunteer communications continue throughout the process, from the initial invitation and registration confirmation through training, event reminders, final instructions, and post-event recognition.
This allows the festival to maintain relationships with previous volunteers while continually reaching new individuals and groups.
4. Organizing Check-In and On-Site Deployment
A registration platform is only useful if the information translates into a smooth on-site experience.
Faithful established organized check-in and check-out procedures, volunteer badges, waivers, refreshments, and a clearer process for tracking attendance and no-shows.
The structure makes it easier for check-in volunteers to understand their responsibilities and assist others. Many of the volunteers managing check-in have shared that they enjoy the role because the process is straightforward, organized, and easy to follow.
Centralized information also allows Erin to see where volunteers are actually reporting and make informed adjustments during the event. If one area has more help than it needs while another is short, volunteers can be asked to move where they will have the greatest impact.
The Results
Since implementing the new system, Apple Fest has filled about 75% of its 354 volunteer positions each year and maintained a 63% returning-volunteer rate.
The festival’s in-person orientation also draws around 50 volunteers, giving them an opportunity to ask questions, become familiar with the event, and prepare for their individual responsibilities.
Beyond the numbers, volunteers arrive feeling more informed and confident. Check-in and check-out run smoothly, Chamber leadership has a clearer view of the volunteer schedule, and the on-site team can quickly identify staffing gaps and move volunteers where they are needed most.
The system has not eliminated the challenge of recruiting more than 350 volunteers each year. It has given the festival accurate information and a repeatable process for recruiting, preparing, and managing those volunteers successfully.
An Honest Look at the Remaining Challenge
Not every volunteer role is equally appealing.
Parking attendants and box-office volunteers remain the most difficult positions to fill. Parking is a particularly consistent challenge, not only for Apple Fest but across many of the large events Faithful has managed.
People often volunteer because they want to participate in the energy of an event, connect with others, and feel close to the activity. A parking position can feel removed from the entertainment and excitement, making it less attractive than roles located inside the festival.
Apple Fest has successfully partnered with Parks and Recreation to help cover some of these positions. However, Faithful is now recommending that the festival consider hiring staff for certain parking responsibilities rather than continuing to depend entirely on volunteers.
This is not a failure of the volunteer management system. It is an example of what a strong system can reveal.
When registration and staffing information are accurate, event leadership can identify positions that are consistently difficult to fill and make informed decisions about whether those responsibilities are appropriate for volunteers.
What Other Organizations Can Learn from Apple Fest
The most important lesson from Apple Fest is simple: you have to have a system.
One registration form alone is not a volunteer management system. A complete system connects:
Recruitment
Role descriptions
Centralized registration
Training
Scheduling
Communication
Waivers and documentation
Check-in and check-out
On-site deployment
Volunteer support
Recognition
Evaluation
For Apple Fest, the Volunteer Training Manual and centralized registration platform have become two of the most important pieces of that system.
The manual ensures volunteers receive consistent information and staff are all on one page for operations. The registration platform provides an accurate view of who is serving and when they are expected to arrive. Together, they create the foundation needed to manage hundreds of people across multiple days, shifts, and locations.
A successful volunteer program must also remain flexible. Even with careful planning, one area may end up with extra volunteers while another experiences a shortage. Leaders need enough visibility to recognize those differences and enough structure to move volunteers where they are most needed.
The goal is not simply to fill names into available slots. It is to create an experience in which volunteers feel prepared, their time is used well, and their service meaningfully supports the event.
Build Your Volunteer Management System
The strategies Faithful implemented for Apple Fest are the same foundational strategies included in the Volunteer Management Operating System.
The system gives you the structure and ready-to-use resources to recruit volunteers, organize registration, define roles, prepare your team, manage event-day operations, and continue strengthening your program year after year.
Whether your organization needs 20 volunteers or more than 350, you do not have to build every piece of your volunteer program from scratch.
Not ready for the full system? Start with the free Volunteer Program Checklist to see what is working in your current program and where you may need a stronger process.
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