Case study · Working prototype · Workflow automation

Volunteer sign-ups that sort themselves

Agapay Volunteers runs weekend feeding, relief-packing, and reading shifts in Quezon City. Its coordinator spent about two evenings a week copying form answers into a sheet, counting spots per shift, and replying to every volunteer by hand.

Working prototype: Agapay is a fictional client. The demo below runs the real sign-up rules in your browser, with the Google Sheet and emails simulated, so nothing is sent. The Apps Script is the real code and is covered by 26 automated tests.

ClientAgapay Volunteers (fictional), a small nonprofit

The askStop re-typing sign-ups, stop double-booking shifts, and reply to everyone

StackGoogle Forms · Google Sheets · Apps Script · Gmail

Investment₱6,000 (the Workflows starting price)

What happens when someone signs up

Answers checked and tidied
Duplicate skipped
Row saved with an ID
Confirmed or waitlisted
Email to the volunteer
Alert to the coordinator, only when needed
Every step logged

The coordinator hears about three things only: a shift that just filled, someone on the waitlist, and a volunteer with first-aid training. Everything else just works, and a short summary arrives each evening.

Try it

Use the shortcuts to take the last Saturday spot, sign up the same person twice, or send a bad email address. The right side shows the sheet, the emails, the coordinator alerts, and the log as they would appear.

The sign-up form and back office

runs in your browser, sends nothingOpen full size ↗

Tested like software

The same rules file runs in three places: the demo above, the automated tests, and Apps Script. The Apps Script itself is also tested, against stand-ins for Sheets and Gmail. A few of the fourteen cases on the checklist:

✅Mobile typed six different ways0917…, +63…, with dashes or dots. All saved in one format, so the sheet stays clean.

✅Same person signs up twiceThe second one is skipped, nothing is emailed, and the log says why.

✅Two sign-ups at the same momentA script lock stops them from taking the same ID or the last spot.

✅Gmail's daily limit runs outThe sign-up is still saved, and the log lists which email wasn't sent.

✅Testing without emailing anyoneDry-run mode saves and logs everything but sends nothing.

⚠Someone cancelsFor now they reply to the email and the coordinator updates the row. Moving the next person off the waitlist is a manual step.

The files

Read the code that would run in the client's Google account:

intake.gs: the Apps Script (Sheets, Gmail, triggers, dry run, error handling)
intake-core.js: the sign-up rules shared by the script, the demo, and the tests

From ₱6,000

An intake like this usually takes about a week, including setup in your account, testing with your real form, and a one-page guide for changing shifts and capacities.

Is someone on your team still copying form answers by hand?

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