GIS For
Volunteer
Engagement

02 / Start Here

Your First Successful Map Session

A geographic information system, or GIS, connects information to places. For this team, its value is practical: seeing where volunteers and community needs may come together.

1. Open the right map. Ask the meeting host or your team’s map owner for the exact Chapter View link. A portal is the doorway to many maps; it is not the same thing as your team’s app.
2. Find a place you know. Start with your chapter, county, or town. Familiar geography makes unfamiliar controls easier to understand.
3. Turn on one useful layer. Begin with Volunteers. Leave unrelated layers off until you need them.
4. Read the legend. Check what the colors and symbols actually mean before drawing a conclusion.
5. Try one available filter. Choose a group or area, notice what changed, then clear the filter.
6. Write down one next question. For example: “Do these volunteers have the skills and availability needed for our outreach event?”

Four Words You Will Hear

03 / Sign-In And Licenses

Get The Access Your Work Requires

How To Sign In

1. Open ARC NHQ GIS in your normal browser. Check that you are at the Red Cross organization.
2. Choose Sign In, then the Red Cross organization sign-in option. Complete the normal Red Cross sign-in prompts yourself.
3. Return to the exact app link your team uses. Confirm that both the app and the required layers load.

How To Request Access Or A License

Ask your team lead or map owner to identify the Red Cross GIS administrator and the current internal request route. Request the access needed for your actual work. The administrator assigns the appropriate user type, role, and group membership.

Include These Details In Your Request

Your name and Red Cross email; chapter and team; the exact app link; what you need to do; whether you only need to view or also create maps; and a description of the error. Send error screenshots only through approved internal channels, with private information removed.

General licensing basis: Esri user types and member roles. Red Cross administrators determine local assignments.

04 / The Controls

What To Click, And What To Expect

These labels come from the Chapter View screenshot supplied for the session. The exact choices depend on the version of the app and the access assigned to you.

If The Map Looks Empty

Check the layer box, zoom level, active filters, sign-in, and loading state. Ask the owner whether the layer is current and shared with you. An empty screen alone cannot establish that an area has no volunteers.

05 / Groups And Symbols

Different Groups, Clearer Symbols

Different colors can distinguish volunteer groups when the approved data contains a suitable category. First agree what the group means.

Before Choosing Colors

1. Identify the category. Department, position, primary assignment, and service may describe different things. Use a field that actually exists in the approved layer.
2. Check the values. Inconsistent labels and missing entries can split one group into several categories. Ask the data owner to resolve the issue in the approved source.
3. Handle multiple roles. Decide whether the question concerns a primary department or anyone serving in a department. A person with multiple assignments can otherwise be counted more than once.

If You Are Exploring Chapter View

Use the sublayers and filters provided by the app. Read the existing legend. If the department view you need is unavailable, ask the map owner to configure it. An app user may not have a symbol-editing control.

If You Are An Authorized Map Author

1. In ArcGIS Online Map Viewer, select the approved volunteer layer.
2. Open Styles, select the categorical field, and choose Types (unique symbols) where available.
3. Assign distinct colors and, where supported, shapes. Give the legend clear group names. Keep missing or unclassified values visible.
4. Review the result with the team. Save only within the scope approved by the map and data owners. Do not overwrite a shared operational map during a demonstration.

The presentation’s volunteer-location exercise uses fictional display positions. It shows how filtering works without exposing real volunteer locations, names, or addresses.

Authoring reference: Esri: Style categories. Menu availability depends on the data, app, and privileges.

06 / Filters

Show Fewer Things, Then Reset

A filter narrows the view to records that match a condition. It does not, by itself, delete the hidden records.

In Your Team’s App

1. Open Filters. Look at the choices the app actually offers.
2. Select one group. Use a real value from its list. Do not assume the example category names are present in your map.
3. Apply the filter if prompted. Observe the visible result and the legend. If a count is shown, check whether it counts people, records, or assignments.
4. Add an area only when useful. Select a county or chapter if that control exists. Notice whether the map automatically zooms.
5. Clear the filter. Confirm the broader set reappears before asking a different question.

“And” Versus “Or”

Conceptual examples only; confirm the available fields and values.

For Authorized Map Authors

In Map Viewer, select the layer and open Filter. Add a condition using a field, operator, and value. Use the “all” matching option for AND or “any” for OR. Apply the filter and inspect the result. Saving the map requires suitable privileges and owner approval.

07 / Community Mobilization

A Small Toolkit For Real Questions

Use one tool at a time. Begin with the service area, explore one community question, and agree on a practical follow-up.

Before Calling An Area A Volunteer Gap

Confirm the records are current, the locations are complete, and the filter includes the intended group. Check skills, willingness, availability, travel barriers, community demand, and existing partners. A home location is not a promise of service capacity.

A Simple Community Conversation

1. Choose one familiar place. Ask what local partners already know.
2. Compare the map with that knowledge. Identify what is useful, missing, or surprising.
3. Name one possible action. An outreach conversation, recruitment event, partner visit, or data-quality check.
4. Assign a follow-up. Record the person responsible and a date to revisit the question.

08 / Takeaway

Your Next Session Checklist

• I have the exact link to the map my team uses.
• I can sign in to ARC NHQ GIS using the Red Cross option.
• I know who to contact if the app or a layer is unavailable.
• I can turn a layer on and read its legend.
• I can select a record without sharing private details.
• I can apply one available filter and clear it.
• I can explain what a dot represents and what it does not.
• I have one community question and one follow-up action.

Sharing And Privacy

Keep real volunteer addresses, contact details, and individual records inside authorized Red Cross systems. Use only approved aggregates for wider sharing. During Teams demonstrations, confirm the audience before displaying record details. Never send passwords, sign-in codes, or access tokens to another person.

Sources And Boundaries

1. Session inputs: Jeff Franzen’s supplied GIS.pptx and the supplied Chapter View screenshot. They establish the presentation theme and visible control labels, not every available field or permission.
2. ARC NHQ GIS: the Red Cross organization doorway. The internal license request contact and process remain to be confirmed.
3. Esri user types and member roles: general access and authoring distinctions.
4. Esri category styles and filters: Map Viewer authoring guidance. Chapter View controls may differ.
5. The linked tool pages on page 7 provide their own current scope and source information. This guide does not certify their data freshness or replace local review.