Rosterfy Launches Volunteer Chat on Stream & Connects 42,000 Volunteers at a Major Global Event
The Challenge
Rosterfy is used by more than 5 million volunteers and staff worldwide. Its customers run large-scale volunteer programs that depend on fast, clear communication. While Rosterfy already offered SMS, email, and in-app notifications, there was a growing need for a dedicated group messaging solution to help customers streamline communication and coordinate volunteers across large, complex programs.
Before Stream, customers often turned to WhatsApp and Facebook groups to share bulk updates. Some larger organisations used Microsoft Teams to coordinate between leaders and administrators. Everyone knew these tools, but they sat outside Rosterfy, and no data passed between the platforms.
"We chose Stream because it was a proven platform for B2B organisations. Its availability in multiple regions, adherence to data and privacy regulations, and its multi-tenancy system all played an important role in our decision-making and ultimately, our selection of Stream. AI moderation was also a big plus, of course."
- Paul Zala, Technical Squad Lead, Rosterfy
Results
After full integration, the new functionality was put to the test not only for one of the world's large-scale events but also for one of the world's biggest volunteer programs, with Stream serving as its chat infrastructure.
About 42,000 volunteers were connected, and about 80,000 messages were sent across 795 channels. At the busiest moment, 1,460 volunteers were connected and watching channels at the same time.
The launch took Rosterfy from 10,000 monthly active users in April to almost 40,000 in May.
With Stream Chat, administrators had the ability to share up-to-date information with volunteers quickly. Volunteers could message each other, share updates and photos in real time, and answer each other's questions. This reduced how much team leaders had to handle every update and query themselves.
"The photo sharing was particularly powerful to see. At an event of that scale, it can be difficult to capture what the experience means to each volunteer, but seeing people share photos, memories, and moments with one another through the platform brought that impact to life."
Rosterfy now runs all volunteer chats on Stream, with plans to explore custom moderation for each customer so that volunteers are protected, and genuine conversations still get through.
"Having Stream-powered chat available during large-scale sporting events transformed the experience for both administrators and volunteers, making it easier to stay connected and communicate when it mattered most."
