Thanksgiving potluck sign-up sheet

What a Thanksgiving potluck sign-up sheet looks like

A Thanksgiving potluck sign-up sheet lists each dish as a slot, grouped by course. Guests open one link, pick a dish and type their name and email.

How to set up your potluck sign-up sheet

These steps build the example above. A new signup already has a What field and a Date field, so you only add Course.

1. Sign in to OpenSignup and choose New signup. If you see “What are you organizing?”, choose “Skip, fill in by hand”.
2. Type “Friendsgiving potluck” as the Title. Put the dinner time and what to bring in the description, then choose Create signup.
3. Choose Fields, then Add field. Type Course as its name, pick List, and choose Add field again to save it. Then set Group slots by to Course.
4. Open the slot marked Set what. Type “Turkey, about 12 lb” in What and set the Date to Thursday, November 26, 2026. For Course, choose Add to list and type Main. Leave Option 1, the list's placeholder, unused.
5. Choose Duplicate, then open the copy. It keeps the date, so change What, and Course when you reach a new course. Repeat for each dish.
6. Last, open the rolls, pumpkin pie and drinks slots, and set Capacity to 2 in each. A copy keeps the spots of the slot it came from, so doing this last keeps every other dish at 1.
7. Choose Publish. On a phone, it's under the three dots, as Publish signup. Copy the Public link and send it to your group chat.

On a computer, choose Preview before you publish to see the sheet as guests will. Phones don't show this button. For screenshots of each screen, see how to create and publish your first signup. If you use Claude, you can describe the potluck instead and Claude builds the sign-up sheet as a draft for you to check.

How many dishes do you need for 12 people?

The example feeds about 12: two mains, five sides, two desserts, drinks and supplies. The vegetarian main gives a guest who skips meat more than sides, and the gluten-free dessert means a guest who can't eat gluten still gets dessert.

For more guests, add spots rather than rows. At 20 people, give mashed potatoes and green beans two spots each. At 30, give stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce two spots each, and rolls, pumpkin pie and drinks three. One row per dish keeps the list short, and guests see at a glance what's still open.

Drinks and supplies are the easy asks, so leave them for guests who don't cook. The foil and containers slot means leftovers go home with guests instead of sitting on your counter.

Who should bring the turkey?

The turkey needs the oven for hours, and it decides when everyone eats. That makes it easiest for the host to cook. If that's you, keep the turkey slot and sign up for it yourself. It then shows as full, as in the example, and nobody buys a second one.

For 12 guests, buy a turkey of about 12 pounds. USDA says to allow 1 pound of turkey per person. (USDA turkey guide, checked September 26, 2026)

If you want a guest to bring it, thawing is the hard part. A frozen turkey needs about 24 hours in the fridge for every 4 to 5 pounds. (USDA turkey guide, checked September 26, 2026) So a 12-pound bird needs about 3 days. To be thawed by Thursday morning, it goes in the fridge by Monday morning, November 23.

The reminder email comes the day before, which is too late for that. So put the thaw day in the slot itself, like “Turkey, in the fridge by Monday morning”. Then it's in the confirmation email they get when they sign up.

What to write in the description

Guests read the description before they pick a dish. Three lines there save trouble on the day:

• When dinner is. Then everyone knows when their dish has to be ready.
• Bring it ready to serve. Your oven is busy with the turkey until dinner, and your fridge will be full. Ask for hot dishes to arrive hot and cold ones to arrive chilled.
• What's in each dish. Ask guests to name nuts, dairy or gluten in their sign-up note, and on a card by the dish.

If you're cooking the turkey, say so there too, as the example does.

OpenSignup has no question field for allergies, so guests use the note. Notes are in the CSV file you download, not on the Responses screen. If a guest can't eat gluten, add a slot for it, like the gluten-free dessert in the example. Then it's on the list and someone owns it.

When should you send the link?

Send it about two weeks ahead, on Thursday, November 12. Guests know their plans by then and haven't shopped yet. Whoever takes the turkey still has time to buy and thaw it.

Look again a week out, on Thursday, November 19. OpenSignup doesn't message guests for you, so post the link again in your group chat and name the gaps: “Still need mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.” Anything nobody has taken by the weekend before is yours to buy, or to delete from the list.

If rolls still have one spot left, lower their Capacity to 1 rather than delete the slot. Deleting a slot also removes the sign-ups in it, and nobody is emailed.

What happens after guests sign up

• Each guest gets a confirmation email listing their slot's What, Date and Course. It has a link to change or cancel.
• After signing up, they can choose Add to calendar. The dinner goes in their calendar as an all-day event on Thursday, November 26.
• Each guest gets a reminder email the day before, on Wednesday, November 25. Someone who signs up less than a day ahead gets one about an hour after signing up, though a sign-up on the day itself may get none. Every reminder has a link to stop them.
• Reminders are on for every new signup. You can switch them off for yours.

OpenSignup can't collect money, so it won't split the cost of the turkey. Reminders come by email only, not by text.

Frequently asked questions

Related reading