Connected One-stop Volunteer Management Solution
When I began to manage small groups of volunteers to cook breakfast for a YWCA Women's Shelter, I had no idea what I was getting into.
Turns out recruiting volunteers was the easy part — the real challenge is what came after.
Conflicting schedules, no-shows, missing contact info, a corrupt Excel file, competition over who gets to do what (I once had to break up a fight over who would fry the bacon)... the list goes on.
These issues led me to search for volunteer management software that could help. Given my budget was $0, I was delighted to find a number of free volunteer management tools that offered simple shift scheduling, automated email reminders, easy online registration, and tools to help me match jobs to volunteer skills. A quick evaluation of the tools I found led me to the perfect one for my needs, which has solved my problems ever since.
To help others like me, I've put together this list of every volunteer management tool I've come across to help volunteer managers from any sized organization.
And if you want to learn about more easy tech tools that can help you work with volunteers, join our webinar on August 27th with nonprofit tech pro Amy Neumann.
In this list, you'll find:
- Top 10 free volunteer management software solutions
- How to use WildApricot for volunteer management
- Top 5 inexpensive volunteer management software solutions
- Top 6 free AND inexpensive volunteer scheduling software solutions
- 6 additional free resources for volunteer managers
Note:WildApricot is an all-in-one nonprofit management option used by over 20,000 organizations (here's a link to our free, 30-day trial).
Top 10 Free Volunteer Management Software Solutions
If you're a small organization looking for a simple way to manage and engage volunteers, or have a smaller budget, consider one of these solutions. All of them have a free plan with enough options that you'll be able to easily sign volunteers up and see when they're scheduled.
1) iVolunteer.com
Free Account Details:
- Unlimited sign ups by up to 15 volunteers
- 1 administrator
- Free accounts must be renewed every 30 days
Ivolunteer.com is an easy, effective way to sign up volunteers for events and to manage volunteer scheduling. Just publish your event through email or on your website and Ivolunteer.com will take care of the rest. Features include reusable sign-up sheets, automated emails, and advanced reporting. Premium accounts start at $20/month.
2) RosterVolunteers
Free Account Details:
- No limits to the number of volunteers who can register
- Free accounts have all premium features, but have ads
RosterVolunteers is a basic volunteer registering software that can be accessed by members, leaders, administrators, and supervisors. Functions include a schedule view with 1-click confirmation (for volunteers) and 1-click mass reminder email (for supervisors only), as well as several features to easily create on-the-fly mass emails based on member qualifications/duties.
3) SignUp
Free Account Details:
- 1 Group Page
- 1 Custom Question Field on signup sheet
- 1 Primary Organizer
SignUp makes it easy to create a volunteer group and begin coordinating them right away. Features include unlimited emails, customized signup themes, reminders, shift scheduling, and unlimited signups. Formerly VolunteerSpot.com. Premium accounts start at $9.99/month.
4) Signup Zone
Free Account Details:
- Free unlimited signups
Signup Zone makes it easy to create a signup form and allows volunteers to see what time slots need to be filled. Add an overview page of your event for $10/year, and a custom URL for a one-time fee of $10.
5) Sons of Service
Free Account Details:
- Open source software, 100% free
- Unlimited users and admins
Sons of Service (SOS) is a 100% free volunteer management database for any type of nonprofit. Track any volunteer information including contact info, availability, relationships, and comments. Please note that SOS has not been actively developed since 2011, so it may be limited versus more modern systems. If you require new functionality, you can modify the software yourself, or you may contact Andrew Ziem (the creator) and discuss rates with him.
6) Timecounts
Free Account Details:
- 250 Emails / month
- One Signup Form
- Two Admins
Timecounts' free plan includes unlimited events and scheduling as well as roles and assignments, meaning that it's easy to schedule volunteers for free. It also allows you to create a community database so that your volunteers can connect. Paid accounts start at $40/month and allow more reporting insights, emails, and admins.
7) Track It Forward
Free Account Details:
- 0-25 volunteer max
Track It Forward allows volunteers to sign up and begin tracking their own hours. Features include embeddable registration of your website, instant reports, and a mobile app for volunteers to log their hours. Free 30 day trial. Premium accounts start at $15/month.
8) VolunteerLocal
Free Account Details:
- 1 admin user
- Unlimited jobs and shifts
- Unlimited volunteers
- Custom registration fields
VolunteerLocal includes everything you need to manage an effective and happy volunteer force for events. Features include your event listed on HappyVolunteering.com, your own sign-up website with a custom URL, automated follow-up emails, and online check-ins. Premium accounts start at $200/event.
9) WhenToHelp
Free Account Details:
- Organization is considered a charity
- US 501(C)3 designation, or Canadian Registered Charity
Unpaid volunteer schedule use only - 250 volunteer max
- 100 shifts per week max
WhenToHelp makes volunteer scheduling easy with automatically assigned schedules based on your volunteers work time preferences. Features include an unlimited number of schedulers, scheduled email reminders, and text message alerts. Premium accounts start at $15/month.
10) YourVolunteers
Free Account Details:
- Unlimited volunteer "Focuses"
- 1,000 volunteers per "Focus"
- No email schedules
- Account has ads
YourVolunteers is a powerful, cloud based volunteer management system used by over 10,000 organizations around the world. Features include a public calendar on your website, shift tracking, list filtering, and a volunteer database. Premium accounts start at $20/month.
How to Use WildApricot for Volunteer Management
If you're already using WildApricot to manage your members, or are hoping to find an inexpensive solution that allows you to combine member and volunteer management, you've come to the right place.
Here are three easy ways you can use WildApricot to combine member management and volunteer management (and you can start your free trial here).
1. Ask Your Members for Availability
If it's a simple need of members letting their availability known, you can create a specific section in membership fields called something like Volunteer Opportunity.
Then, create a multiple choice field in this section with all the slots that need to be filled. This way the pool of volunteers would be able to log in and simply let their availability be known. The admin can then run an advanced search on that field and the values to find out who is available. This is a simple workaround for a simple need.
2. Embed Your Favourite Volunteer Scheduling Software
WildApricot allows you to embed any platform that provides an embed code for their platform. You can simply create a page for volunteers to schedule themselves and embed the code in that page (and you can see some of the volunteer scheduling options we've found here).
3. Integrate With Google Calendar Slots
It is possible to create appointment booking slots in Google Calendar. You can then embed this calendar on any page. Then, using Integromat, you can record the event on a specific member's profile.
In this solution, the volunteer would book a slot on the embedded Google Calendar, and Integromat would then look up that member and make a note on their WildApricot profile. This would make it possible to run advanced searches and get a report on who volunteered on a specific date.
Top 5 Inexpensive Volunteer Management Software Solutions
I thought I'd give a worthy mention to some of the best cheap volunteer management tools that have come under my radar.
While many of the free tools I mentioned also offered paid features, below is a list of my top five paid-only volunteer scheduling software tools.
1) Get Connected (Galaxy Digital)
-
Learn more about Get Connected by requesting a free online demo. From there, you can get a custom quote built for your organization.
Get Connected is a one-stop solution for all your volunteer management needs. With it, volunteers can quickly check in, track their hours, and receive important messages and notifications in a timely manner. Features include a mobile app, volunteer profiles, pre-built and customized reports, automated communications, and marketing tools to promote events and opportunities.
2) Volgistics
- Starting at $9/month
Volgistics provides a complete volunteer management software. Features include a volunteer portal, automated scheduled reminders, report customization and free support. Over 5.5 million volunteers tracked.
3) Volunteer Impact (Better Impact)
- Starting at $10/month
- One-time setup fee of $395
Volunteer Impact is a volunteer database and management software for any sized organization. Features include unlimited administrators, a half hour consultation, a volunteer time clock, and an online volunteer portal.
4) VolunteerMark
- Starting at $34/month
VolunteerMark is a robust volunteer management solution which can scale according to the size of your organization. Features include a volunteer dashboard, email and text communication, analytics, and online donations.
5) VolunteerSchedulePro (Rotundra)
- Starting at $25/month
As its name suggests, Volunteer Schedule Pro is a solution to schedule, manage, and communicate with your volunteers. Features include flexible scheduling, automatic reminders, online substitutions, reporting, and tiered access.
.png?v=0 "In post banners (9)")
Top 6 Free And Inexpensive Volunteer Scheduling Software Solutions
If you're just looking for volunteer scheduling software, here are a few options that I've found that will allow you to do just that! The majority of the tools listed are completely free, with a few offering more extensive paid functionality.
1) ABC Roster
ABC Roster lets you manage days off, leaves, events, bookings and more. Features include a simple interface, an automated planner, Excel, PDF, or HTML report exports, and scheduled emails. 100% free.
2) ScheduleHead
ScheduleHead's free mobile app can be set up for your organization in under a minute. It allows you to automatically send emails to up to 10 employees and sign them up for shifts based on their skills and seniority. Premium accounts start at $19/month with limited functionality on the free plan.
3) Sling
Sling allows you to quickly create shifts, tasks, messages and a newsfeed in an easy to use drag-and-drop schedule builder. 100% free.
4) Celayix
Celayix is a very powerful scheduling tool giving you every capability possible when it comes to scheduling. From contact management and emailing to on-the-go schedule editing, this software has it all. Price is not shown but well received by customer reviews.
5) Timecounts
Timcounts is a versatile and flexible scheduling platform bringing you the capabilities of total customization. Users are able to create custom calendars with their choice of display modules, and even has login credentials for your volunteers. There is a free plan available, with the first paid plan starting a $40/month.
6) SignUpGenius
SignUpGenius is not only an amazing scheduling tool for your volunteers, it also processes payments, mass emailing, and record keeping. The software has a free plan with limited features, but their basic plan starts at only $8.99/month.
6 Additional Free Resources for Volunteer Managers
After my experience with the YMCA, I know how difficult it can be for new volunteer manager — so here are a few resources to help you out.
- Volunteer Recruitment Checklist: a useful resource for any volunteer manager looking to seamlessly recruit new volunteers.
- Free Volunteer Schedule Templates: Sometimes you just need a simple time sheet or task list instead of a sophisticated volunteer management system. If that's the case, here are 15+ free volunteer scheduling templates.
- Doodle: Doodle is great if you're looking to setup a training meeting with your volunteers and you've got a flexible schedule. Simply create an event for free and email the link to your volunteers, who can choose the best time that works for them.
- New Volunteer Application Template: Don't have time designing a new volunteer application form from scratch? Use one of these 15+ free templates. Microsoft Word compatible.
- Volunteer Appreciation Certificate Templates: Add an extra touch to your volunteer appreciation by giving your volunteers an appreciation certificate. These 16 templates are Microsoft Word compatible.
- Volunteer Name Tag Templates: Tired of writing out name tags by hand? Download this simple, printable Microsoft Word template.
I hope these volunteer management software options can help you better manage your volunteers! Please comment below if there are any other tools that you think we should add to the list.
Connected One-stop Volunteer Management Solution
Source: https://www.wildapricot.com/blog/volunteer-management-software