18 Best Volunteer Management Software Tools for Nonprofits

Volunteers are the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations. By dedicating their time, energy, and skills, these individuals help nonprofits fulfill their missions and amplify their impact in local communities. Effectively managing these dedicated supporters ensures they have a positive experience, remain engaged, and continue contributing to your cause over the long term.

However, as your volunteer base grows, efficiently coordinating schedules, onboarding new helpers, and tracking hours can quickly become overwhelming. Investing in the right tools can streamline your volunteer program, freeing up time to focus on your mission.

In this guide, you’ll learn all you need to know about volunteer management software, including:

• What Is Volunteer Management Software?
• Why Use Volunteer Management Software?
• What Features Should You Look for in a Volunteer Management Platform?
• The Best Volunteer Management Solutions

Ready to learn more about volunteer management tools? Let’s get started by exploring what volunteer management software is and why it’s so useful.

What Is Volunteer Management Software?

Volunteer management software describes dedicated platforms designed to help nonprofits and other organizations effectively coordinate, track, and engage their volunteer base. While many organizations start off using basic spreadsheets and manual processes for volunteer coordination, investing in a dedicated tool is more efficient and scalable as your program grows.

By centralizing volunteer data, scheduling, communication, and reporting in one place, volunteer management software ensures nonprofits can spend more time delivering impact and less time on administrative tasks.

Why Use Volunteer Management Software?

By leveraging a volunteer management platform, your nonprofit can experience various benefits, such as:

• Streamlined volunteer program operations: Simplify recruitment, onboarding, scheduling, engagement, and more by managing them all in a single system.
• Stronger volunteer relationships: Communicate efficiently and personalize each volunteer’s experience, fostering deeper connections and higher retention rates.
• More effective decision-making: Track performance metrics and trends so you can make data-driven decisions to improve your volunteer program.
• Improved data security: Ensure sensitive volunteer data is protected with robust security features and best practices.

A good volunteer management platform helps you save time, reduce stress, and accomplish more for your mission.

To truly maximize the potential of your volunteer program and streamline operations, it's essential to not only understand the benefits of volunteer management software but also use them to make a compelling case to your nonprofit’s leadership. Whether you’re seeking to enhance volunteer retention, improve scheduling, or better manage data, leadership buy-in is crucial to ensuring your organization sees the software as a valuable investment.

What Features Should You Look for in a Volunteer Management Platform?

Not all platforms are equally effective or suited to your nonprofit’s specific needs, so the tools you’ll prioritize will be unique to your organization. However, some general features to look for include:

• Volunteer profiles: Easily track volunteer interests, skills, contact details, and activity history.
• Application and onboarding management: Seamlessly collect applications, process background checks, and manage required training and paperwork.
• Scheduling capabilities: Coordinate shifts, events, and tasks with automated reminders and real-time updates.
• Communication tools: Keep in touch with volunteers through emails, text messages, or in-app notifications.
• Reporting and analytics: Access dashboards and reports to measure volunteer hours, attendance, and engagement trends.

Additionally, consider user-friendliness, customization options, and the level of technical support each platform offers. These factors will help you find the best fit for your organization’s unique volunteer management needs.

The Best Volunteer Management Solutions

Below, we’ve compiled our top volunteer management software solutions. Feel free to skim through the overview table or scroll to read more details about each platform.

Better Impact: Our Favorite Volunteer Management Software

Better Impact offers a comprehensive volunteer management software, Volunteer Impact, that is designed for nonprofits of all sizes. With an intuitive interface, customizable features, and top-tier customer support, Volunteer Impact makes it easy to engage volunteers, track their activities, and generate useful reports.

Top Features

• Volunteer Profiles and Onboarding: Collect detailed information about each volunteer and smoothly guide them through onboarding with automated steps.
• Scheduling Tools: Easily post opportunities, schedule shifts, and manage volunteer commitments in real time.
• Communication Hub: Send targeted messages, post event updates, and keep all communications in one centralized location.
• Integrated Reporting: Generate insightful reports on volunteer hours, attendance, and more to help drive strategic decisions.
• Mobile-Friendly Interface: Allow volunteers to sign up, view schedules, and track hours from their smartphones.

Why Better Impact Stands Out

Nonprofits choose Better Impact for its user-friendly design, robust capabilities, and flexible pricing options. Organizations of all sizes—whether they have a few dozen or a few thousand volunteers—can tailor the system to meet their needs.

But don’t just take our word for it—explore real-life case studies to see how other nonprofits have strengthened their volunteer programs using Better Impact. From small community groups to larger, more complex organizations, these success stories demonstrate how the right volunteer management platform can drive greater impact.

VolunteerHub

VolunteerHub helps nonprofits manage, recruit, and engage their volunteers with intuitive scheduling, communication, and reporting tools. It’s widely used across various sectors, including healthcare, education, and animal welfare.

Top Features

• Customizable Registration Pages: Seamlessly gather volunteer information and reduce manual data entry.
• Event Management: Create and manage events, track registrations, and communicate updates.
• Integration Capabilities: Sync data with leading CRMs, including Blackbaud and Salesforce.

Pricing

VolunteerHub offers tiered plans based on your organization’s size and needs. Contact the VolunteerHub team for specific pricing information or request a demo on their website.

VolunteerMatters

VolunteerMatters is a solution designed to streamline volunteer coordination for nonprofits, schools, and government entities. Its robust feature set supports compliance tracking, background checks, and more.

Top Features

• Advanced Compliance Tools: Automate background checks and create custom approval workflows.
• Automated Volunteer Engagement: Manage email campaigns, scheduling reminders, and feedback loops.
• Scalability and Flexibility: Easily accommodate growing volunteer programs.

Pricing

Pricing for VolunteerMatters varies depending on the number of volunteers and specific functionality needed. Contact the VolunteerMatters sales team for a customized quote.

Civic Champs

Civic Champs focuses on simplifying volunteer engagement through mobile and web-based platforms. Their intuitive app helps nonprofits build strong relationships with volunteers, track hours, and gather feedback on the go.

Top Features

• Mobile Check-In & Hour Tracking: Let volunteers check in on-site and log their hours in real time.
• Gamification Elements: Encourage volunteer participation with badges and incentives.
• Feedback & Surveys: Collect post-event or post-shift feedback to improve volunteer experiences.

Pricing

Civic Champs offers different pricing tiers for nonprofits of all sizes. To get accurate, up-to-date cost information, request pricing details from their team.

Golden

Golden stands out with its modern, user-friendly design and focus on community engagement. The platform provides nonprofits with the tools to recruit and retain volunteers through meaningful experiences.

Top Features

• Engaging Volunteer Portal: Allow volunteers to browse opportunities, sign up, and share their experiences with friends.
• Automated Reminders and Notifications: Ensure volunteers always know when they’re scheduled for shifts.
• Analytics & Social Impact Tracking: Track volunteer hours, impact metrics, and generate reports.

Pricing

After a 30-day free trial, Golden’s pricing plans start at $1,200/year. Contact the Golden team for more details on which plan suits your needs.

POINT

POINT is designed to make volunteering easy and accessible. With user-friendly mobile features, it connects volunteers to events and allows nonprofits to manage and report on volunteer activities.

Top Features

• Centralized Dashboard: Simplify scheduling, communications, and volunteer data management.
• Real-Time Tracking: Have volunteers check in and out from their mobile devices, providing live data on attendance.
• Community Building: Promote events to a broad audience and attract new volunteers.

Pricing

POINT offers various pricing tiers, including a free plan for small organizations. For more advanced features, contact the POINT team or visit their pricing page for details.

PlanHero

PlanHero is known for its easy-to-use event and volunteer scheduling tools. It’s particularly popular with churches, schools, and community-based nonprofits looking for a quick scheduling solution.

Top Features

• One-Click Sign-Ups: Create sign-up sheets for events, tasks, and shifts.
• Automated Reminders: Send volunteers email or text reminders about their commitments.
• Group Management: Manage multiple groups, teams, or committees in one place.

Pricing

PlanHero’s plans begin at $49/year for basic scheduling tools. More advanced features are available on higher-tier plans.

Volunteer Local

Volunteer Local offers simple but powerful volunteer registration and scheduling tools. It’s especially popular for large events and festivals that require hundreds or thousands of volunteers.

Top Features

• Easy Event Setup: Quickly create volunteer shifts and opportunities with custom sign-up forms.
• Check-In & Hours Tracking: Integrated onsite check-in and hours logged for accurate reporting.
• Automated Email Notifications: Keep volunteers informed with shift updates and event reminders.

Pricing

Volunteer Local’s pricing starts with a free “Community” plan that allows you to manage a limited number of events. Paid plans offer increased capacity and advanced features—check their pricing page for details.

VolunteerMark

VolunteerMark is a flexible platform focusing on volunteer scheduling, management, and donor integration. It helps nonprofits engage volunteers and donors in a single, unified database.

Top Features

• Volunteer Scheduling & Communication: Post volunteer opportunities and handle sign-ups with ease.
• Hours Tracking & Reporting: Stay on top of volunteer engagement and produce professional reports.
• Donor Integration: Link volunteer data with donor information to deepen supporter relationships.

Pricing

VolunteerMark offers a free plan for small nonprofits, but paid plans unlock expanded functionality. For specific pricing, contact the VolunteerMark team.

CERVIS

CERVIS is designed to manage volunteer engagement, track service hours, and streamline event planning. It works well for nonprofits, schools, and faith-based organizations looking for robust program tracking.

Top Features

• Detailed Volunteer Profiles: Store contact information, skills, availability, and preferences.
• Advanced Reporting: Generate customized reports to monitor volunteer impact and hours.
• Comprehensive Scheduling: Create and manage recurring events, sign-ups, and waitlists.

Pricing

CERVIS offers different packages based on the number of administrators and active volunteers. Contact their team for exact pricing information.

Volunteers for Salesforce

Volunteers for Salesforce is a volunteer coordination app built on the Salesforce platform. It helps nonprofits manage volunteer sign-ups, track hours, and run reports directly within Salesforce.

Top Features

• Salesforce Integration: Leverage the robust CRM capabilities of Salesforce to manage volunteers.
• Customizable Dashboards: Build personalized dashboards to track hours, shifts, and volunteer engagement.
• Event and Shift Management: Post volunteer opportunities, automate reminders, and coordinate shifts.

Pricing

Volunteers for Salesforce is a free add-on for qualifying nonprofits using Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud. Contact Salesforce for more details on nonprofit discounts.

Shift

Shift provides a straightforward solution for managing volunteer shifts, tasks, and roles. Organizations can easily create a variety of volunteer opportunities and oversee them from one dashboard.

Top Features

• Shift Creation & Management: Quickly design volunteer roles, time slots, and capacity limits.
• Automated Scheduling: Volunteers can sign up for shifts, and the system prevents double-bookings.
• Communication Tools: Email or text updates about shift changes and important announcements.

Pricing

Shift’s pricing is based on the size of your volunteer program. For specific packages, contact the Shift team to learn more.

SignUp.com

SignUp.com offers simple online sign-up sheets for volunteer events, fundraisers, and group activities. It’s used by nonprofits, schools, and community groups looking for an intuitive way to coordinate tasks.

Top Features

• Group Sign-Up Sheets: Easily organize volunteers, collect RSVPs, and assign tasks.
• Automated Reminders: Reduce no-shows with reminders via email and mobile notifications.
• Calendar Sync: Make it easy for volunteers to add events directly to their personal calendars.

Pricing

SignUp.com offers a free basic plan and paid options that unlock advanced features like custom branding and analytics. Check their website for plan comparisons.

SignUpGenius

SignUpGenius is a popular volunteer sign-up tool known for its ease of use. It’s highly flexible, letting nonprofits customize sign-up forms and manage multiple volunteer activities.

Top Features

• Custom Sign-Up Templates: Tailor sign-up sheets to match your organization’s needs.
• Automated Notifications: Email or text confirmations and reminders.
• Payment Collection: Open up the option to collect fees or donations alongside volunteer registrations.

Pricing

SignUpGenius offers a free version supported by ads. Their paid plans (starting at $8.99/month) remove ads and provide additional customization and functionality.

Mobilize

Mobilize is designed for advocacy groups, political campaigns, and nonprofits with a focus on volunteer recruitment and event management. It helps organizations coordinate large-scale volunteer movements efficiently.

Top Features

• Recruitment Tools: Promote opportunities to a wide audience and capture volunteer sign-ups.
• Data & Analytics: Track volunteer attendance, engagement, and event success metrics.
• Community Building: Foster connections among volunteers to encourage repeat engagement.

Pricing

Mobilize offers customized pricing based on each organization’s needs. Contact the Mobilize team for more information.

Bonterra Volunteer Management

Bonterra Volunteer Management focuses on community engagement and simplifying volunteer management for nonprofits and public institutions.

Top Features

• Engagement & Collaboration: Encourage volunteer collaboration through a user-friendly online community.
• Automated Scheduling & Communication: Share event details, reminders, and updates automatically.
• Reporting Tools: Gain insight into volunteer trends, engagement, and program impact.

Pricing

To receive a detailed quote tailored to your organization, get in touch with Bonterra’s sales team.

Bloomerang Volunteer

Bloomerang Volunteer (part of Bloomerang’s integrated CRM system) helps nonprofits consolidate donor and volunteer data in one database, offering a holistic view of their supporter network.

Top Features

• Integrated CRM: Combine donor and volunteer profiles for deeper insights into supporter engagement.
• Efficient Scheduling: Create volunteer opportunities with flexible time slots and automated reminders.
• Analytics & Reporting: Run reports on volunteer hours and financial contributions in one place.

Pricing

Bloomerang Volunteer pricing is available upon request, as it typically comes bundled with Bloomerang’s overall fundraising software.

Double the Donation Volunteering

Double the Donation is best known for matching gift software, but they also provide solutions for managing volunteer grants and corporate volunteering. This platform helps nonprofits tap into volunteerism initiatives offered by businesses.

Top Features

• Volunteer Grant Database: Identify companies that match volunteer hours with corporate donations.
• Automated Outreach: Remind volunteers to submit their volunteer grant requests to employers.
• Comprehensive Tracking: Track volunteer hours and grant statuses in one place, as well as other corporate volunteer programs like volunteer time off and team volunteer outings.

Pricing

Double the Donation’s volunteer and matching gift tools are custom-priced based on usage. Contact the team or visit their pricing page for detailed plan options.

Wrapping Up: Additional Resources on Volunteer Management

Choosing the right volunteer management software can make all the difference in your organization’s efficiency, volunteer satisfaction, and overall impact. By streamlining the recruitment, scheduling, and engagement processes, you’ll free up valuable time and energy to invest back into your mission.

For more information on volunteer management, check out these resources:

• Improving the Volunteer Recruitment Journey
• Top Certifications & Certificates for Volunteer Management Professionals
• How to Thank Volunteers in the Digital Age: 6 Top Ideas