18 best volunteer management software solutions reviewed

Powering your nonprofit organization’s purpose takes more than just donations. You also rely on passionate volunteers who dedicate their time and effort to furthering your cause — and your nonprofit needs to manage these volunteers effectively to make their contributions count. 

But how do you manage, recruit, schedule, and retain hundreds of volunteers at once? The answer is volunteer management software. In this guide, we’ll explore several of the best solutions for managing nonprofit volunteers and answer common questions you might have about this impactful tool.

FAQs about volunteer management software

Before we dive into our reviews of the top volunteer management systems, we need to establish what exactly volunteer management software is and why it’s important.

What is a volunteer management system?

A volunteer management system is a tool that helps nonprofits manage volunteer data, organize events, and communicate with volunteers, all from one centralized platform.

With this software, you can streamline the process of hosting a volunteer event from start to finish. Use tools that simplify recruitment, marketing, registration, feedback collection, and more. Plus, comprehensive volunteer management software also integrates with your CRM to enable easy volunteer tracking so you can build strong relationships with your biggest supporters.

Why use volunteer management software for nonprofits?

Using a dedicated volunteer management system instead of spreadsheets, paper sign-up forms, or a variety of separate solutions comes with many benefits. First and foremost, software designed for nonprofit volunteer management helps you streamline administrative tasks and boost your team’s efficiency, giving you more time to focus on what matters most — your purpose. However, the benefits of a quality system go beyond that.

With the right volunteer management software, your organization can: 

• Improve communication with active and prospective volunteers: Features like email templates, volunteer segmentation, and automated mobile messaging help you easily connect with volunteers using personalized communications.
• Boost recruitment by expanding your reach to new audiences. Software with recruitment tools and social sharing capabilities allows you to introduce your cause to new potential volunteers.
• Streamline collection of important volunteer data. Track event attendance, volunteer hours, and actions taken to quickly gauge the progress and success of your volunteer programs.
• Increase volunteer participation with personalized suggestions. Some platforms give your volunteers access to their own profiles and dashboards where they can access personalized suggestions for volunteer opportunities they may be interested in.
• Easily manage volunteer events, registrations, and check-ins. Simplify the administrative side of volunteer event management so you can focus on connecting with volunteers and furthering your organization’s purpose.

These benefits serve both your organization and the volunteers themselves, since software that makes it easy to discover and sign up for volunteer opportunities makes your volunteer program more accessible to a wider audience. 

What are the best volunteer management software features?

Not all volunteer management systems are created equal, and some will have more impactful features for your nonprofit than others. 

As you explore your options, look for essential volunteer management software features like:

• Volunteer tracking: Your system should be able to track volunteer hours, host volunteer profiles, and store information about their interests.
• Recruitment tools: The best volunteer management software allows you to boost recruitment with standout, shareable volunteer events and sign-up pages.
• Email and mobile messaging: Access communication tools to personalize volunteer messages automatically.
• Volunteer event management: Your software should enable you to easily manage volunteer events from start to finish — including registration, check-ins, and follow-up.
• Reporting dashboard: Glean insights about your volunteer program and events by seeing all the data you need in one place.
• Personalized volunteering suggestions: Some volunteer management software includes features like personalized feeds and newsletters to suggest the right opportunities for each volunteer.
• CRM integration: Your system should be able to integrate with your CRM to keep all of your supporter data organized and accessible.

You may want a solution that includes all of these features and more, but you can focus your search by prioritizing a few must-have features that will make the most difference for your organization. Once you find several solutions that meet your needs, you can hone in on the features that would be nice to have but aren’t strictly necessary.

The best volunteer management systems

Now that you know what to look for, check out our list of the top 18 volunteer management software solutions to find one that’s right for you. We’ll start with our top recommendations.

Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement

Built on a foundation of the best legacy nonprofit software solutions like EveryAction and Network for Good, Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement is a comprehensive, all-in-one software suite that includes everything you need to manage volunteers and donors. 

Fundraising and Engagement is much more than a volunteer management system — it’s a holistic, unified platform that provides you with a 360-degree view of your volunteers, supporters, and programs from one central location. After all, your volunteers are often also donors or advocates, and they want a unified experience with your organization. Our system was designed to help you give your supporters a better experience that keeps them engaged and committed to your purpose in multiple ways. 

With this single set of tools, you have everything you need to manage, engage, and retain supporters long-term. A few highlights of Fundraising and Engagement’s volunteer management features include:

• Bring-a-friend functionality: This proven functionality can increase your volunteer sign-ups by almost 14% by automatically encouraging volunteers to recruit their friends to join.
• Automated event reminders: Reduce no-show rates by up to 30% with Fundraising and Engagement’s automatic volunteer event reminders. Use email and mobile messaging to keep in touch with volunteers and hold their attention.
• Supporter-created events: Take volunteer engagement to the next level by allowing your most passionate supporters to create and share their own volunteer events on behalf of your organization.
• Automatic feedback collection: With custom email and text surveys, you can automate feedback requests and collection after volunteer events to learn how you can improve.
• Social sharing features: Encourage your volunteers to share their volunteer sign-ups and activities on social media. This way, you can leverage the power of social proof to boost your recruitment efforts.
• Curated event feeds: Your volunteers can access personalized feeds and event suggestions to easily discover their next opportunity. They’ll see exactly what actions to take next based on their preferences and volunteer history.

We offer Fundraising and Engagement in three tiers to fit the needs of any size organization. Explore our pricing options to see what’s available and find your perfect fit. 

Rather focus on volunteer management alone instead of the full fundraising and volunteer management suite? Request a demo of our point solution, Bonterra Volunteer Management.

Mobilize

Bonterra’s Mobilize solution is another great option for nonprofits and advocacy organizations looking to boost their recruitment efforts. When you create and promote volunteer events with Mobilize, you can tap into a network of over five million potential volunteers.

Mobilize comes with plenty of standout volunteer management software features, like:

• Event creation for both scheduled and recurring events, whether virtual, in-person, or hybrid.
• Volunteer-led groups that allow supporters to connect with each other and host their own volunteer events.
• Integrations with top nonprofit CRMs like Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement and Salesforce.

Beyond volunteer events, you can also use Mobilize to encourage volunteers to take advocacy actions, sign petitions, and make pledges.

Golden

Golden’s volunteer management software aims to guide you seamlessly through the entire volunteer management process. 

This solution comes with basic features such as:

• Live volunteer background checks and an automated interview process.
• Hours tracking and the ability to complete volunteer tasks within the system.
• Real-time insights into your volunteer program’s reach, engagement, and growth.

Be mindful that you’ll need to purchase their Enterprise version if you want access to any advanced features, integrations, or more than five administrative user logins.

VolunteerHub

As a holistic volunteer solution, VolunteerHub helps you streamline the volunteering process with scheduling, organizing, and communication tools.

Some VolunteerHub features include:

• Custom, branded volunteer event landing pages for major or seasonal events.
• Self-managed volunteer scheduling, hours tracking, and liability waivers all housed in a central database.
• Volunteer recognition features like point-based rewards, live leaderboards, and incentives.

VolunteerHub offers three pricing plans, and you can add optional features like recognition and liability waivers based on what your nonprofit needs.

Bloomerang

Bloomerang is a software company that offers both a donor database and volunteer management software for nonprofits. 

Bloomerang’s Volunteer Management product comes with the following features:

• Customizable volunteer dashboards for staff and volunteers, both online and through Bloomerang’s mobile app
• Scheduling tools that help you manage sign-ups, send confirmation messages, and track which volunteers attend
• Report templates to provide you with actionable volunteer data that syncs with your CRM

If you consider this option, keep in mind that Bloomerang’s volunteer management solution is separate from its CRM and has limited integrations.

Other top options for nonprofits

If you’re not looking for a full suite of volunteer management tools, explore these other great options that aren’t as robust.

VolunteerLocal

VolunteerLocal calls itself “a simple registration, scheduling, and communication platform” that helps nonprofits manage volunteers.

This volunteer management system comes with basic features like:

• Hours tracking via the VolunteerLocal website, mobile app, kiosks, and admin screens.
• Custom volunteer registration forms that help you capture all the information from volunteers that you need.
• Basic email and text message capabilities, including templates for broadcast messages and event reminders.

Currently, VolunteerLocal only integrates with Salesforce, DonorPerfect, and Neon CRM, so this software works best for nonprofits with one of these databases.

Giveffect

Giveffect offers a volunteer management solution along with other nonprofit management tools like wealth screening and relationship management.

Features of Giveffect’s volunteer management software include:

• Custom online application forms and liability waivers
• Communication features like volunteer newsletters, automated emails, and private online calendars
• A virtual kiosk feature that lets you quickly check in and assign volunteers at in-person events

Giveffect’s volunteer solution is meant to be used with its own nonprofit CRM offering, which comes with multiple pricing options and tiers.

Civic Champs

Civic Champs is a specialized volunteer management software solution used by nonprofits in cause areas like housing, animal welfare, hunger relief, and education.

The Civic Champs platform comes with features for each stage of the volunteer management process, such as:

• Centralized volunteer profiles where you can track their hours, personal information, survey responses, and other notes.
• Check-in options via kiosks, the mobile Civic Champs app, and admin devices.
• Event creation tools that allow you to include location, roles, shifts, and onboarding information.

Civic Champs has multiple CRM integrations and a large partner ecosystem you can explore.

Timecounts

A volunteer organizing platform that works with a number of different cause areas, Timecounts is a low-cost solution for small to midsize organizations.

Timecounts comes with a variety of volunteer management features, like:

• A custom, branded volunteer hub that includes volunteer opportunities, registration pages, and an FAQ for your supporters.
• Drag and drop form builders for signup forms and volunteer applications.
• Reporting dashboards for volunteer hours, top volunteers, and other custom data.

All of their pricing plans include unlimited volunteers, but you’ll need to consider how many administrative users you need before exploring this option more.

Rosterfy

Rosterfy boasts that over 100 million volunteer hours have been completed through its volunteer management system, which works for nonprofits, government agencies, and universities.

Some of the best features Rosterfy has to offer are:

• Built-in background checks and other compliance tools for screening prospective volunteers.
• Workflow automations for volunteer onboarding, scheduling, and communication.
• A customizable volunteer rewards program with gamification tools, redeemable points, and merchandise rewards.

Rosterfy doesn’t publish its pricing options online, so you’ll need to connect with a representative to learn more if you’re interested in this software.

Boardable

While Boardable isn’t your typical volunteer management software, it does cater to a specific supporter segment: your board members.

Boardable includes a variety of features to help you engage board members, including:

• Creation tools for board meeting agendas, resource packets, and other documents.
• A public board member meeting page where you can conveniently share your agenda, minutes, and even meeting recordings.
• Discussions, groups, and individual board member tasks that you can manage from one place.

Boardable might be the right solution for your nonprofit if you’re currently focusing on board development and don’t need a full volunteer management platform right now.

Free volunteer management software solutions

For nonprofits that don’t have room in their budget for extensive volunteer management systems right now, we’ve compiled a few free options you can explore.

POINT

POINT is a free, all-in-one volunteer management software solution designed for nonprofits and schools.

The free version of the software comes with core features like:

• Access to POINT’s volunteer hub, web platform, and mobile app plus a widget you can add to your own website.
• A volunteer database with unlimited admin users and volunteers. 
• Event creation tools with volunteer shifts, self-registration, deadlines, shareable links, and calendars.

While the core POINT platform is free for nonprofits, some features like waivers and offline time tracking are only available with a paid Pro plan.

PlanHero

If your organization only hosts a few volunteer events, PlanHero offers a free version of its volunteer management software for up to three events.

With PlanHero, you can use features such as:

• Quick signup sheet creation with automatic email confirmations and customizable auto-reminders.
• A public landing page for all of your volunteer events and signup options.
• Messaging feature to send out last-minute event updates or changes.

If you want to host more than three events, you’ll need to upgrade to access all of PlenHero’s features.

YourVolunteers

YourVolunteers is a basic, cloud-based volunteer scheduling solution that’s free for nonprofits and currently used by 12,000 organizations.

As a self-proclaimed mobile-first software, YourVolunteers comes with features like:

• Scheduling tools to create volunteer shifts and match them with your volunteers’ availability for easy assignment.
• Messages that appear when volunteers log in, in case they missed an email announcement.
• Hours tracking with no-show reports and summaries and for volunteers.

However, the YourVolunteers free version does come with advertisements, which you’ll need to consider if you dive into this option further.

WhenToHelp

WhenToHelp is an online volunteer scheduling tool that’s available for free for qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations.

This volunteer management software offers the following scheduling-focused features:

• Weekly volunteer schedules that you can add shifts to and manually or automatically assign to volunteers
• Choose between 12 configurable layouts to view and export volunteer schedules
• Instant notifications when volunteers or coordinators change their schedules or request time off

If you upgrade to the paid version of WhenToHelp, you can access additional features like text alerts and automatic Google Calendar updates.

Basic tools that work for volunteer management

If you’re new to volunteer management and aren’t ready to commit to a platform yet, these basic tools can help you schedule one-time events.

SignUpGenius

SignUpGenius is a basic tool for creating events and collecting sign-ups that’s free and easy to use.

In minutes, you can use SignUpGenius to:

• Create a volunteer sign-up page from scratch or using a professionally designed template.
• Choose start and close dates for sign-ups, time zone settings, and email reminder settings.
• Send automatic email invitations and event reminders to volunteers who sign up.

SignUpGenius does come with ads, but your organization can switch to an ad-free plan for a low cost if needed.

Doodle

Doodle’s basic scheduling tool is designed for small groups of friends, family, or peers, but it can work for smaller volunteer events as well.

If you need to schedule volunteers around their availability, Doodle allows you to:

• Survey volunteers for times and dates that they’re open, may be available, and cannot attend
• Automatically tally how many votes each time slot receives to find the best time for your volunteer event
• Allow volunteers to see which dates and times work best for the whole group

Doodle is one of the simplest volunteer management systems on this list, but it’s a good free option if all you need to do is schedule a group of volunteers quickly.

SignUp.com

Another free event registration tool, SignUp.com allows you to create basic sign-up pages and leverage a few communication features.

The free version of SignUp.com includes:

• Unlimited sign-up pages and participants, with no need for volunteers to create a login or password
• Emails, calendar syncs, and social media sharing capabilities
• One custom question you can ask participants on your volunteer sign-up pages

For a small monthly fee, you can upgrade with SignUp.com to receive features like SMS reminders, additional custom questions, and waitlist notifications. 

Getting started with volunteer management software for nonprofits

The right volunteer management software can make a major difference in the success of your organization’s volunteer program. As you evaluate all the options we discussed, consider your budget, most pressing needs, and ultimate goals for your program. 

If you want a system that meets all of your volunteer management and fundraising needs, explore Bonterra Fundraising and Engagement and how it can help your nonprofit thrive.