7 best volunteer management software products

Most nonprofits rely on volunteers to fulfill their missions. Choosing the best volunteer management software for your organization can help you find and retain volunteers.

Every department will need different types of volunteers, and because volunteers have no contractual obligation to your nonprofit, it’s important that you can track their hours and levels of engagement.

Depending on the volunteer management software you choose, you may be able to integrate it with your nonprofit’s CRM. Other products may be able to connect to event management software or social media.

Most of these products include basic features like the ability to schedule volunteers, create onsite check-in on a mobile device, and communicate with volunteers. Here are seven of the best volunteer management software programs you can use to simplify volunteer management.

1. Galaxy Digital Get Connected

If you want to publicize your volunteer opportunities, engage new and returning volunteers, track their hours, communicate with them, and report on their service hours, Galaxy Digital Get Connected has what you need.

The software includes an e-signature component for liability waivers and provides a kiosk-based check-in you can use at events. This volunteer management tool offers push notifications, including text messages, that you can send to volunteers.

You can create a customized portal where volunteers can search for opportunities. With Galaxy Digital Get Connected, you can also manage corporate volunteers.

2. Volunteer Impact

Volunteer Impact is a complete suite of tools for nonprofits. It lets you create comprehensive volunteer profiles and include all their contact information and skill sets. You can then search these profiles when you’re looking for a volunteer who can do a specific task, like update your website.

You can create a customized volunteer portal for your volunteers to log in and find opportunities. You can also set up an e-learning portal to provide online orientation for your volunteers, letting them learn more about your organization and their positions in the location of their choosing.

This volunteer management software, like others, includes the ability to track and report volunteer hours and send emails directly from the software.

3. NationBuilder

For nonprofits that need to mobilize their volunteers, NationBuilder not only includes premade website templates and a supporter database, but it also has petitioning, field management tools, and email and texting features.

NationBuilder can also collect and process donations. It’s geared toward nonprofits that have a lot of field activities, including street teams and rallies.

4. InitLive

If you’re organizing events with 300 to 2,000 or more volunteers and staff, InitLive can help. It’s specifically designed for events and brings together staff and volunteer signup and scheduling, as well as real-time communications, onsite functions like last-minute schedule changes, and data tracking.

You can customize scheduling, recruitment, and shift assignments. InitLive lets you match volunteers and skill sets, and send email and text messages to remind your volunteers of their upcoming shifts.

5. VolunteerHub

Another volunteer management software product is VolunteerHub. This package provides event management as well as volunteer management capabilities.

You can create specific pages for different campaigns, integrate your CRM system, use gamification to offer rewards to your volunteers, manage multiple groups of volunteers, and track waivers to help reduce risk. It also lets you send text and email reminders and integrates with social media to post about events.

VolunteerHub is mobile-friendly so volunteers can sign in at events from any device. It includes volunteer hour reporting and tracking functions.

6. VolunteerMark

VolunteerMark focuses on streamlining and simplifying communications with volunteers. It offers a dashboard to manage events and volunteers, as well as ways to recruit and schedule volunteers for different shifts.

As with other volunteer management software products, you can track volunteer hours and manage event staffing, including creating wait lists for popular volunteer opportunities. VolunteerMark also lets you create sign-in kiosks at events using mobile devices.

7. VolunteerLocal

VolunteerLocal is a cloud-based volunteer scheduling product that helps you organize, manage, and communicate with volunteers. It offers real-time reporting, collection of volunteer data like skill sets and interests, and the ability to use onsite check-in at events.

Volunteers can schedule themselves for shifts, and you can contact volunteers to update them about upcoming events. You can also re-assign or delete volunteers with VolunteerLocal.

The volunteer management software you choose for your nonprofit will depend on your needs and your budget. These seven options are just a few of the ones available.

It’s worth it to evaluate capabilities based on what you plan to do with the software, then select the one that will best help you recruit, manage, and retain your volunteers.