How to Manage Volunteers Effectively with the Top 5 Volunteer Management Software

Are you searching for the latest Volunteer Management Software? Is manual tracking and scheduling wasting your valuable time and tiring you out? Are you also interested in learning how volunteer management software can change the way your nonprofit works? This blog will clear all of your queries. Non-profit organizations are formed to respond to social issues, support communities, and work without aiming for any profit, relying on funds, donations, and volunteer efforts. The board of directors or trustees controls organizations.

Volunteer management is important to complete the volunteer organization’s day-to-day missions. These missions include establishing investor trust and ensuring that trust. A popular volunteer management process involves managing volunteers and keeping them informed about the possibilities of programs and events, keeping them engaged and motivated to stay promised with the management system for a long time, and unifying support from donors and volunteers.

How do you manage volunteers effectively?

Here are a few helpful steps to effectively manage volunteers: 

• Set up clear communication to confirm that volunteers understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
• Search for perfect matches for funds
• Aware volunteers about the organization’s mission and specific roles.
• Praise their efforts on the achievement and regularity of the tasks,
• Take feedback from volunteers continuously and
• To optimize their performances and engage them in decision-making processes
• Social events can be organized for team building.

What is a volunteer management software?

Volunteer management software is a tool volunteer organizations use to cope with their volunteers and program pending communications with them. What does a volunteer management tool do? 

It provides a volunteer information tracker, their engagement history, contact information, and more. Volunteer management software provides the following features:

• Online enrollment
• Online sign-up opportunity
• Tap-and-go check-in
• Participation badges
• Community service Participation CV
• Time-saving e-mail sources

Whenever ranking a volunteer management system, instructions are to check powerfulness, versatility, Incorporation, management and appointments, ease of accessibility, and effectiveness of communication tools.

Five best volunteer management software

Volgistics – Volunteer Reporting software

Vologistic software helps volunteer organization controllers by providing detailed information about the volunteer’s actions and profiles. Volgistics serves with many features, such as:

Online application form

Logistics software provides a feature in their settings as an online volunteer application form_ for the organization to its willing volunteers where they enter their required data.

Volunteers fill it up and submit it.  Volgistics checks out whether they have opted out of the required categories. A confirmation email is sent to them, and the volunteer submitted application is sent to their mailbox for screening. A PDF copy of it is saved for record on volgistics.

Awards calculation

Volgistics provides an awards facility to nonprofit organizations to thank eligible volunteers for their hard work. It automatically tracks the progress of volunteers and then allocates them awards. This feature saves time for organizations.

Cloud hosting

Volgistics uses cloud hosting to store volunteers’ data online. This means that organizations do not store data on physical servers, but Volgistics uploads the data to remote servers accessed through the Internet.

Custom fields and options

This feature allows users to create a Volunteer custom field to collect volunteer information, including their skills, interests, and availability.

Price:  Subscription based+ free trial available 

customer reviews of Volgistics: 4.6 

VolunteerHub

VolunteerHub is a helpful volunteer management software designed to collect volunteer information, including staffing, registration, tracking, and recording. With this information, organizations can effectively organize volunteer activities, which makes it easy for them to check on event details. It offers you the following features:

Calendar organization

This feature simplifies volunteers’ schedules by providing automatic programs to manage and view upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

Event customization

The event customization feature allows organizations to alter volunteer opportunities according to their requirements and needs.

Volunteer scheduling

This feature allows organizations to create schedules for volunteers that specify their shifts, roles, dates, times, locations, and recruitment. 

Registration

Organizations create registration forms according to the event that collect information such as contact details, availability, and preferences. The registration feature simplifies it for volunteers to sign up and participate in these events.  This feature is helpful for organizations in tracking registrations and managing attendees lists.

Database

This feature helps store and manage volunteers’ information, including volunteers’ profiles, contact details, preferences, and participation histories.

Pricing: 3 pricing plans

• To manage 1000 volunteers, it costs $150
• To manage 2500 volunteers, it costs $260
• To manage 2500+ volunteers, you need to contact the sales team manager.

Customer reviews of VolunteerHub: 4.3

Get Connected

Get Connected is a web-hosted volunteer management software that helps in team management and reporting and is specifically designed for schools, churches, and corporations. Volunteer show their interest and agony when signing up for the events. It offers the following features:

Mobile-friendly design

Get Connected’s mobile-friendly design helps volunteers quickly and easily access information and then take action based on it.

Volunteer tracking app

Volunteer tracking apps help track and report any issues; thus, organizations can improve their management and budget and organize teams and groups using that information.

location-based notifications

Get Connected also provides location-based notifications that help volunteers track nearby opportunities effortlessly.

Impact reporting

Get Connected impact reporting feature allows organizations to track the consequences and results of volunteers’ efforts.

Pricing: Prices start from 39 dollars per month.

Customer reviews of Get Connected: 4.4 rating out of 5 

NationBuilder

NationBuilder is a digital tool that helps nonprofits find, communicate, and organize excited supporters and involve them in spreading their messages worldwide. It offers the following features:

Volunteer Database

The database feature helps nonprofit organizations create profiles of volunteers that cover their contact information, skills, interests, and history, in addition to providing organizations with volunteer eligibility preferences and participation. 

Readymade templates

Ready-made templates help organizations easily create professional-looking websites, emails, and other digital content.

Data-driven targeting

The data-driven targeting feature helps nonprofits easily reach out to supporters for information and thus helps them connect with the more relevant supporters.

Social media integration

Through this feature, organizations can connect with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more, and thus helps in online growth.

Donation processing.

Nonprofit Organizations create their customized donation pages and, through that, can easily accept and manage donations.

Pricing: The starting price is $49 per month

customer reviews of NationBuilder: 3.9 out of 4

Mobilize

Mobilize management program was built to help them schedule the events and enlist volunteers. It offers the following features:

Single-shift

In this process, single-shift volunteers are organized for a specific event. This is specific for short-term events where volunteers don’t need to work for long.

Multiple-shift events

Multiple shift events mean that volunteers are ready to help for more than one part of the day, and this involves ensuring enough people are available to run the event smoothly.

Virtual and in-person events

This feature makes volunteers ready to help with both online and in-person meetings.

Automated email and text messages:

This feature offers the setting of a system that will automatically send emails and messages to volunteers.

Post-event feedback surveys

This feature allows the organization to survey volunteers to collect their opinions after an event.

Mobilize’s pricing:

• For Small organizations, it starts at 200 dollars
• For mid-sized organizations, it starts at 500 dollars, and
• For large organizations, it starts at 2000 dollars per month.
• Free trials are also available

customer reviews 4.5 stars out of 5.

How do you create an effective volunteer plan?

• The first thing is to figure out your needs; what do you want the volunteer to do?
• Set volunteer tasks and enlist skills that are required
• find the volunteers fulfilling your needs
• Help them to understand their roles
• Evaluate volunteers performance
• Show appreciation for their hard work and
• Keep check and balance your needs.

How do you measure the success of a volunteer program?

By considering the following factors, organizations can assess how well a volunteer program is going. So, look at how many volunteers have joined and how much time they spend helping.  

• Whether volunteers are helping to achieve the organization’s goals
• Are they happy with their experience?
• How satisfied they are with their track.
• How well the volunteers are trained.
• Are they feeling appreciated or not?
• Make sure that the program is cost-effective.
• Read reviews of people about it.

What are the essential elements of volunteer management?

• Just find volunteers and check if they match the needs.
• Train them to polish their skills. If they already do not have any learned skills, then introduce them to some new skills necessary regarding the volunteer field.
• Make a schedule for them and ensure they responsibly stick to it.
• Appreciate them for their efforts and have a keen eye on their skill improvements.
• Check the work progress

Final Analysis

We explored the top 5 volunteer management software beneficial in managing volunteers. All offered amazing features. Choosing any one of them is not easy. Compare your needs with the features these software offers and choose that best matches your requirements. If you are looking for a cost-effective application, then Nation Builder and Get Connected are best with their topographies. 

I recommend you visit software providers’ websites to understand their offers and check for any free trials; also, call them directly to clear your queries. This will help you understand which software fulfills your organization’s needs.