“Revenue from membership sales and renewals increased, and we save a significant amount of staff time and paperwork. The customer service is outstanding and the team at Communal continues to add helpful features.”
Community Garden Management Software
Community garden management software for gardens run by volunteers. Gardeners pay their plot fee online, a waitlist keeps the line in order when every plot is taken, and work days fill through shift sign-ups.
- Plot fees paid online, with a renewal reminder before next season
- A waitlist that keeps join order once every plot is taken
- Work day shifts gardeners sign up for from a link
What most garden committees are juggling
Run a fair waiting list
When plot registration fills, new names join the waitlist in the order they arrive. With Priority Waitlist on, an open plot goes to the top of the list first, one person at a time.
Collect plot fees online
Gardeners pay by card before the season starts, and the payment lands on their record instead of in an envelope at the spring meeting.
Fill work day shifts
Post shifts for the spring clean-up or compost turning. Once you switch reminders on, they go out 6 to 48 hours before each shift.
Keep gardeners informed
Email everyone with a garden membership, everyone registered for this season, or a tag you use for one section of beds.
What is community garden management software?
Community garden management software keeps track of who gardens where, who has paid, who is waiting for a plot and who is coming to the work day. Most gardens start with a spreadsheet and a sign-up sheet taped to the shed door, and that holds up until the waiting list gets long.
Communal is membership and registration software, and some of the community associations that use it run gardens. Hawkwood Community Association in Calgary moved its garden plot rentals off Excel and onto Communal, next to its memberships and pickleball courts. There is no plot map or automatic plot assignment. You record each gardener's plot with a tag or a custom profile field on their record.
What that looks like for a garden
- Waiting list: plot registration capped at your number of plots, with a waitlist that keeps join order.
- Plot renewals: sell the plot as a garden membership, and a reminder email goes out before it expires.
- Work days: shift sign-ups for clean-up days and the watering schedule, with hours recorded.
- Tool sharing: members reserve the tiller or the wheelbarrows for a time slot.
- Email: updates to every gardener, or only to a tagged group of beds.
Garden run by a community association? See community association software.
How gardens set this up in Communal
Communal has no plot map. Gardens build on parts that already exist: a membership or registration for the plot fee, a waitlist, volunteer shifts, and bookable items for shared equipment.
Plot fees and garden memberships
Sell a garden membership for the season, or run plot registration with a limit equal to your number of plots. Plot registration can be limited to people who hold a membership.
Learn more
Work days and volunteer hours
Post work day shifts with a set number of spots. Volunteers clock in and out, and you can pull hours by volunteer for any date range.
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Seed swaps and workshops
Take registrations for the seed swap, the pruning workshop or the harvest potluck, with a member price and a guest price.
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Shared tools and spaces
Set up the tiller or the tool shed as a bookable item that members reserve for a time slot. You can require a garden membership to book.
Learn morePowering 500+ community organizations
Frequently Asked Questions About Community Garden Software
Community garden management software keeps a garden's gardeners, plot fees, waiting list and work days in one place instead of a spreadsheet and a clipboard. In Communal, gardeners join and pay online, register for plots, and sign up for work day shifts on the same account.
Not automatically. Communal has no plot map or plot-assignment tool. Gardens record each gardener's plot with a tag or a custom profile field, or run each plot as its own registration with a limit of one so it can only be taken once.
Run plot registration with a limit equal to your number of plots and switch on the waitlist. Anyone who arrives after it fills joins the waitlist in order. By default everyone on the list is emailed when a spot opens; with Priority Waitlist on, the person at the top hears first and the next person is emailed after an interval you choose.
Yes, if you sell plots as a garden membership. A reminder email goes out a set number of days before it expires, and gardeners renew and pay by card. They can also switch on auto-renew.
Create a volunteer opportunity for the work day, add shifts with a set number of spots, and gardeners pick one online. Reminders can go out before each shift once you switch them on. Volunteers clock in and out, and you can tick attendance and hours on the signup list.
Yes, as bookable items. Set up the tiller or the wheelbarrows the way you would a room, and members reserve them for a time slot. You can require a garden membership to book. Tool booking is part of the Facilities module.
Yes. Send an email to everyone with a garden membership, everyone registered for this season, everyone signed up for a work day, or a tagged group such as one section of beds.
Communal starts at $75/month for up to 250 members, which covers memberships, volunteers and email. Plot registration with a waitlist needs the Programs & events add-on (+$50/month), and tool booking is part of Facilities (from +$65/month). View pricing for details.
Yes. Communal runs in the browser, so gardeners can pay, register and sign up for work days from a phone.
From teams who stopped taping tools together.
Community associations, rec centers, and member-based nonprofits across North America moved to Communal when their spreadsheet, booking calendar, and payment system stopped keeping up.
“My experience with the software and the team has been overwhelmingly positive. We switched from another provider and the difference was night-and-day!”
“We are finally able to communicate with our members, run booking software and a program payment platform all in one application. The cost to our Community is very reasonable and the team is fantastic to work with.”
Bring us your messiest workflow. We'll walk it with you.
How the hall gets booked, how program pricing works, how you chase renewals. No canned tour. We walk Communal through your real process so you can see the fit before you decide.