Donor and Volunteer Management Software
The person who gives in December is often the one flipping pancakes in June. Communal keeps both on one profile: gifts with their tax receipts, shifts with their hours.
Donor and volunteer management on one profile
Two spreadsheets that never quite matched, replaced by one list of people
Shifts Without the Email Chain
Volunteers see which shifts still have room and sign themselves up
Hours on the Record
Attendance ticked at the shift becomes hours on the volunteer's profile
Receipts Sent for You
Online gifts are receipted by email, and offline gifts when you record them
See Who Does Both
A profile shows someone's gifts, volunteer shifts, and membership together
Volunteers pick a slot themselves
Volunteer shifts people sign up for themselves
Post a one-off event or a shift that repeats every week, set a spot limit, and share the link. Volunteers sign up from your page or their portal, and a reminder goes out before the shift if you turn reminders on.
- One-off, weekly, or monthly shifts
- A spot limit on each shift
- Reminders 6 to 48 hours before
- Shifts shown only to people with a given role
Totals per volunteer, ready to export
Volunteer hours on the same profile as their giving
Staff tick who attended and the hours land on the volunteer's profile, the same profile that lists their donations and membership. The hours report totals each volunteer for any date range and exports to CSV.
- Volunteers sign in at the shift or log time outside one
- Attendance and hours on each signup list
- Hour totals per volunteer for any date range
- Exports for grants and recognition
The moment the gift lands
A tax receipt sent with every donation
When a donation is paid, Communal emails the donor a tax receipt: the CRA format for Canadian charities, the IRS format for US 501(c)(3)s. Donors can tick a box to cover the card fee, so the gift arrives whole.
- Receipt emailed when the gift is paid
- Donors can cover the processing fee
- Cash and cheque gifts receipted too
- Receipts downloadable from the donor's portal
Progress updates with every gift
Campaign pages with a goal
Give each appeal its own donation page with a goal and a progress bar, and share one link. Donors choose a suggested amount or type their own, and can leave a comment with the gift. Every gift made on the page is linked to the campaign.
- A page and a goal for each campaign
- Suggested amounts or any amount
- Card payments through Stripe
- A running total for each campaign
Which Donor Tools Also Manage Volunteers
Of the six donor tools below, two include volunteer management, two sell it as a separate product or a higher tier, and two handle volunteers through forms rather than shifts.
Donor CRMs with a volunteer module
| Feature | Communal | Bloomerang | Neon CRM | DonorPerfect | Little Green Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Automatic tax receipts | IncludedAutomatic | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Add-onSeparate Bloomerang Volunteer product | Add-onImpact tier and up | Included | Included |
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Partial | Add-onImpact tier and up | Partial | Partial |
Donor tools that handle volunteers through forms
| Feature | Communal | Keela | Zeffy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations & fundraising | IncludedIncluded; donor covers fees option | Included | Included |
| Automatic tax receipts | IncludedAutomatic | IncludedCRA and IRS | Included |
| Volunteer shifts & hour tracking | IncludedShifts, hours, auto volunteer discounts | Partial | Partial |
| Membership management | IncludedTiers, custom fields, segments | Included | Included |
More on each: Bloomerang alternatives, Neon CRM alternatives, Keela alternatives, and the best volunteer management software for nonprofits. For the volunteer side on its own, see volunteer management software; for gifts and receipts, donor management software.
Powering 500+ community organizations
We love hearing from our customers and are proud to have helped 500+ organizations drive more impact and grow their communities.
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.
My experience with the software and the team has been overwhelmingly positive. We switched from another provider and the difference was night-and-day!
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.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Communal keeps donations and volunteer shifts on the same profile, with each person's gifts, tax receipts and shift hours in one place. Both are in the base plan. Among donor CRMs, DonorPerfect and Little Green Light include volunteer management, Bloomerang sells Bloomerang Volunteer as a separate product, and Neon CRM includes volunteers from its Impact tier.
Yes. In Communal each fundraising campaign gets its own donation page with a goal and a running total, and you choose which campaigns email a tax receipt for each gift. Volunteer shifts are posted, filled and tracked in the same account.
It depends on the vendor. Some donor CRMs build volunteer management in, while others sell it as a separate product or connect to a volunteer tool, and then two sets of records have to be kept in step. Communal has nothing to sync, because a person's shifts and gifts are stored on the same record.
Yes. The profile lists the person's donations, their volunteer shifts with hours, and their membership, so you can see who gives and who helps before you ask again.
Yes. Once you add your charity number or EIN and a signature in your donation settings, Communal emails a tax receipt when a donation is paid: the CRA format for Canadian charities, the IRS format for US 501(c)(3)s. Receipting is a setting on each campaign, so you choose which campaigns issue receipts. Cash and cheque gifts can be receipted when you record them, and donors can download receipts from their portal.
Donor and volunteer management are both in Communal's base plan: $75 per month for up to 250 members. No contracts, prorated billing, cancel any module any time. Full detail is on the pricing page.