The short answer: VolunteerHub and Bloomerang Volunteer are the standard dedicated shift schedulers for most nonprofits. Galaxy Digital fits volunteer centers that run a public opportunity marketplace, Rosterfy fits mass events and federations, and SignUpGenius has a free tier for simple sign-up sheets. If your volunteers are also members, program participants or donors, Communal includes volunteer shifts and hour tracking in its base plan with no contract.
Communal is our product, so read that recommendation with that in mind. Every fact below comes from vendor pages and review-site listings we keep in one place for all comparison pages on this site.
How to Choose Volunteer Management Software
- Shift scheduling. Opportunities with shifts, capacity, recurring shifts and role restrictions. This is the core of a volunteer tool.
- Self-serve signup. One step, with an automatic confirmation.
- Hour tracking. Sign-in at the shift, time volunteers log themselves that you approve, and an export a funder accepts, filtered by date range and by opportunity.
- Communication. Shift reminders by email (and text, if you need it) without a separate mailing tool.
- Waivers and compliance. Digital waivers at signup; background-check integrations if your program requires them.
- Where volunteers live. A standalone volunteer database, a donor CRM with a volunteer module, or one operational system that also holds memberships, programs and donations. This choice drives cost more than any feature.
- Pricing model. Per organization, per record, per active volunteer, or free with a tip or transaction fee.
- Contract. Monthly, annual with a set-up fee, or none.
One Platform or a Dedicated Volunteer Tool
A single platform holds volunteers, members, events and donations together. The data stays connected, with one login and one vendor, though it may not be the deepest tool in every category.
A dedicated volunteer tool goes further on shifts and check-in. You then connect it to your donor and membership systems yourself, which means more subscriptions and records that drift out of step.
For most small nonprofits, connected data (which members also volunteer, which donors came from the volunteer program) is worth more than slightly deeper features in each category.
What Is Usually Marketing Fluff
AI-powered matching. Most volunteer coordination is not complex enough to need it. People need to find a shift and sign up.
Gamification and badges. A few volunteers like them and most never notice. Check that scheduling and tracking work first.
Enterprise-grade analytics. You need to know how many volunteers you have, how many hours they gave, and who is still active. That is a handful of reports.
Unlimited integrations. You need two or three, and they need to work. The total count tells you nothing.
The 10 Tools
VolunteerHub
- Best for: Nonprofits that mostly need shift-based scheduling and check-in, with some volunteer fundraising
- Pricing model: Annual license by tier, priced per organization rather than per volunteer; higher tiers add kiosk check-in, advanced waivers, custom reporting and volunteer fundraising.
- Contract: Annual
- Watch out for:
- Annual commitment plus set-up fees and no free trial
- Volunteer-only: no membership, program registration, facilities or POS
See VolunteerHub alternatives.
Bloomerang Volunteer
- Best for: Nonprofits already on, or moving to, Bloomerang CRM that run shift-heavy volunteer events
- Pricing model: Annual license by records, also sold bundled with Bloomerang CRM; unlimited users. Formerly InitLive.
- Contract: Annual
- Watch out for:
- Heavily event and shift focused, with limited bulk editing and email personalization per reviewers
- No free trial, and full value needs the Bloomerang CRM bundle
Get Connected by Galaxy Digital
- Best for: Volunteer centers and community hubs that need a public opportunity marketplace with agency management
- Pricing model: Quote, annual. No public pricing page; third-party sources describe contracts scaled by deployment size. Better Impact acquired Galaxy Digital in March 2026.
- Contract: Annual (per third-party sources); not disclosed by vendor
- Watch out for:
- Learning curve and time-consuming onboarding; weaker filtering and reporting, and offsite hours are hard to track
- Ownership transition to Better Impact; volunteer-only
See Galaxy Digital alternatives.
Rosterfy
- Best for: Large events, sports bodies and enterprise volunteer programs that need workforce-scale scheduling, training and compliance
- Pricing model: Annual quote by active volunteers, with packages scaled by volunteers, admins, region and add-ons, plus paid onboarding.
- Contract: Annual (per Capterra); vendor does not disclose term
- Watch out for:
- High entry price with setup fees and no public price list
- Reviewers call it difficult to learn; the mobile app is rated lower than desktop (3.7/5 on GetApp)
SignUpGenius
- Best for: Volunteer coordinators and small groups who need quick sign-up sheets and occasional payment collection
- Pricing model: Free tier with ads; paid tiers add features; a per-transaction fee applies when you collect money.
- Contract: Monthly or annual; no long-term commitment
- Watch out for:
- Sign-up sheet model, not a volunteer database: no member records, bookings or POS, and volunteer hour reports (hours signed up for, not attended) only on Gold and up
- The per-transaction cut is steep for dues or program fees
See SignUpGenius alternatives.
Communal
- Best for: Community associations, recreation and community centers, clubs and leagues whose volunteers are also members, parents or donors
- Pricing model: Flat, by member band. Volunteer management, the member CRM, donor management and POS software are in the base plan; programs and events and facility booking are add-ons.
- Contract: None. Month to month, prorated, free trial with no credit card, free scoped data migration.
- Watch out for:
- Reminders by email only, no texting
- No waitlist on volunteer shifts
- No certification tracking yet, and no public opportunity marketplace across organizations
Volunteers pick shifts from one link, sign in at the shift, and log time given outside a shift for staff to approve. Shifts can repeat and be limited to a role, a waiver can be attached at signup, and a volunteer can drop one date of a recurring shift and say why. Members who take a shift get the program's volunteer price when they register. See volunteer management software.
Neon CRM
- Best for: Growing nonprofits that want donors, members, events and volunteers in one CRM with unlimited records
- Pricing model: Tiered subscription with unlimited records; volunteer management, events and the open API start at the Impact tier.
- Contract: Annual (typical); not confirmed on vendor page
- Watch out for:
- Volunteer management requires the Impact tier or higher
- No free trial, no facility booking
Bloomerang CRM (and Kindful)
- Best for: Small and mid-size US nonprofits focused on donor retention who want volunteer and event modules from the same vendor
- Pricing model: Per record, annual billing; Bloomerang Volunteer is a separate product, or comes with the CRM and Fundraising in The Giving Platform bundle. Kindful is now part of Bloomerang.
- Contract: Annual
- Watch out for:
- Separate products and record-based tiers make the full stack expensive
- Membership management is basic; no facility booking
Keela
- Best for: Small to mid-size fundraising-led nonprofits in Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand that want a donor CRM with email automation
- Pricing model: Per contact, tiered. Every plan includes donor management, email, automatic CRA and IRS receipts, membership management and volunteer forms. No platform fee.
- Contract: Monthly or annual
- Watch out for:
- Volunteer management is forms and tagging, not shift scheduling or hours tracking
- Per-contact pricing climbs with list size
See Keela alternatives.
Zeffy
- Best for: Small US or Canadian nonprofits that want free donation forms, ticketing and basic memberships, and only need occasional volunteer signups
- Pricing model: Free. No subscription, platform fee or processing fee to the nonprofit; donors see an optional tip at checkout. US and Canadian nonprofits only.
- Contract: None
- Watch out for:
- Volunteer signups use the event form type; no shift scheduling or hours tracking (Zeffy itself recommends POINT or SignUpGenius)
- Optional tip ask in front of every donor; read-only public API
See Zeffy alternatives.
Comparison Table
| Vendor | Pricing model | Contract | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| VolunteerHub | Annual license by tier | Annual | Shift scheduling and check-in |
| Bloomerang Volunteer | Annual license by records | Annual | Bloomerang CRM users with shift-heavy events |
| Galaxy Digital | Quote; annual | Annual (third-party sources) | Volunteer centers with a public marketplace |
| Rosterfy | Annual quote by active volunteers | Annual | Mass events and enterprise programs |
| SignUpGenius | Free tier; fee on money collected | Monthly or annual | Quick sign-up sheets |
| Communal | Flat, by member band; volunteers in the base plan | None | Member organizations, rec and community centers |
| Neon CRM | Tiered; unlimited records | Annual (typical) | Donor CRM with volunteers from the Impact tier |
| Bloomerang CRM | Per record, annual billing | Annual | Donor retention with a separate volunteer product |
| Keela | Per contact, tiered | Monthly or annual | Canadian and US donor CRM; volunteer forms only |
| Zeffy | Free; donor tips | None | Free forms; volunteer signups as events |
Free Volunteer Management Software
Free tools cover the sign-up and rarely the hours. SignUpGenius's free tier puts a sign-up sheet online, with ads, and Zeffy takes volunteer signups the way it takes event registrations. Neither keeps a running total for each volunteer. CiviCRM can hold volunteer records as well, if someone can host it and add the community extensions it uses for volunteering. For a small group, a spreadsheet and an email list are often enough. The guide to volunteer hour tracking software covers when the sheet stops being enough.
Recommendation by Organization Type
Volunteer-led community groups and small charities
If volunteers are your whole operation and you have under a few hundred of them, the first question is whether you need more than SignUpGenius or a spreadsheet. You do once you need self-serve shifts, hour tracking and reminders. Communal does all three and also holds memberships, donation forms with tax receipts and POS on the same record, with no contract. Bloomerang Volunteer is the dedicated alternative if you want a volunteer-only product.
Fundraising-led nonprofits
If most of your work is donors and volunteers are a program alongside, stay close to your CRM. Neon CRM folds volunteers into its donor database from the Impact tier. Bloomerang Volunteer plus Bloomerang CRM gives you the tightest volunteer-to-donor loop from one vendor. Keela suits Canadian charities that want CRA receipting, but its volunteer features stop at forms and tagging, so pair it with something else if you run shifts.
Recreation centers, community associations and clubs
Your volunteers are also your coaches, parents, renters and members. A standalone volunteer tool means keeping a second database in sync. Communal keeps volunteers in the same record as memberships, program registrations, facility bookings and donations, ties opportunities to programs, and applies a volunteer price at registration for members who take a shift. VolunteerHub is the better pick if you need text reminders, waitlists on shifts or a mobile app, and do not need the rest.
Tuscany: Volunteer Shifts at Registration
Tuscany Community Association runs youth soccer for more than 500 children with a small volunteer team. Their old software took 7-8 steps per task, and volunteer coordination lived in a separate spreadsheet. On Communal, parents see the volunteer shifts for their child's program when they register, and the association says the old process was 5-6 times more work. Read the full story
Volunteer centers, federations and mass events
Galaxy Digital is built for the public opportunity marketplace and agency management that volunteer centers need. Rosterfy is the only tool here designed for workforce-scale scheduling, training and compliance at a marathon or a multi-sport games. Neither is the right answer for a small nonprofit.
Setting It Up Without Losing Your Volunteers
Start With Shifts, Signups and Hours
Most volunteer software has settings for approvals, notifications, custom fields and permissions. Start with shifts, signups and hour tracking. Add the rest when you hit a real problem, not because the setting exists.
Ask Only for What the Shift Needs
Every required field is friction. A two-hour park cleanup does not need an emergency contact. Match the signup form to the risk of the activity.
Tell Your Volunteers, With Screenshots
Plenty of organizations set up volunteer software and never tell their volunteers. Send a clear announcement with screenshots, make the first signup easy, and name someone to help the stragglers.
Pick a Cutover Date
If you launch new software but still take signups by email and track hours in a spreadsheet, you end up with two incomplete systems. Pick a date, and after it, stop taking signups by email.
How We Compared
Every fact on this page comes from a shared registry we maintain for all comparison pages on this site, built from each vendor's own pages and review-site listings. Watch-outs come from vendor documentation and aggregated reviewer comments, not from our own testing. Communal is our product; we have tried to describe its gaps (no texting, no certification tracking, no waitlist on volunteer shifts) as plainly as everyone else's.
Related reading: volunteer management software, donor and volunteer management software, how to schedule volunteers, volunteer hour tracking software, and our roundups of Rosterfy, VolunteerHub, Galaxy Digital and SignUpGenius alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to common questions about this topic.
It depends on what else you run. VolunteerHub and Bloomerang Volunteer are the standard dedicated shift schedulers. Galaxy Digital fits volunteer centers with a public opportunity marketplace, Rosterfy fits large events, and SignUpGenius has a free tier for simple sign-up sheets. If your volunteers are also members, program participants, or donors, Communal includes volunteer shifts and hour tracking in its base plan.
VolunteerHub is the most complete shift scheduler, with kiosk check-in on Pro and up, but it needs an annual commitment plus a set-up fee. Bloomerang Volunteer makes sense if you are on or moving to Bloomerang CRM (Kindful is now part of Bloomerang). Galaxy Digital fits volunteer centers that need a public opportunity marketplace. SignUpGenius is fine for occasional sign-up sheets, but it is not a volunteer database. Small nonprofits that also manage members or programs should look at Communal, where volunteers sit in the same record as everything else.
It depends on how the vendor counts. VolunteerHub sells an annual license by tier, and Bloomerang Volunteer an annual license by records. Rosterfy quotes annually by active volunteers. SignUpGenius has a free tier and takes a fee when you collect money. Donor CRMs such as Neon CRM put volunteers on a higher tier. Communal includes volunteer management in its base plan with no contract, and the current price is on the pricing page.
A CRM stores contacts and their history, such as gifts, emails and notes. Volunteer software is organized around shifts: volunteers pick a slot, sign in when they arrive, and their hours add up on their profile. Some donor CRMs offer volunteer scheduling as a separate module or on a higher tier. In Communal, shifts and hours sit on the same member record as memberships and donations, so you can see which members also volunteer.
SignUpGenius (monthly or annual, no long-term commitment), Zeffy (free, no contract) and Communal (no contract, month to month, free trial with no credit card). Keela bills monthly or annually. VolunteerHub, Bloomerang Volunteer, Bloomerang CRM, Galaxy Digital (per third-party sources) and Rosterfy bill annually. Neon CRM's contract is described as typically annual but is not confirmed on the vendor page.
Sometimes. Neon CRM includes volunteer management from its Impact tier. Bloomerang sells Bloomerang Volunteer as a separate product with scheduling, check-in and a mobile app. Keela includes volunteer management on every plan, but it is forms and tagging rather than shift scheduling or hours tracking. Zeffy handles volunteer signups as event forms, with no shift scheduling or hours. If volunteer shifts and hours are central, a dedicated tool or Communal will do more than the CRM bolt-on.
SignUpGenius has a free tier with ads for sign-up sheets. Zeffy is free, funded by optional donor tips, and handles volunteer signups as event forms with no shift scheduling or hours. CiviCRM is free open-source software that you host yourself, run on CiviCRM's own Spark hosting, or pay a partner to host, and its volunteer features depend on community extensions. Neither SignUpGenius's free tier nor Zeffy keeps an hour total for each volunteer; SignUpGenius adds volunteer hour reports on its Gold plan and up.
Yes. Volunteers sign in and out at the shift from a sign-in page, staff can mark attendance and adjust hours, and volunteers can log time given outside a shift for staff to approve. Shifts can repeat and be limited to a role, reminders go out by email, a waiver can be attached to an opportunity, and members who take a shift in a linked opportunity get the program's volunteer price. Certification tracking and texting are not available. Volunteer management is in the base plan.
Written by
Matt Elliott
We help community organizations, recreation centers, and nonprofits streamline their operations with software built for how they actually work.
Related Guides
Volunteer Hour Tracking Software
How to track volunteer hours you can put in a grant report: sign-in at the shift, hours logged outside one, and when a spreadsheet is still enough.
Volunteer Rewards Programs: Beyond the Thank-You Note
Volunteer reward ideas that keep people coming back, from a volunteer price on programs to recognition that names what each person did.
How to Schedule Volunteers Without the Email Chain
Self-serve shift signups, spot limits, recurring shifts and reminders: how to schedule volunteers so the day is covered and fewer people forget.