9 Best Volunteer Apps to Simplify Program Management

Features to look for in a volunteer management app

A well-designed volunteer app helps nonprofits track volunteer impact, deliver important information, get insights on the success of their program, and much more, all in one system. Let’s take explore specific features to look out for:

Features for your staff

You can help your staff stay organized and reduce stress by giving them access to all of your volunteer program’s resources at their fingertips. Here are some volunteer management app features that can benefit your staff:

• Birds’-eye view of your entire volunteer program schedule. Your team will be able to view and fill empty shifts with ease with an overview of the week or month. This can also help you easily analyze shift attendance in real time.
• Check-in and checkout tools. Staff members can check in volunteers using their phones, streamlining the process and allowing volunteers to get right to work. Also, you can quickly view volunteer information such as skills, preferences, and qualifications to assess which roles will be the best fit for each volunteer.
• Communication system to send updates and messages to staff and volunteers. Send personalized messages, impact reports, shift reminders, new upcoming opportunities, words of appreciation, and other important updates through real-time notifications.
• Share important documents, such as waivers or your code of conduct. This helps ensure that every volunteer understands and has access to the code of conduct and safety information, allowing them to reference it at any time.

Features for your volunteers

There are about 307 million smartphone users in the United States alone. That means your volunteers will easily be able to access your volunteer app and the benefits it offers them, including having the ability to:

• Sign up for opportunities on their mobile devices. Offering a self-schedule feature empowers your volunteers to sign up for shifts that work best for them and their availability. This can boost volunteer satisfaction and save your administrative team time that would have otherwise been spent managing shift sign ups.
• Review their personal schedules. Ensure your volunteer management app allows volunteers easy access to their schedules to help reduce no-shows. This saves them time from communicating back and forth with their volunteer manager or having to look at the system on their computer.
• Track their hours and easily check into shifts. Your volunteers may want insight on how many hours they’re contributing to your organization for their own reference and satisfaction.
• Stay in the know about all updates and reminders. Your volunteer app should keep your volunteers in the loop at all times with shift reminders, alert notifications, and appreciation messages.

9 top volunteer apps to consider

The right volunteer app for your organization will streamline your program management and be easy to use for all staff and volunteers. Let’s explore the top nine volunteer management apps to consider, along with some of the great features they come with:

1. Bloomerang

Bloomerang Volunteer Management helps streamline ongoing tasks, allowing volunteer managers to save time and refocus their energy on what matters most—reaching program goals and furthering their nonprofit’s mission.

The Bloomerang volunteer mobile app makes managing and communicating with volunteers simple. Here are the top features of this mobile app for volunteer managers:

• Access your master volunteer schedule at your fingertips to make quick schedule changes
• Manage check-ins from a mobile device and automatically track attendance
• Fill schedule gaps and send automated shift reminders to boost attendance
• Share resources and documents with volunteers

For supporters, the Bloomerang app improves the volunteer experience by allowing them to::

• Self-sign-up for shifts based on their availability
• Review their personal schedules
• Accept and send in-app communications
• Review documents, such as maps and waivers, before their shifts

Volunteer communication, scheduling, engagement, and appreciation—complete all of these activities from anywhere with Bloomerang’s patented volunteer app!

2. SignUpGenius

SignUpGenius makes it easier for event coordinators to manage their volunteers with a user-friendly volunteer management app. It allows volunteers to self-sign-up for shifts, and all you have to do is send them a reminder.

Here’s what you can do with this volunteer app:

• Create a digital sign-up sheet in minutes by choosing from professionally designed templates or creating a custom form.
• Send automatic email or text reminders to volunteers to improve attendance rates.
• Allow volunteers to sign up from any device and add items to their digital calendars.

This app offers organizations a quick and easy way to recruit volunteers and encourage them to sign up for shifts that best suit them.

3. Golden

Golden’s volunteer platform makes organizing your volunteer logistics easy for coordinators. It also makes it easy for passionate volunteers to find opportunities that align with their interests and values.

Golden’s iOS and Android apps offer features such as:

• Location-based services that show volunteers nearby opportunities they might be interested in
• A frictionless sign-up process that volunteer managers can share over text, email, or any social media platform
• Field organizing that allows volunteer coordinators to manage volunteers from any device while on the go

Golden is a turnkey platform, meaning it’s easy for organizations to get up and running quickly without having to learn complex new software.

4. Get Connected

Get Connected is a volunteer management app offered by Galaxy Digital that allows volunteer managers to utilize a geolocation service feature to remind volunteers to check in and out of their shifts.

Volunteer managers and supporters can use this app to:

• Give volunteers access to a personalized dashboard that lets them know what their most common volunteer activities are.
• Automatically create a volunteer hours log that directly attributes hours to each volunteer’s profile.
• Check volunteers in quickly and efficiently with a mobile kiosk.

With all of these automatic features, administrators can save time, enabling them to focus on other important aspects of their volunteer program.

5. Mobilize

The Mobilize volunteer management app offers nonprofits a platform that makes it easy to manage events and recruit volunteers. The app is commonly used by nonprofits, advocacy organizations, labor unions, and progressive campaigns.

Leverage this volunteer app to:

• Send automated emails and text messages to supporters who sign up to volunteer
• Access real-time data from events
• Send feedback surveys right after any event via email and SMS

This solution ensures all your volunteers sign-up, engage, and have an enjoyable volunteer experience without feeling overwhelmed.

6. POINT

POINT’s volunteer management app makes it easy to engage and manage your volunteers with analytics tracking, communication features, recruitment tools to find the right volunteers for the right roles, and much more!

This volunteer app allows volunteer coordinators to:

• Access all of your program’s information from a centralized admin dashboard
• Offer volunteers a thorough look at their impact with a personalized impact tracker profile
• Enable volunteers to easily become donors with a micro-donation platform

POINT is completely free to join, and you can scale up your functionality as your needs change.

7. Giveffect

Giveffect offers an all-around view of your volunteer program’s activities, saving you time and reducing redundancies.

Use Giveffect’s mobile app to:

• Use your mobile device as a volunteer check-in kiosk
• Automate scheduled emails, payments, reminders, and other important notifications
• Get real-time reports and data updates on everything from volunteer recruitment to quality control.

With Giveffect’s volunteer management app, your nonprofit can experience scheduling ease and eliminate any manual data entry.

8. VolunteerMark

VolunteerMark offers essential tools to help nonprofits efficiently run their volunteer programs and engage with volunteers. Their app provides automatic sign-up processes, hours tracking, and more.

The VolunteerMark app allows you to:

• Leverage simple volunteer communication features to boost engagement
• Access dashboard views for event and volunteer stats
• Offer volunteers self-scheduling opportunities or specifically invite volunteers to certain opportunities that align with their preferences and skills

With their user-friendly platform, administrators can easily track and manage their volunteers with a click of a button.

9. Helper Helper

Helper Helper lets volunteer managers create comprehensive reports to gain insights into your volunteer program and volunteer satisfaction levels. A wide range of organizations uses the Helper Helper platform, including companies, schools, nonprofits, and universities.

With Helper Helper, your organization can:

• Spark friendly competition among volunteers and acknowledge top volunteers that had the most impact
• Record and track volunteer engagement and easily prepare annual reports
• Segment opportunities to help streamline how volunteers search for new ways to get involved

With this volunteer management app, you can improve your program’s efficiency and track hours to better understand your community service efforts.

How to make the most of your volunteer app

After you’ve chosen your volunteer management app and gotten it up and running, it’s time to use the platform to the fullest and see the highest return on investment possible. Follow these tips to make the most of your volunteer app:

• Train volunteers to use the app. Introduce volunteers to the system during your volunteer orientation. This way, your volunteers will know where to go to access important information and stay up-to-date with upcoming events and opportunities.
• Train staff members to use the app. Make sure those who will be using the app regularly are familiar with the ins and outs of the technology and how they can use it to simplify management processes.
• Monitor your shift calendar to keep an eye on open opportunities. With your volunteer app, you can effectively track volunteer schedules so you always have enough hands on deck.
• Create engaging, accurate role descriptions. This not only ensures that the right volunteers are signing up for the right roles but also increases the chances of your volunteers being satisfied with their roles. Make sure your role descriptions are thorough and that they mention logistics like the skills you’re looking for and the time commitment.
• Send automated communications, such as shift reminders. Take advantage of shift reminder features to send alert notifications. Allow volunteers to communicate with your organization through the app so they can get any questions answered.

Make sure to reach out to your app provider to ask questions, receive technical support, and ensure you’re using each feature to its full potential.