volunteer management software

Orange Julia

kittens kitttens kittens kittens
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 13, 2006
13,828
NatsTown!
I need to move beyond excel spread sheets for volunteer management. I am looking at a few different online services that allows volunteers to sign up for specific shifts on specific days, as well as to register for generic volunteer opportunities. Right now I'm looking at Volunteer Matters, but even with my non profit discount it is $200....Does anyone use something (like, say, for PTA or other club sports) that might be a little cheaper? I rarely have more than 100 volunteers at any one event, but it would be great if it was one stop shopping where they pick a shift, pick a task and electronically sign their waiver at the same time, and then i just download the schedule on the day of the event.
 
The other one I am looking at is VolunteerSpot which seems to have a free version but I am not sure it is robust enough for what I need.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Still loving Basecamp, btw. When my free trial is over I think i will go ahead and pay for that.
 

McDrew

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
SoSH Member
Apr 11, 2006
4,060
Portland, OR
My company does campaign and union organizing, but probably at a level that is bigger than what you're looking for. How big is your total volunteer universe? 
 

Orange Julia

kittens kitttens kittens kittens
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 13, 2006
13,828
NatsTown!
At any one event I would rarely have more than 100 volunteers, but I have smaller amounts of volunteers all through the year (mostly pulling from the same pool) and ideally I'd love a piece of software that is also member cultivation and allows me to communicate, so some kind of magical software that allows me to have volunteers sign up for shifts online, allows me to communicate to them via email blast and a way for them to pay (for either things, or membership) all at the same place.   None of these things are so different that there should be three different software packages--if I had the time and the know-how I'd use Filemaker, probably but I am basically a one person shop and don't have the time to figure out all the things i would need, but something like that kind of database with a web interface is what I'm looking for.
 
Adding this thought: Is there a wordpress plug in that i could use with formidable that would allow me to download the info put in the form into a database or an excel spread sheet? Because that would work pretty well for at least the scheduling of volunteers.
 
I have tried Sign Up Genius which really does what i want but requires users to make accounts which is a disincentive for people because people HATE making accounts. I also tried Volunteer Spot which might work but requires more work on the back end to set up each set of hours as a "task" which is kind of a pain in the ass, but whatever. Anyway, that's where I am.
 
Ok third update: after sound crowd sourcing in CHAT we thought that maybe Gravity forms might be the way to go. I'm looking at that now.