Keep volunteers in the same place as the rest of your program, use a free plan that covers how many volunteers you have, and reuse what works each season: one volunteer application, opportunity templates, shift sign-up, and waivers collected once.
Advocate's free plan includes volunteer management for up to 50 volunteers.
What does a small nonprofit need to manage volunteers?
A small nonprofit needs five things to manage volunteers: an application, a way to approve people, shifts people can sign up for, signed waivers, and a way to message everyone on a shift. Advocate includes all five in its free plan.
- Your own volunteer application
- Approvals
- Opportunity templates you can use again
- Shift sign-up
- Waivers
Why keep volunteers with the rest of your program?
Keeping volunteers with the rest of your program means one list, one login, and no copying names between tools. A separate sign-up tool works until you need to message volunteers and families together, or see who helped at which event. In Advocate, volunteers, the people you serve, and event guests share one list with no duplicates.
How do you fill shifts without chasing people?
Post shifts where volunteers can sign up themselves, then message the group instead of texting people one by one. Reuse last season's opportunities so setup takes minutes. Advocate's opportunity templates and shift sign-up do this, and broadcasts reach one group or everyone by email or text.
What does volunteer management cost as you grow?
On Advocate, volunteer management is free for up to 50 volunteers. The Grow plan covers 250 volunteers for $49 a month, and the Scale plan covers 1,000 for $129 a month. Email is included, and texts cost $0.02 a message.
About Advocate
Advocate is nonprofit program software built by Reciprocity in Pontiac, Michigan, for nonprofits across the United States. Program managers use it to take applications, keep one record for each household, send email and texts, run volunteers and events, and run programs such as sponsorship, food pantries, and fundraisers. It counts the households and individuals each program serves while the work happens, and it is free to start.
