Volunteer engagement is still a major challenge for many charities. Nearly half of nonprofit CEOs have reported that recruiting enough volunteers is a big problem, and formal volunteering declined sharply after 2019.
At the same time, volunteer time remains highly valuable. Independent Sector estimated the value of a volunteer hour at USD 36.14 in 2025, which makes retention, training, and engagement important parts of nonprofit planning.
Mentoring software can help charitable organizations give volunteers more structure, support, and connection.
The right platform can improve onboarding, match experienced volunteers with newer participants, track progress, and support community-based programs without adding more manual work for coordinators.
Below are five strong options for charities focused on volunteer and community engagement.
1. Best for dedicated charity mentoring programs
MentorCity is a strong choice for charities that want purpose-built Non Profit Mentoring Software to support structured mentor matching, flexible program design, and ongoing participant engagement in one platform.
Why it stands out
Many charities need more than basic volunteer scheduling. They need a system that helps people build useful relationships, share knowledge, and stay connected to the mission.
This platform supports that need with mentor and mentee profiles, matching tools, goal setting, progress tracking, messaging, and reporting.
The software is especially useful for programs that pair new volunteers with experienced ones, connect youth with community mentors, or support leadership development inside a charitable organization.
Instead of relying on spreadsheets, email chains, and manual matching, administrators can create a more consistent mentoring experience from the start.
Core capabilities
The platform supports one-on-one, group, and peer mentoring models. Participants can manage profiles, communicate through the system, schedule meetings, and track goals.
Administrators can oversee program activity, review engagement, and adjust the structure as the program grows.
This makes it a good fit for charities running several mentoring initiatives at once, such as volunteer onboarding, youth development, alumni engagement, community leadership, or career-readiness programs.
Best fit
This option is best for charities that want mentoring to be a core part of volunteer engagement, not an add-on. It works well for organizations that need a structured, accessible platform and want to give participants a clear path from sign-up to meaningful connection.
2. Submittable
Submittable is best known as a grant management and social impact platform. It is a useful option for organizations that manage grants, applications, reviews, employee giving, and volunteer initiatives through one broader system.
Platform strengths
Submittable can help teams centralize applications, reviews, communications, and reporting. For charities that manage funding programs as well as community engagement, this type of system can reduce the need for separate tools.
Its strengths are strongest around grants, awards, scholarships, corporate social responsibility, and review workflows. Volunteer-related features may be helpful, but the platform is broader than mentoring software.
Core features
Submittable includes form builders, application portals, review tools, reporting, payment collection, and program management features.
Teams can use it to collect submissions, manage reviewers, track decisions, and organize program data in one place.
For organizations that run grant programs with volunteer or community components, this can create a more connected administrative process.
Best fit
Submittable is a strong fit for foundations, grantmakers, corporations, and nonprofits that need a central system for funding and social impact programs.
It is less specialized for mentoring, so charities looking mainly for mentor matching and relationship tracking may need a more focused platform.
3. Better Impact
Better Impact is a volunteer management platform built for organizations that need stronger scheduling, onboarding, communication, and reporting tools. It is a practical choice for charities that manage large volunteer groups or frequent shifts.
Platform strengths
The platform helps reduce spreadsheet-based coordination by bringing volunteer records, schedules, hours, and communications into one system. This is valuable for organizations that rely on volunteers across multiple roles, departments, or locations.
Better Impact is especially useful when the main challenge is operational. Coordinators can spend less time tracking availability and more time improving the volunteer experience.
Key tools
The software supports volunteer profiles, scheduling, automated reminders, hour tracking, online applications, training records, and reporting.
Mobile access also helps volunteers manage their own schedules and update information without needing constant staff support.
Its reporting tools can help charities prepare board updates, grant reports, and internal summaries based on volunteer activity.
Best fit
Better Impact is a good fit for healthcare organizations, education programs, museums, community groups, and service-based nonprofits with active volunteer teams.
It is strongest for volunteer administration rather than dedicated mentoring program design.
4. Civic Champs
Civic Champs focuses on making volunteer management easier through mobile-first tools, automated tracking, and simple engagement features. It is a good option for charities that need to reduce manual check-ins and improve volunteer hour reporting.
Platform benefits
Manual attendance tracking can create errors, missed hours, and extra work for coordinators. Civic Champs addresses this with digital check-ins, hour tracking, mobile access, and reporting tools.
For charities that run events, shifts, and community programs, these features can make volunteer coordination more accurate and less time-consuming.
Core features
Civic Champs includes mobile sign-ups, volunteer check-ins, scheduling, digital waivers, dashboards, automated reminders, and feedback tools. Some use cases also include geofenced check-ins and donation prompts tied to volunteer engagement.
These tools can help organizations keep cleaner records while giving volunteers a simpler way to participate.
Best fit
Civic Champs is best for community programs, education nonprofits, youth organizations, and event-based charities that need a practical volunteer management system. It may also support mentoring-related programs, but its main strength is volunteer operations.
5. POINT
POINT is a volunteer management platform designed to help nonprofits recruit, organize, and engage volunteers. It is a strong option for charities that want volunteer-specific tools rather than a donor CRM adapted for volunteer coordination.
Software overview
POINT helps organizations create volunteer opportunities, promote them, manage sign-ups, track hours, and communicate with participants.
It can also support website integrations and mobile access, which makes it easier for volunteers to find and join opportunities.
The platform is built around the day-to-day needs of volunteer programs, especially recruitment and participation tracking.
Features
POINT includes volunteer profiles, opportunity listings, sign-ups, check-in tools, hour tracking, communications, and reporting. QR code and kiosk-style check-ins can help organizations record participation at events or program sites.
These features make it easier to move away from paper forms and manual follow-up.
Best fit
POINT is a good fit for nonprofits, schools, religious organizations, local agencies, and corporate volunteering programs. It works best for teams that need accessible volunteer coordination tools and want a system focused on participation rather than donor management.
Conclusion
The best software depends on what a charity needs most. Submittable works well for organizations managing grants and broader social impact programs.
Better Impact, Civic Champs, and POINT are strong choices for volunteer scheduling, hour tracking, and operational coordination.
For charities that want mentoring to play a larger role in volunteer engagement, a dedicated mentoring platform is usually the better fit.
Structured matching, goal tracking, communication tools, and program reporting can help volunteers feel supported from the start.
That makes mentoring software a practical option for charities focused on retention, leadership development, and long-term community impact.
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