Animal Welfare Professionals

What's your biggest challenge with managing volunteers?
We hear from shelters and rescues that volunteer management often means using a separate system, spreadsheets, calendars, or a combination of all three. As we get ready to launch Volunteer Management in Shelterluv, we'd love to hear: What are the biggest challenges your organization has with managing volunteers today?
Our goal is to help organizations consolidate more of their operations in one place, connecting volunteer management with the animals and information already in Shelterluv.
And if you're considering new shelter software, organizations that sign up by September 30 can get their first year of Shelterluv free ($0/adoption).
Happy to share more about either!

#DataandTechnology
#OrganizationalManagement
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

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Sarah Rueli
Growth Manager
Shelterluv
e: sarah@shelterluv.com
m: (413) 544-4660
------------------------------

This is fabulous news!  We are seriously considering switching to ShelterLuv by the end of this year, and volunteer management was the one thing I wanted that it didn't offer.

I believe your program already includes the application process.  I would like to also see digital scheduling, both web-based and through an app, as well as logging in and out of each volunteer session and tracking of that data.  Our current training starts with an online course, and I'd love for that to be integrated into your program.  It would be nice to have a place to track mandatory training and refresher training, too.  Perhaps a library of resources for our volunteers to refer to?  A way to communicate between volunteers and the shelter would be helpful.  How about a message board or group setting for our volunteers to communicate with each other?

Thank you so much - I was already on board with the switch to ShelterLuv, but now I'm really excited!

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Michelle Unkow
Client Services Coordinator
Columbia Animal Shelter
Columbia, PA
------------------------------

I have been waiting to see more info on volunteer management from ShelterLuv as well! We use ShelterLuv here at the Potter League in RI. It is very easy to use. For volunteer management, some of our volunteers wish they could have shifts populate for say every Tuesday or Friday. Presently with our current software, they must register for each shift. I'm interested in launching a new mgmt system that integrates with our website. One that can email, send text messages, post shifts, sort volunteer activity, volunteer hours, volunteer activity monthly etc.

Kind Regards,

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Stephanie DeThomas
Volunteer Manager
Potter League for Animals
RI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-02-2026 07:37 AM
From: Michelle Unkow
Subject: What's your biggest challenge with managing volunteers?

This is fabulous news!  We are seriously considering switching to ShelterLuv by the end of this year, and volunteer management was the one thing I wanted that it didn't offer.

I believe your program already includes the application process.  I would like to also see digital scheduling, both web-based and through an app, as well as logging in and out of each volunteer session and tracking of that data.  Our current training starts with an online course, and I'd love for that to be integrated into your program.  It would be nice to have a place to track mandatory training and refresher training, too.  Perhaps a library of resources for our volunteers to refer to?  A way to communicate between volunteers and the shelter would be helpful.  How about a message board or group setting for our volunteers to communicate with each other?

Thank you so much - I was already on board with the switch to ShelterLuv, but now I'm really excited!

------------------------------
Michelle Unkow
Client Services Coordinator
Columbia Animal Shelter
Columbia, PA
------------------------------

Absolutely! We're really excited for Volunteer Management (Volunteerluv) to launch in Shelterluv. My coworker Sarah M. will reach out to you directly with more information about the features we'll be launching first and what you can expect from the initial release. 😊

Thanks for all you do!

------------------------------
Sarah Rueli
Growth Manager
Shelterluv
e: sarah@shelterluv.com
m: (413) 544-4660
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-02-2026 07:37 AM
From: Michelle Unkow
Subject: What's your biggest challenge with managing volunteers?

This is fabulous news!  We are seriously considering switching to ShelterLuv by the end of this year, and volunteer management was the one thing I wanted that it didn't offer.

I believe your program already includes the application process.  I would like to also see digital scheduling, both web-based and through an app, as well as logging in and out of each volunteer session and tracking of that data.  Our current training starts with an online course, and I'd love for that to be integrated into your program.  It would be nice to have a place to track mandatory training and refresher training, too.  Perhaps a library of resources for our volunteers to refer to?  A way to communicate between volunteers and the shelter would be helpful.  How about a message board or group setting for our volunteers to communicate with each other?

Thank you so much - I was already on board with the switch to ShelterLuv, but now I'm really excited!

------------------------------
Michelle Unkow
Client Services Coordinator
Columbia Animal Shelter
Columbia, PA
------------------------------

We utilize Better Impact & love most everything it offers (except the price 😅) however our BIGGEST constant pain point for volunteers & staff communications is that our volunteers are unable to access & add behavioral notes/observations without giving them ShelterLuv access that would also give them access to confidential information like finder contact/addresses, etc. which our City's legal said a hard no to them being able to see! (Unless there's an option for that now? If so, I'd LOVE to learn more!)

An option for volunteers to be able to just view animal behavior records & add their own observations as well would be so incredibly helpful! If they were able to also add tech/medical/behavior checks that would be pretty awesome too.

Thanks from League City Animal Care in TX!

------------------------------
Lynette Bodmer
Community Outreach Coordinator
League City Animal cAre
TX
------------------------------

We've been on ShelterLuv since 2019 and we realized right away that in order to prevent having to give direct access to everyone, we needed a generic volunteer id that has the ability to perform certain tasks.  We created that generic id (DAWGVolunteer) with its own password that is saved.  We do ask people to add their initials to any notes or activities they complete but we are small enough that we can figure out who did what if they forget.

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Cindy Huth
Volunteer
Denison Animal Welfare Group (DAWG)
TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-03-2026 09:07 AM
From: Lynette Bodmer
Subject: What's your biggest challenge with managing volunteers?

We utilize Better Impact & love most everything it offers (except the price 😅) however our BIGGEST constant pain point for volunteers & staff communications is that our volunteers are unable to access & add behavioral notes/observations without giving them ShelterLuv access that would also give them access to confidential information like finder contact/addresses, etc. which our City's legal said a hard no to them being able to see! (Unless there's an option for that now? If so, I'd LOVE to learn more!)

An option for volunteers to be able to just view animal behavior records & add their own observations as well would be so incredibly helpful! If they were able to also add tech/medical/behavior checks that would be pretty awesome too.

Thanks from League City Animal Care in TX!

------------------------------
Lynette Bodmer
Community Outreach Coordinator
League City Animal cAre
TX
------------------------------

Our shelter has been using Shelterluv since January.  We use Volgisitics for our volunteer database and I am hesitant to switch softwares because it has taken so much time and effort to set up volgistics and to keep making adjustments to get what we need. I also would be vary wary of the work needed to export and import data.  I would have to see a lot of improved features from what Volgistics already does/offers to feel that it would be worth changing systems.

Things I like about Volgistics:

• self-scheduling features- our volunteers are largely responsible to scheduling their own shifts
• flexibility in assignment/role creation
  • we have a lot of different roles that volunteers can do and the assignments in Volgistics helps to clarify these.  
    • There are rules to set for who can self-schedule so that you can manage who has access to assignments after completing whatever requirements
    • These assignments help us track how volunteer time is spent to see the impact
• reporting
  • The reporting function is fairly robust, you can create a large variety of reports and use sets, flags, and more to pull segments of the volunteer database into the report
  • reports are available as pdf or excel
    • The reporting functions could be improved by being able to run for more data points together as there are multiple reports I have to run to compile some of my data sets
• Timekeeping- VicTouch
  • our volunteers sign in and out of shifts so that their service is automatically tracked.  They sign in on our designated computer or via qr code for mobile events. This is a MUST as I do not have time to manually track time. The easier the better for our volunteers.
• Messaging
  • Volgisitics has a nice 1 way communication piece.  I can send out emails or texts easily.  Using flags, sets, and tags allows me to customize recipients of the messages.
  • Large Con- there is no way for me to send an update in the same thread for an email. It is always a new email and this is challenging for certain things as there are always situations that are "developing"
  • There is little in the way of communication for volunteers.  They can reply to my messages but not to each other or other staff.
  • Message preferences are really helpful.  You can create different message types and volunteers can opt-in or out of these message types.  This is especially helpful for our euthanasia notification process as volunteers have to opt-in to these messages so we don't have to worry about sharing this news with those who would rather not know.
• Flags- we can create as many flags as needed to help designate interests of volunteers and other information.
  • We can pull up a list of volunteers based on flags
  • create sets based on flags
  • pull reports
• Sets
  • sets can be created for various reasons with various criteria including service information, flags, assignments, etc.
• Coordinators-It is possible to create coordinators- staff/volunteers who oversee certain assignments.  
  • Coordinators can see and message volunteers assigned to their assignment
  • they can see the schedule
  • Con: you can't assign a coordinator to certain shifts which would be super helpful for volunteer training shifts
• Status
  • there is flexibility in status assignments that is helpful in tracking volunteer lifecycle
• Checklist
  • I can set up things that need to be completed and track it.
    • these can be set to apply after other checklist items
    • can only send reminders for recurring tasks
• Awards
  • can set up criteria for certain awards based on assignment, service, time, etc.
• automated schedule reminders
• setting up shifts for volunteers to self-schedule, holiday settings so that normal shifts do not populate

Things I would like to see:

• more facilitation of communication between staff/volunteers
• Scheduling
  • Ability to link assignments- track volunteer trainers and volunteer trainee assignments
    • ability to assign a trainer to a shift so that trainers/trainees can contact each other if needed
• File storage
  • there is a file storage option on Volgistics, but it is an additonal fee.
  • I would love for volunteers to be able to complete waivers, codes of conduct, etc. and have it automatically in their account
    • I have actually recently moved our Code of Conduct to an application on Shelterluv so that I can track them electronically and we have a person account in shelterluv as we process volunteer fee transactions through shelterluv.
• Ability to message applicants through the database if there are any questions or concerns about an application without having to first accept the application
• Greater communication about animals
  • volunteers being able to view behavior notes and other relevant info (not all) would be really helpful
• Greater automation
  • every update is manual.  I have training steps that volunteers complete but I have to manually update each account after each step. It would be lovely to have better automation options

------------------------------
Sara Kohli
Volunteer and Camp Programs Manager
IndyHumane
------------------------------

This is extremely helpful! I've shared this with our product team. 

Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Sarah Rueli
Growth Manager
Shelterluv
e: sarah@shelterluv.com
m: (413) 544-4660
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-04-2026 12:30 PM
From: Sara Kohli (she/her)
Subject: What's your biggest challenge with managing volunteers?

Our shelter has been using Shelterluv since January.  We use Volgisitics for our volunteer database and I am hesitant to switch softwares because it has taken so much time and effort to set up volgistics and to keep making adjustments to get what we need. I also would be vary wary of the work needed to export and import data.  I would have to see a lot of improved features from what Volgistics already does/offers to feel that it would be worth changing systems.

Things I like about Volgistics:

• self-scheduling features- our volunteers are largely responsible to scheduling their own shifts
• flexibility in assignment/role creation
  • we have a lot of different roles that volunteers can do and the assignments in Volgistics helps to clarify these.  
    • There are rules to set for who can self-schedule so that you can manage who has access to assignments after completing whatever requirements
    • These assignments help us track how volunteer time is spent to see the impact
• reporting
  • The reporting function is fairly robust, you can create a large variety of reports and use sets, flags, and more to pull segments of the volunteer database into the report
  • reports are available as pdf or excel
    • The reporting functions could be improved by being able to run for more data points together as there are multiple reports I have to run to compile some of my data sets
• Timekeeping- VicTouch
  • our volunteers sign in and out of shifts so that their service is automatically tracked.  They sign in on our designated computer or via qr code for mobile events. This is a MUST as I do not have time to manually track time. The easier the better for our volunteers.
• Messaging
  • Volgisitics has a nice 1 way communication piece.  I can send out emails or texts easily.  Using flags, sets, and tags allows me to customize recipients of the messages.
  • Large Con- there is no way for me to send an update in the same thread for an email. It is always a new email and this is challenging for certain things as there are always situations that are "developing"
  • There is little in the way of communication for volunteers.  They can reply to my messages but not to each other or other staff.
  • Message preferences are really helpful.  You can create different message types and volunteers can opt-in or out of these message types.  This is especially helpful for our euthanasia notification process as volunteers have to opt-in to these messages so we don't have to worry about sharing this news with those who would rather not know.
• Flags- we can create as many flags as needed to help designate interests of volunteers and other information.
  • We can pull up a list of volunteers based on flags
  • create sets based on flags
  • pull reports
• Sets
  • sets can be created for various reasons with various criteria including service information, flags, assignments, etc.
• Coordinators-It is possible to create coordinators- staff/volunteers who oversee certain assignments.  
  • Coordinators can see and message volunteers assigned to their assignment
  • they can see the schedule
  • Con: you can't assign a coordinator to certain shifts which would be super helpful for volunteer training shifts
• Status
  • there is flexibility in status assignments that is helpful in tracking volunteer lifecycle
• Checklist
  • I can set up things that need to be completed and track it.
    • these can be set to apply after other checklist items
    • can only send reminders for recurring tasks
• Awards
  • can set up criteria for certain awards based on assignment, service, time, etc.
• automated schedule reminders
• setting up shifts for volunteers to self-schedule, holiday settings so that normal shifts do not populate

Things I would like to see:

• more facilitation of communication between staff/volunteers
• Scheduling
  • Ability to link assignments- track volunteer trainers and volunteer trainee assignments
    • ability to assign a trainer to a shift so that trainers/trainees can contact each other if needed
• File storage
  • there is a file storage option on Volgistics, but it is an additonal fee.
  • I would love for volunteers to be able to complete waivers, codes of conduct, etc. and have it automatically in their account
    • I have actually recently moved our Code of Conduct to an application on Shelterluv so that I can track them electronically and we have a person account in shelterluv as we process volunteer fee transactions through shelterluv.
• Ability to message applicants through the database if there are any questions or concerns about an application without having to first accept the application
• Greater communication about animals
  • volunteers being able to view behavior notes and other relevant info (not all) would be really helpful
• Greater automation
  • every update is manual.  I have training steps that volunteers complete but I have to manually update each account after each step. It would be lovely to have better automation options

------------------------------
Sara Kohli
Volunteer and Camp Programs Manager
IndyHumane
------------------------------

We started using ShelterLuv this year and would love to see a volunteer management program.  I agrees with some of the items already mentioned in prior responses:

•Volunteer able to clock in/outnof shifts and Tracking of hours, easy reporting 

•easy sign up for volunteer shifts 

• Easy communication (message boards) 

• for staff and volunteers calendar showing filled shifts and unfilled shifts (allows staff to know where they needed to fill in and volunteers where they might lend a hand

Our biggest struggle has been being able to populate a calendar for all to see for claimed volunteer shifts. I have looked at so many options.  We currently use slack to communicate and ask for help. And Microsoft calendar to track shifts. But only staff sees that. So it limits th ability for volunteers to fill in when able. 

I can't wait to see the roll out. 

------------------------------
Elizabeth Talamantez
Executive Director
Angels With Paws
Arvada, CO
------------------------------