VolunteerFlow is volunteer management software that brings your volunteers, care shifts, animal records and paperwork into one system, so your team spends less time on spreadsheets and more time with the animals.
Many rescues and shelters run on a patchwork of tools, and every one of them costs coordinator hours.
Volunteer spreadsheets
Contact lists, availability and notes spread across tabs that only one person understands.
A separate scheduling tool
Kennel, feeding and event shifts live somewhere else, so rosters drift out of date.
Disconnected animal records
Vaccines, medications and vet notes sit in folders nobody can find during a busy shift.
Manual reminders
Coordinators text and email volunteers one by one before every shift.
Hours nobody can total
Paper sign-in sheets make grant and board reports a weekend project.
Documents everywhere
Waivers, certifications and training records scattered across inboxes and filing cabinets.
Event coordination
Adoption events and fundraisers need extra hands, and filling every slot takes days.
Repeated admin work
The same questions, the same forms and the same follow-ups every week.
Volunteer management
Know every volunteer, not just their email
One profile per volunteer, with the fields your organization actually needs.
Custom profile fields and tags, such as dog walker, cat room or barn crew
People groups for teams and cohorts
Merge duplicate records without losing history
A self-service volunteer portal for profiles, sign-ups, training, waivers and hour history
Plans: All plans. Programs are on Flow and Impact.
Animal Management
Your animals and your volunteers, in the same system
Animal records sit next to the volunteers who care for them. Staff see the full picture; volunteers see what they need for today's shift.
Animal profiles
Breed, age, sex, markings, photo, weight, microchip and intake date
Status: available, in care, fostered, medical hold, adopted
Species groups, tags and location
A custom intake form, saved with each animal
Medical and care
Vaccines with the date given and next due date
Medications with dosage and schedule
Allergies, conditions and vet notes, plus uploaded documents
Care instructions marked normal, important or urgent, which volunteers acknowledge
Daily activity
Volunteers log walks, feeding, water, cleaning, grooming, socialization, training and transport
Each entry records who did it, when, and any notes
You choose which volunteers see animals in the portal, using tags
Appointments and adoptions
Vet, grooming, adoption and intake appointments with email reminders
Adoption records with adopter contact details and agreement reference
Adoption records are staff-only and never shown to volunteers
Printable animal profile sheets
Animal profile
Biscuit · Labrador mix
Intake Aug 14 · Microchipped
Available
Rabies vaccine
Next due Mar 2027
Vet appointment
Tuesday 10:00 · reminder set
Documents
Intake exam, vaccine certificate
Illustration with sample data
Plans: Animal Management is included in Impact. On Launch or Flow you can request it as an add-on. Your free trial on Impact includes it from day one. Compare plans
Volunteer operations
Everything behind a well-staffed shift
Recruit, screen, schedule, remind and thank the people who keep your animals cared for.
The steps behind a well-staffed shift
1. Recruit
↓
2. Screen
↓
3. Schedule
↓
4. Remind
↓
5. Thank
Scheduling and events
Cover recurring care shifts and one-off adoption events from the same calendar.
Events with shifts and capacity limits
Waitlists that promote the next volunteer when a spot opens
Standing assignments for recurring roles, and sign-up for a whole series
Shift swaps with staff approval, and conflict detection
Add-to-Google-Calendar links for volunteers
Plans: Events and shifts on all plans. Waitlists on every plan. Swaps, conflict detection and group registration on Flow and Impact.
Volunteer hours and attendance
Replace the clipboard at the front desk.
Check in and out with a QR code or link, including group and walk-in check-in
Kiosk stations for a shared tablet at the shelter
Manual attendance when someone forgets to check in
An hours log staff can approve or flag
Volunteers see their own hour history in the portal
Plans: QR check-in on all plans. The hours log and approvals are on Flow and Impact.
Applications and vetting
Screen people before they work with animals.
Application forms you build, shared by public link or invite
A vetting board with Applied, Screening, Background, Interview, Approved and Rejected stages
Star ratings and staff notes on each applicant as they move through the stages
Background checks through Checkr or Sterling
Plans: The vetting board on Flow and Impact. Direct background checks on Impact.
Documents and compliance
Know who has signed what, and what is about to expire.
Waivers with signature capture, expiry dates and per-event waivers
Certifications with expiry dates; volunteers can submit them for staff to verify
Training courses with assignments and expiring completions; a module can grant a certification
A file library shared to the volunteer portal
Plans: Training on all plans. Waivers, certifications and the file library on Flow and Impact.
Communication
Stop sending shift reminders by hand.
Email messages, sent now or scheduled, and text messages to volunteers who opt in
Automatic shift reminders by email, with opt-out
Push notifications through the VolunteerFlow mobile app
Announcements and reusable email templates
Plans: Email, texts and reminders on all plans (10,000, 50,000 or 100,000 texts a year on Launch, Flow and Impact). Announcements and email templates on Flow and Impact.
Reporting
Answer the board, the grant officer and your own questions.
A report builder covering volunteers, events, attendance, hours, applications and training
Animal, appointment and treatment reports when Animal Management is on
A grant report that totals hours for any date range
Scheduled reports by email, and retention analytics
Exports of volunteers, events, applications and hours as an Excel workbook, and CSV downloads of reports
Plans: The Excel data export on all plans. The report builder, CSV report downloads and analytics on Flow and Impact.
Switching and importing
Bring your history with you instead of starting from zero.
Import volunteers from CSV or Excel files, with a duplicate review step
Import past hours, event history, sign-ups and groups
Import animals from CSV or Excel, reviewing each row before it is saved
Plans: Volunteer and history imports on all plans. Animal import comes with Animal Management.
Start on Impact to use Animal Management alongside scheduling, vetting, waivers and reporting. No credit card is needed, and you pick the plan that fits when the trial ends.
Animal Management is included in the Impact plan. Organizations on Launch or Flow can request it as an add-on and our team turns it on for them. Start your free trial on Impact to try it straight away.
Can volunteers log animal care themselves?
Yes. Volunteers you give access to can log walks, feeding, cleaning, socialization and other activities from the volunteer portal, with notes. They can also read and acknowledge care instructions. You decide who has access using volunteer tags, such as a Kennel tag.
Can we track vaccinations and medications?
Yes. Each animal can have vaccine records with the date given and next due date, medications with dosage and schedule, and allergy, condition and vet notes. You can attach documents such as vet records to the animal.
Does VolunteerFlow handle adoption applications or a public adoptable-animals page?
Not today. VolunteerFlow records completed adoptions (adopter contact details, date and agreement reference) and adoption appointments, but it does not publish adoptable animals to your website or take adoption applications.
Can we bring over our existing volunteer and animal records?
Yes. You can import volunteers, past hours, event history and animals from CSV or Excel files. Each import has a review step so you can catch duplicates or problems before anything is saved.
Can volunteers sign waivers before they work with animals?
Yes. Waivers support signature capture, expiry dates and waivers tied to specific events, so you can see who has signed and whose waiver is running out. Waivers are on the Flow and Impact plans.
How does the free trial work?
The trial lasts 30 days and does not need a credit card. Choosing Impact at sign-up includes Animal Management and every other feature on this page. Your data is yours: on every plan you can download it as an Excel workbook from Settings while your trial or subscription is active.