Give your volunteers their time back
Your volunteers signed up for the mission, not the spreadsheet. Russ to the Rescue sets up volunteer sign-ups, onboarding, reminders and hours tracking around how your team already works, so volunteers spend their time on the work they came for and your coordinator gets their Friday nights back. Builds are a fixed price, starting at $1,000.
Texts come straight to my phone.
Does this sound like your week?
- It's Thursday, and Saturday still has three open shifts.
- The schedule lives in one person's phone, a spreadsheet and a whiteboard, and they don't match.
- Someone always says "I never got the reminder."
- A volunteer cancels at 7 a.m., and you start texting down the list.
- New volunteers wait days to hear back, and some never come to a first shift.
- You can't easily answer "how many volunteer hours did we have this year?" for a grant report.
What changes when volunteers are organized?
Before: Texting people one by one to fill shifts
After: One sign-up link where volunteers choose their own shifts
Before: "I never got the reminder"
After: Reminders go out automatically before every shift
Before: Last-minute cancellations mean a scramble
After: Volunteers can drop a shift themselves, and the open spot is visible right away
Before: The schedule lives in someone's head
After: One schedule everyone can see, that stays up to date
Before: A different welcome for every new volunteer
After: One welcome path with the information and forms they need
Before: Updates scattered across group texts
After: One place to reach the right volunteers with the right message
Before: Counting hours by hand for a grant report
After: Hours and attendance are already recorded
The time that used to go to chasing goes back to the people: welcoming new volunteers, thanking regulars and running the day itself.
What's included?
- Sign-ups and scheduling. One link for shifts, events and roles, on any phone, with no app to download.
- Onboarding. A simple path from "I'd like to help" to a first shift, with the information and forms your organization needs, and required trainings tracked if you need them.
- Reminders. Confirmations and reminders go out on their own, with set wording you approve.
- Hours tracking. Attendance and hours recorded as you go, ready for grant reports and annual reports.
- Communication. Reach everyone signed up for Saturday, or just the drivers, without a dozen group texts. Anything personal, like a thank-you or an announcement, is written or read by a person first.
How does it work?
We talk about how you run volunteers today. Which roles, which shifts, how people sign up, what goes wrong. A food pantry, a youth league and a historical society's docent schedule all need different things.
I map it and simplify it. Automating a messy process just gives you a faster mess, so we fix the process first.
I build it around your process. If you already use a sign-up tool or a shared spreadsheet that works, I'll set it up properly and connect it rather than start over. If you need something new, I build it to fit.
Reminders and confirmations go out on their own. They use set wording you approve, so nobody has to send them by hand. Anything more personal, like a thank-you note, still gets read by a person first.
I train your team and hand it over. Your coordinator and your volunteers learn it, and you get a plain-English guide for whoever runs it next.
What does it cost?
Volunteer management is often a good first system, and builds start at a fixed price of $1,000. Your one-page plan gives you the exact price and timeline before any work starts. The first chat is free, and optional support is $500 a month, only if you want ongoing upgrades. See pricing for everything that's included.
Will our volunteers be able to use it?
Yes. That's the whole point. In most setups, volunteers just tap a link on their phone. No app to download.
I train whoever runs the schedule, and the handover guide is written for a person who's never seen it before, because sooner or later someone new will take over.
What if we already use a sign-up tool?
Then we start there. Plenty of small nonprofits already have a free sign-up site, a shared calendar or a spreadsheet that mostly works. Often the fix is setting it up properly and connecting it to the rest of your week, so sign-ups land in one place, reminders go out on time and hours get counted. I'll only suggest something new if what you have can't do the job.
What happens as we grow?
As you add programs, events and volunteers, nothing breaks. A new program is a new set of shifts in the same place, and a bigger volunteer list doesn't mean more texting. The handover guide keeps up, so a new coordinator can pick it up on day one.
Questions people ask
Can volunteers swap or drop shifts themselves?
Usually, yes. We'll decide together how much volunteers can change on their own and when the coordinator should hear about it.
Can it track volunteer hours for grant reports?
Yes. If hours matter for your funders, we'll set it up so attendance and hours are recorded as you go, not rebuilt at the end of the year.
Does it work for one-off events as well as weekly shifts?
Yes. Your plan will cover the mix you actually have, whether that's a weekly schedule, a big annual event or both.
Who owns the volunteer list?
You do. Your volunteers' information stays in accounts your organization controls.
Who you'll work with
I'm Russ, a neighbor in Mendham. I answer my own phone, and I'm happy to meet at your office or by phone or video. More about me.
Next step
Tell me how Saturday's schedule comes together today. Text me, and we'll find 30 minutes to talk.