Our story
We believe volunteering should feel as good as it looks on paper.
Too many people who want to give back get stuck in outdated systems. Too many nonprofits lose great volunteers to friction. We built VolunteerReady to change that.
Why we built this
For the past 35 years, we've shown up. At food banks. At animal rescues. At spay and neuter clinics in cities we've passed through and towns we've called home. No single cause, just a belief that if you have something to give — time, skill, a pair of hands — you give it.
Trisha spent decades in animal rescue across California — on the ground, seeing firsthand what organizations need and where they struggle. Jason is a software engineer who put those skills to work for nonprofits that couldn't afford to hire anyone: building websites for animal rescues that needed a real presence without a real budget.
What it became
This site exists because connecting volunteers with the organizations that need them shouldn't be hard. It should be as easy as showing up.
So we built the thing that should have already existed: a platform where nonprofits can screen for fit, schedule shifts, issue credentials, and manage their entire volunteer force — while volunteers can discover causes they care about and carry their record everywhere.
Our mission
"To make volunteering as easy as it is meaningful — for the people who give their time and the organizations that depend on it."
What we've built so far
VolunteerReady isn't a landing page with a waitlist. It's a production platform with real organizations and real volunteers.
Platform Capabilities
Skill-based matching engine
Volunteers are matched to opportunities based on verified skills, certifications, and availability.
FCRA-compliant background checks
Checkr & Sterling-powered screening with encrypted tokens and full adverse action workflows.
Portable credentials
Verified badges that travel across every organization on the platform.
Shift scheduling and attendance
Create shifts, manage capacity, and track attendance without spreadsheets.
Corporate ESG reporting
Aggregate volunteer impact dashboards and CSV exports for corporate sponsors.
Recently Shipped
SEO foundation
v0.17.8Sitemap, OG images, JSON-LD structured data
Duplicate prevention
v0.17.8Smart deduplication of volunteer applications
Auth hardening
v0.17.3RBAC foundation and platform admin controls
Content Flywheel
v0.17.1Automated case study generation from org data
Volunteer dashboard
v0.16.2Personalized dashboard with upcoming shifts and impact stats
Sterling integration
v0.15.0Second background check provider
What guides us
Connection
Every volunteer deserves to feel genuinely connected to the cause they serve — not just assigned to a task.
Simplicity
Volunteering should be straightforward. We remove friction from every step of the journey.
Impact
We measure success by the lives improved — for the nonprofits we serve and the volunteers who power them.
Trust
Nonprofits trust us with their most important resource. Volunteers trust us with their time. We earn both every day.
The founders
Two people with a long history of showing up — and the conviction that it should be easier for everyone else to do the same.
Jason Shultz
Cofounder
Software engineer and 35-year volunteer. Built websites for animal rescues and nonprofits that needed a real presence without a real budget. Built VolunteerReady because connecting volunteers with organizations shouldn't be hard.
Trisha Shultz
Cofounder
Decades of experience in animal rescue and volunteering across California. Brings the frontline perspective of what organizations actually need to make volunteer programs work.
Ready to be part of it?
Join the people and organizations already making a difference through VolunteerReady.