Software profile
Three Rings
A UK not-for-profit system for charities and community organisations managing volunteers. It has rotas, a volunteer directory, team messages and controlled document sharing.
30-second answer
What to know before you open the full record
- What it is
- A UK not-for-profit system for charities and community organisations managing volunteers. It has rotas, a volunteer directory, team messages and controlled document sharing.
- Contexts worth testing
- Churches coordinating recurring volunteer shifts and teams, Churches that need a volunteer directory, rota and communications in one service, Churches seeking a general charity-sector system rather than church-specific member management
- Published starting price
- £174 / year
- Relevant UK checks
- Available more broadly · UK registered
- Shortlist when
- Churches with recurring teams that need volunteer self-sign-up, allocation and communications
- Check first
- Run one non-sensitive ministry rota through signup, allocation, absence, messages, role permissions, reporting and export; then review its turnover-based invoice and current data-processing documentation before importing the full volunteer directory
- Evidence date
- Sources checked 25 July 2026
This is an evidence-led starting point, not a ranking or hands-on verdict. Supplier sources establish what they publish; your church should test material workflows and resolve the questions below.
Five-minute assessment
Assess the likely fit and trade-offs
Directory assessment
Three Rings is a mature UK general charity-sector option for a church whose immediate problem is volunteer coordination rather than member management. It has a clearer public accountability and data-handling position than many small rota products, alongside a turnover-linked annual price. The service is not church-specific: it does not publicly claim church directory, giving, service planning, safeguarding-case or pastoral-care functionality, so a church should keep its evaluation focused on volunteer administration.
Decision framing
Shortlist when, then check first
- Shortlist when
- Coordinating volunteer shifts, team contact and shared resources without maintaining several separate systems
- Test in a real workflow
- A volunteer-run UK CIC with a broad volunteer-administration workflow and unusually detailed public controller-processor terms
- Settle before buying
- Run one non-sensitive ministry rota through signup, allocation, absence, messages, role permissions, reporting and export; then review its turnover-based invoice and current data-processing documentation before importing the full volunteer directory
Decision evidence
Published details for a shortlist
These details are traced to the source shown. Supplier material establishes what the supplier publishes; it is not hands-on testing.
- GBP pricing
- Supplier sourcePublished GBP starting priceSource: Three Rings account and pricing information · checked 25 July 2026
Best suited to
- Churches with recurring teams that need volunteer self-sign-up, allocation and communications
- Churches wanting to replace separate rota spreadsheets, contact lists and shared files
- Charitable church projects that value an identified UK CIC and published controller-processor terms
Evidence-backed strengths
- Active UK CIC with current published terms
- Focused rota, directory, communications and file-sharing workflow
- Published free-trial and demo routes
- Turnover-linked annual pricing with an affordability safeguard
- Public controller-processor, hosting and access-control information
Limitations and questions
- A general charity-sector tool, not church-specific software
- Supplier eligibility is limited to charities and community organisations
- Published pricing is illustrative and turnover-based rather than a simple fixed tier table
- The service is not presented as a giving, accounting, worship-planning, safeguarding-case or pastoral-care system
- Confirm data export, SMS supplier, support response practicalities and confidential-file permissions in a live test
What the supplier publishes
- Volunteer rota with self-sign-up or administrator allocation
- Volunteer directory and role-based access
- Built-in email and SMS communications
- Shift-gap and volunteer statistics
- Access-controlled file repository
- Customisable administration
- Data-deletion reminders
- Personal-information reports
What does the supplier currently publish?
Pricing and trial
Three Rings bases annual prices on an organisation's turnover. Its current account page says a typical small helpline or volunteer-run library would pay about £174 a year including VAT from April 2025, while a major national charity is likely to pay about £270 including VAT; the supplier says the smallest or new organisations may be eligible for free access. Confirm the applicable annual invoice, VAT treatment, SMS-credit cost and any dedicated-server charge before purchase.
| Tier or starting point | Published price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Small or new organisation | May be free | Supplier says it may provide free access for the smallest charities or brand-new organisations. |
| Typical small organisation | About £174/year including VAT | Supplier's April 2025 illustrative price for a typical helpline or volunteer-run library. |
| Major national charity | About £270/year including VAT | Supplier's April 2025 illustrative price for an organisation with considerable grant and lottery income. |
Free trial: Yes — Supplier offers a free trial after contact, as well as an hour-long demo.
Full due diligence
Evidence, operations and source record
Use this full record to test practical details, retain source links and take specific gaps to the supplier.
Published operations and support details
- Data protection information
- Three Rings CIC publishes terms identifying the church or other client as controller and itself as processor for system data. Its public statements describe UK-based application storage, UK and EEA backups, encrypted connections, access controls, action logging, a named DPO and an email sub-processor arrangement. The current terms say client data can be exported or destroyed at termination; request the current export method, data-processing schedule, sub-processor contract details and restoration process before loading personal or confidential material.
- Integrations
- SMS/text messaging through third-party text credits; confirm current provider and data-processing arrangement
- Import and export
- Supplier says annual access includes custom data imports from an old system, Current terms describe client choice to export or destroy client data at termination; confirm file formats, assistance, timing and any cost
- Support
- Supplier publishes an hour-long demo route, Supplier offers a free trial route, Supplier says support can be contacted any day of the year and promises a reply within 24 hours, Annual subscription includes setup advice and new releases according to the published account page
Sources reviewed
Sources support only the fields named beneath each link. Supplier material is not independent testing; external review material is included as a limited signal rather than a verdict.
- Three Rings volunteer management overview
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: Product scope, Volunteer-management features, Supplier identity - Three Rings features
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: Rota, Directory, Communications, File sharing, Statistics, Administration - Three Rings account and pricing information
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: Eligibility, Illustrative pricing, Free trial, Demo, Support, Data-import statement - Three Rings organisation terms
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: Legal operator, Processor role, Sub-processors, Termination handling, England and Wales jurisdiction - Three Rings GDPR statement
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: UK and EEA storage statement, Encryption, Action logging, Access controls, DPO - Companies House: Three Rings CIC
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · Supports: Active UK CIC, Company number, Registered office
