Benefits of Our HR Software for Charities
Here's what changes when Zelt takes over your HR admin.
HR Software for Charities and Non-Profits
Managing people in a charity is different to managing people anywhere else; juggling paid staff, seasonal or agency workers, and volunteers, often with no dedicated HR team. Zelt is an all-in-one HR software for UK charities that brings HR, payroll, recruitment, onboarding, DBS and ID checks into one connected system, so your team spends less time on admin and more time on the work that matters.
Watch a product tour
Trusted by Charities from the UK
Charlotte Cowan
HR Director @ Shakespeare’s Globe
“Implementing Zelt has been the best project we’ve ever run”
One system for everyone
Spreadsheets everywhere? Bring staff, locums, contractors, agency workers and volunteers into one secure People Directory. Everyone's details, in one place, whenever you need them.
Compliance built in, not bolted on
DBS/ID checks, Right to Work, policy sign-off and safeguarding-sensitive access controls are part of the core workflow, not an afterthought.
Role-based visibility
Sensitive data (safeguarding flags, disciplinary letters, salary information) is only ever visible to the right people, controlled by granular permissions.
Costs that scale with you
Only pay for what you use, with discounted rates for volunteers and part time workers. Get clear visibility of fixed vs. variable costs - important when every pound is scrutinised by trustees and funders.
No upgrade projects
No more waiting on a big rollout. New features, workflow improvements and platform updates are released every 2–3 weeks and included in your subscription, at no extra cost.
Reporting trustees and funders trust
Real-time dashboards for headcount, absence and turnover, with scheduled reports sent automatically to trustees and stakeholders. Board packs and funder returns no longer mean days of chasing numbers.
Key HR Software Features for Charities
Here are the key features of our HR management software for UK Charities.
Employee & Volunteer Management
Our HR software solution brings your whole team, it brings Staff, volunteers and locums into one secure People Directory. Our software builds role-based permissions in from day one, so safeguarding notes, disciplinary records and salary information only ever reach the people who should see them.
Recruitment & Onboarding
Zelt handles your hiring process end to end - post vacancies, shortlist candidates, send offer letters for e-signature. Once someone says yes, Zelt carries their information straight into onboarding, running DBS checks and document collection automatically, whether they're a new starter or a new volunteer.
Payroll & Compliance
Stick with your current payroll provider, or run payroll through Zelt instead. Either way, hours, absences and benefits land in one payroll-ready view, so approvals happen in the system rather than a spreadsheet. DBS checks, Right to Work, document expiry reminders- all built into the workflow, not left for someone to chase.
Holiday & Absence Management
Accruals, carryover, public holidays across 198 countries - Zelt calculates all of it automatically. Sickness trends surface by team too, so problems get caught early rather than after they've spiralled.
Rota & Shift Management
Drag, drop, done. Zelt flags gaps in the schedule before they turn into a problem. Staff and volunteers confirm shifts from their phone, leave requests appear on the rota without anyone updating it manually, and GPS clock-in keeps multi-site teams accountable.
HR Documents & Reporting
Smart templates auto-fill contracts, handbooks and policies with employee data, then send them straight out for signature - with every version and sign-off recorded. On the reporting side, managers see a dashboard built around what actually needs their attention, while trustees and leadership get the full picture whenever they need it.
Built for UK Charity Compliance & Safeguarding
From DBS checks to safeguarding information, charities handle sensitive people data. Zelt is UK-based, with data hosted in the UK and built around UK GDPR from day one. It is aligned with ISO 27001 standards, with a team that understands what changes in safeguarding or ACAS guidance mean for your HR processes.
DBS and right-to-work checks run through our partner Zinc and are built directly into onboarding. Expiry dates and supporting documents are tracked against each employee or volunteer, while safeguarding-sensitive information is only visible to the right people. So when a funder or regulator asks for evidence, it’s a quick lookup rather than a scramble through old files.
What Our Charity and Non-Profit Customers Say About Us
“Implementing Zelt has been the best project we’ve ever run”
Charlotte Cowan, HR Director at Shakespeare’s Globe
Shakespeare’s Globe is a UK-based charity with a complex workforce made up of over 400 short-term contracts, volunteers and permanent office-based staff. Zelt was able to unify all of their HR and payroll systems into one platform to be centrally managed and tracked. We have worked together to automate and streamline existing manual processes across their organisation, from hiring to retiring and everything in between. Zelt has provided custom development to build bespoke functionality, specifically for Shakespeare’s Globe. This means that they have been able to achieve a level of functionality and perfect fit that simply wasn’t possible off-the-shelf.
Ready to Simplify HR for Your Charity?
Stop spending hours switching between spreadsheets and separate HR systems. Zelt brings your people, payroll and HR processes together in one place, so your team can spend less time on admin and more time supporting your mission.
Whether you’re managing a small charity or a growing organisation across multiple sites, our HR software for charities gives you the tools to manage HR with less hassle. See how Zelt can simplify HR for your charity.
