Pros
Reading Partners does the best job of volunteer management that I have ever experienced. It is very easy to volunteer there and really make a difference to a child, in as little as 1 hour/week. Their system is clear and streamlined so you will know what to do when you get there. Reading Partners has it's own room all set up for you to sit with a child and help them with reading, and when you get there each day, you just pull your student's file to see what lesson they are on. The kids love the individual attention, and the environment is really peaceful and friendly. The management were all really nice, helpful, appreciative, and respectful in my experience there.
Cons
When I volunteered for them, Reading Partners employed a full-time site coordinator at each school, who was well-trained and paid a living wage salary, and who would want to stay for years. Then they laid off all of the site coordinators and replaced them with Americorps volunteers, who are paid a stipend that isn't enough for living in the SF Bay Area. The volunteer site coordinators are unlikely to stay more than one year. I haven't volunteered for them since then, but I doubt it's possible to run as well under these conditions, even though I have no doubt the Americorps people do their best. It's a shame they eliminated good jobs for trained and experienced adults who want to promote literacy. It probably enabled Reading Partners to expand while staying in their budget, but as a person who wants to do good in my career, it is frustrating that so many good-doing jobs don't pay people what they deserve, and as a trained reading tutor, it's sad to see that so much reading tutoring is done by untrained people. At some schools, Reading Partners also runs a whole after-school program. I don't know how these are in general, but the one I experienced wasn't especially good. But their main program, one-hour pullout tutoring in their special room, was high-quality.