Last updated by Kasey Murphy on 09/04/2024
Volunteer agreement forms are in almost every volunteer program, in small ways and significant ways. Depending on your program, you may have lengthy volunteer agreement forms or more minor, basic volunteer agreements.
Volunteer agreements are simply a way to set expectations of what the volunteer can expect from the organization and what the organization hopes to see from its volunteers. They are great to use at the end of a volunteer info session or the beginning of volunteer orientation.
We have pulled examples and suggestions on volunteer agreement forms from many different resources and volunteer coordinators who are in our Volunteer Coordinator Resource Community Facebook group. The following article will give examples of what to include in volunteer agreement forms, as well as volunteer agreement template downloads!
Volunteer Contracts or any sort of law-enforceable documents are not the same as volunteer agreement forms. The following volunteer agreement templates are not enforceable by law; if you are looking for a document that volunteers can sign in a legal aspect, please seek assistance from a lawyer.
We have created a volunteer management handbook that has volunteer agreement forms, volunteer recommendation letter templates, and volunteer handbook outlines. This is such a great way to get started with a volunteer program, don’t miss out on all of the best volunteer management documents complied into one location!
important to your organization: Rules for day to day activities COVID-19 Organization and PPE Volunteer Requirements Retention Exit Plans Event Scheduling Risks Marketing Use Then Include These in your Volunteer Agreement Forms A Rules and guideline section that goes through all of the rules that are important to the organization. A distinct COVID-19 Safety section that goes over social distancing rules, how the organization is changing to help prevent exposure and how the volunteers are expected to help keep themselves and everyone around them safe. A Requirements Section or Graph explaining the different levels of requirements, the timeline everyone has to complete these requirements, consequences if not met, and how they can reach out if they need more hours. If you know volunteers may wish to exit or have had issues in the past with volunteers exiting - create a clear outline for how volunteers can " width="600" height="1945" />
Volunteer agreements are important on multiple levels. The best part about volunteer agreements is that they can be as serious or as basic as you would like, and they are customizable to your organization’s standards.
All in all, volunteer agreement forms give a professional look to necessary information forms. They also allow a signed document for organizations to look back to for essential information. Volunteer agreement templates like the ones provided in this article will allow organizations to provide as much information on their programs as they wish. Also, they will enable a place for volunteers to provide their information as well that the organization may need.
It is important to consider if you would like your volunteer agreement to be online or paper. Paper signatures are great to have, and it can be helpful if you have an in-person meeting where you can hand out the paper.
But it may be more efficient to go with an online volunteer agreement. Online volunteer agreements can be beneficial as well because you can simply upload your volunteer information into your volunteer management software.
If you have a volunteer time tracking or management software like Track It Forward, you can create customized profile fields within the software that can hold all the information that you wish to ask in your volunteer agreement forms. You can also simply upload the volunteer information from an online spreadsheet!
Many different things can be in a volunteer agreement. The various templates outline different uses of volunteer agreement documents; all of the following are optional to include based on your organization’s needs! The essential inclusions are the organization commitments and expectations, rules and regulations, and a spot for a volunteer signature!
By creating a volunteer agreement template, you are ensuring an organized volunteer program! Creating a volunteer agreement form is the first step to getting started in building a volunteer program. Having these templates on file to edit as your program changes and expands is a wonderful opportunity that can help make your job a bit easier now and in the future.
We compiled the best volunteer agreement templates for you to edit and customize for your organization! Sign up below to receive an email that will give you the download link!
The following are some sneak peeks of sample volunteer agreements in other organizations. Click on the links to view the full versions - input your email address in the bottom box to download our editable volunteer agreement templates!
Each of these sample volunteer agreements varies in complexity. Depending on your organization, you may not need as severe of a volunteer agreement form.
Online Form Using a Site Like Survey Monkey
Check out our example below, linked here. This organization created a Google Form to have volunteers fill out specific information and sign up online.
Digital-PDF
This organization used a downloadable PDF, where viewers could print or fill out online. See the full version here.
Basic Paper Document
This organization created a word document that they will use to print out and hand out to volunteers in person. Find the print-out here.
Elaborate Paper Document
Elaborate paper volunteer agreement forms can be handy when there is a lot of logistics to cover, or you would like your volunteers to have a copy to take with them. These elaborate volunteer agreements can also be a digital version, and the volunteers can choose how they download them. The full version is here.
If you would like to download the full volunteer handbook package - more , head over to our Roles and Responsibilities article in this series!
1. Are Volunteer Agreements legal documents?
A volunteer agreement form is only a legal document if lawyers and notaries are involved. Be sure to seek legal advice if you wish to have a legal volunteer contract. Also be sure to let your volunteers know they are not legally bound to anything by signing.
2. How do I make volunteer agreement forms?
It is very simple to make these forms. Just take time to overview what you want a volunteer to understand about the organization and include this. Make sure you give volunteers time to read the whole document.
Next in this series: Volunteer Handbook
