What should a volunteer application form ask?

Availability in specific windows, what they want to help with, and whatever safeguarding your work requires. Specific availability is what turns an application into a rota entry.

Do volunteer forms need safeguarding questions?

If volunteers will work with children or vulnerable adults, yes, including references and background checks. Ask about willingness on the form and handle the check itself properly off it.

How do I make a volunteer form less off-putting?

Lead with what they would be doing and why it helps, keep the compliance questions at the end, and say how long the form takes. The screening still happens; it just stops being the first thing they meet.

Can I collect references in the same form?

Yes. Ask for names and contact details, and be clear you will only approach them at a later stage. A form that implies you will ring their boss tomorrow puts people off applying.

Is this volunteer application form template free?

Yes. Use it, publish it and collect answers on the free plan with no card. Paid plans add things like payments, scheduling, removing our badge and your own domain, but none of them are needed to run this form.

Do I need an account to use it?

You need one to edit and publish, because the form has to live somewhere and the answers have to come back to you. Signing up takes about a minute and does not ask for a card. The people filling your form in never need an account.

Can I change the questions?

All of them. The template is a starting point, not a fixed form: add, remove, reword and reorder anything, change the look, and use logic so people only see the questions that apply to them.

Can I put it on my own website?

Yes. Embed it in a page you already have, or share the link. On a paid plan you can serve it from your own domain so the address says your name rather than ours.

Where do the answers go?

Into your dashboard, where you can read, search and export them as CSV. You can also have each response emailed to you, pushed to another tool with a webhook, or sent to a connected integration.

How long does this form take to fill in?

About 2.5 minutes as it stands, across 8 questions. Every question you cut brings that down, and shorter forms get finished more often.

Applications

Volunteer application

Availability is asked as a multi-select because volunteers rarely have one fixed slot. References are collected up front, which is the step that usually stalls.

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Questions: 8
Takes about: 2.5 min
Style: One page
Scoring: None

Free, no card. It lands in your workspace as an editable draft.

Worth knowing

The welcome screen and the intro text above the first question carry example turnaround times, policies and promises. Rewrite them as yours before you publish — they are the part respondents take literally.

What's in it

Volunteer with us
Welcome screen
How it works from here We'll call you for an informal chat within a week · You'll meet the…
Rich text
1
Your name*
Short text
2
Your email address*
Email
3
Phone number
Phone
4
When are you free?
Weekday mornings · Weekday afternoons · Weekday evenings · Weekends
Multiple choice
5
What would you like to help with?
Events · Admin · Fundraising · Working with people directly · +1
Multiple choice
6
Any relevant experience?
Long text
7
A reference — name and contact
Short text
8
Background checks*
Consent
Thank you
Ending

How to use this template

Open it as a draft
Press "Use this template" and it lands in your workspace as an editable form with all 8 questions already in it. No card, and nothing is published until you say so.
Cut what you do not need
Every question you remove is one fewer reason to abandon the form. It takes about 2.5 minutes to fill in as it stands, and that is the number worth protecting.
Add from the question bank
Pick what you are missing from the questions below. Drag any of them in, change the wording, and use conditional logic so people only see the ones that apply to them.
Share it, or put it on your own site
Publish to get a link, or embed it in a page you already have. Answers arrive in your dashboard, and you can send them on to anywhere else with a webhook or an integration.

32 volunteer application form questions to choose from

Volunteers give you time, and the form is the first thing that tells them whether you will use it well. Ask about availability in a way you can actually roster from.

'Weekends' is not a schedule. Ask for the specific windows.

About them

What is your name?
What is your email address?
What is your phone number?
What is your address?
How old are you? (Or are you over 18?)
How did you hear about us?
Why do you want to volunteer with us?
What do you hope to get out of it?

Availability

Which days are you free?
Which times on those days?
How many hours a month could you give?
Are you looking for something regular or occasional?
Are there dates you are definitely unavailable?
How long could you commit for?
Could you help at short notice?
How would you get to us?

Skills and interests

What would you like to help with?
Have you volunteered before? Where?
What skills could you bring?
Do you have any relevant qualifications?
Do you have a driving licence?
Are you comfortable working with the public?
Are you happy to work with children or vulnerable adults?
Is there anything you would rather not do?

Safeguarding and practical

Do you have a current DBS or background check?
Would you be willing to undergo one?
Can you provide two references?
What are their names and contact details?
Do you have any health conditions we should know about?
Do you have any access requirements?
Who is your emergency contact?
Do you agree to our volunteer policy?

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