What is the volunteer experience survey form template?
Volunteers leave quietly. A volunteer experience survey helps a charity, event organiser or community group find out why people volunteer, whether their training and support are working, and what would make them come back.
This template covers the program they volunteered with and why, getting started — sign-up, role description, training, screening — then support and recognition, and whether they can see the impact they're making. A 0–10 question asks how likely they are to volunteer again, with a follow-up for lower scores, and a checklist finds people interested in leading, training others or joining a committee.
Volunteers can stay anonymous or ask the coordinator to get in touch. Every response is saved as a PDF in your FileIt vault.
- Best for
- Charities, nonprofits, community groups, events and faith organisations
- Filled in by
- Volunteers, one-off or long-term
- Time to complete
- About 5 minutes
- Includes
- Motivation checklist, two agreement grids, impact and return scales, and interest in bigger roles
Who uses a volunteer experience survey form?
- An annual volunteer survey for a charity or food bank
- Feedback after a one-off event, race or festival
- Checking whether new volunteer training is working
- Finding volunteers ready for team leader or trainer roles
- Understanding why volunteers drop off after a few months
- Evidence of volunteer experience for a grant report
Questions on this volunteer experience survey form
19 questions over 4 pages · includes conditional questions, multiple pages, ratings.
1 Your volunteering
- Program, event or team you volunteered with*
- How long have you volunteered with us?* A one-off event · Less than 6 months · 6–12 months · 1–3 years · More than 3 years
- Hours in a typical month Under 4 · 4–10 · 11–20 · More than 20 · It varies
- Why do you volunteer with us? To give back to the community · I care about the cause · To learn new skills · Career or study experience · To meet people · Friends or family volunteer here · Required hours for school or a program
2 Getting started
- How much do you agree?* Strongly disagree · Disagree · Neutral · Agree · Strongly agree
- What should we add to volunteer training?
3 Support & recognition
- How much do you agree?* Strongly disagree · Disagree · Neutral · Agree · Strongly agree
- Support from your volunteer coordinator*
4 Impact & what's next
- I can see the difference my volunteering makes*
- Have you gained new skills or experience?
- Which ones? asked only when it applies
- How likely are you to volunteer with us again?*
- What would make you more likely to come back? asked only when it applies
- Would you be interested in… Leading a team or shift · Training new volunteers · Trying a different role · Joining a committee or board · Helping with fundraising · Nothing extra right now
- The best part of volunteering with us
- One thing we should improve
- Would you like the volunteer coordinator to contact you?
- Your name* asked only when it applies
- Email* asked only when it applies
The volunteer experience survey form, page by page
1 Your volunteering
The program, event or team they volunteered with, how long they've volunteered, typical monthly hours and why they volunteer — from giving back and the cause to skills, career experience, meeting people or required hours.
2 Getting started
Six agreement statements on easy sign-up, a clear role, useful training, knowing their contact person, having the equipment and information needed, and quick checks or screening. An open question asks what to add to training.
3 Support & recognition
Seven statements on well-organised time, feeling appreciated, feedback, being part of the team, feeling safe, clear shift communication and flexible scheduling, plus a required star rating for the volunteer coordinator.
4 Impact & what's next
A 1–5 scale on seeing the difference they make, whether they've gained skills (and which), and a required 0–10 likelihood to volunteer again — below 7 asks what would bring them back. Volunteers tick interest in leading, training others, a different role, a committee or fundraising, share the best part and one improvement, and can ask the coordinator to contact them.
Make the template yours
- Replace the program field with a dropdown of your programs
- Edit the motivation list to match your volunteers
- Remove the screening statement if you don't run checks
- Add questions about expenses or travel support
- Send it to event volunteers straight after the event
- Add NotifyEmails for your volunteer coordinators
Tips for a better volunteer experience survey form
- Send it soon after a shift or event while it's fresh
- Follow up with anyone interested in a bigger role
- Look closely at 'I feel appreciated' — it often predicts whether people return
- Share what you changed because of volunteer feedback
- Thank people for completing it
- Compare one-off and long-term volunteers' answers
Every response becomes a PDF in your vault
Each response is saved as a PDF titled with the date in the vault folder you choose, and you're notified by email.
Filter the Responses table by program or duration and export to CSV to report on volunteer experience and find people interested in new roles.
- Start from this template. It opens in the FileIt Forms designer — change any question, add pages, set the rules for when questions appear.
- Share it. Turn on a public link, or send it to people by email, each with their own link. They don’t need a FileIt account.
- Get the answers as PDFs. Each response is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with uploaded files attached — and listed in a Responses table you can export to CSV.
Volunteer experience survey form: frequently asked questions
Is this volunteer survey template free?
Yes. It's a starter template in the FileIt Forms app, and every question can be edited.
Is it anonymous?
Yes, unless the volunteer asks the coordinator to contact them.
Does it work for one-off event volunteers?
Yes. 'A one-off event' is one of the duration options, and the questions work for a single shift.
Can I find volunteers interested in leadership roles?
Yes. A checklist asks about leading, training others and joining a committee. Those who also leave contact details can be followed up.
Do volunteers need an account?
No. They open the link on any device.
How is this different from volunteer sign-up?
Sign-up collects details before someone starts. This survey asks about their experience afterwards.