Volunteer waiver template
A volunteer waiver asks the people who help you, at a food bank shift, a park cleanup or a build day, to accept the ordinary risks of the work and release your organization from claims over them. This one also covers emergency medical care, conduct rules and photos. Read it below, then open it in SignMaster and send it to your volunteer list.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Volunteer
- Organization
Volunteer Waiver and Release
This Volunteer Waiver and Release (the "Waiver") is between Organization name (the "Organization") and Volunteer name (the "Volunteer").
1. The volunteer role
The Volunteer offers to help with Program or event. Their tasks are expected to include Volunteer tasks.
This Waiver covers volunteer activity at Site address and at any other location the Organization sends the Volunteer, from Start date to End date.
2. Volunteer status
The Volunteer gives their time freely and doesn't expect to be paid. They are not an employee, contractor or agent of the Organization, and they receive no wages, benefits or workers' compensation coverage from it except where the law requires. Volunteering is not a promise of future employment. The Volunteer may stop volunteering at any time, and the Organization may end a volunteer's role at any time.
3. Risks of the activity
The Volunteer understands that the activity involves risks, including lifting and carrying, slips, trips and falls, the use of hand and power tools, contact with members of the public, travel to and from the site, and heat, cold and other weather. Risks particular to this program: Site-specific risks.
The Volunteer confirms they are physically able to do the tasks described, will speak to the coordinator before taking on any task they are unsure about, and will stop work and report any condition they believe is unsafe.
4. Assumption of risk and release
The Volunteer voluntarily accepts the risks described in section 3 and any other risks that are a normal part of the activity. To the fullest extent the law allows, the Volunteer releases the Organization and its directors, officers, staff and other volunteers from any claim for injury, illness, death or damage to property arising from the Volunteer's participation, including claims based on their ordinary negligence. This release does not cover gross negligence, willful misconduct, or anything else the law does not allow a person to release.
5. Instructions and rules
The Volunteer will follow the instructions of staff and site leaders, use the safety equipment provided, and follow the Organization's volunteer rules, including: Volunteer rules. The Volunteer will not take part while under the influence of alcohol or of drugs that affect judgment.
6. Respect and privacy
The Volunteer will treat the people the Organization serves, its staff and other volunteers with respect. They will keep private any personal information about those people that they learn while volunteering, both during and after their service, and will not take photos of the people the Organization serves without permission.
7. Emergency medical care
If the Volunteer is injured or becomes ill and can't make decisions for themselves, the Organization may call emergency services and arrange first aid or emergency treatment. The Volunteer is responsible for the cost of any treatment, except where the Organization's insurance covers it. The Organization will try to reach the emergency contact below.
Emergency contact: Emergency contact name Phone: Emergency contact phone Relationship: Emergency contact relationship
Medical conditions or allergies the coordinator should know about (optional): Medical notes
8. Driving
If the Volunteer drives their own vehicle for the Organization, they confirm that they hold a valid driver's license and the auto insurance their state requires, that they will obey traffic laws, and that their own insurance applies first to any accident while they drive.
9. Photos and recordings
The Organization may take photos and video at volunteer events. If the Volunteer initials here, the Organization may use images of them in its newsletters, website and social media, without payment: Photo permission initials. Leaving it blank means no, and doesn't affect the Volunteer's ability to volunteer.
10. General
This Waiver is governed by the laws of the state of State. If any part of it is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. It replaces any earlier volunteer waiver between the Organization and the Volunteer. Electronic signatures on it count as original signatures.
Volunteer contact details
Phone: Volunteer phone Email: Volunteer email
I am 18 or older, I have read this whole Waiver, including the release in section 4, and I sign it voluntarily.
Volunteer
For the Organization
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
What a volunteer waiver does, and what it doesn't
Volunteers lift boxes, climb ladders, drive their own cars and work outside in the heat. When someone gets hurt, the waiver is the record that they knew the risks, agreed to follow your safety rules and gave up claims for ordinary accidents. It also gives your coordinators permission to call for medical help, and the number of the person to call next.
It isn't a shield for everything. Courts in most states won't enforce a release against gross negligence or deliberate harm, and a few states refuse pre-injury releases for personal injury altogether. Pair the waiver with real safety practice: a short briefing, the right gear for the job, and an incident log.
What the template covers
- The role: the program, the volunteer's tasks, the site, and the dates or season they're signing up for.
- Risks named plainly: lifting, tools, traffic and weather, plus the hazards of your own site in a blank you fill in.
- Release and assumption of risk: the volunteer accepts the ordinary risks and releases the organization, its staff and other volunteers, except for gross negligence or willful misconduct.
- Not an employee: no wages or benefits, no promise of a job, and either side can end the arrangement at any time.
- Medical care: permission to get emergency treatment, an emergency contact, and an optional note about conditions or allergies.
- Conduct and privacy: follow staff directions, treat the people you serve with respect, and keep their personal details private.
- Photos: an opt-in by initials, so saying no never stops anyone from volunteering.
- Driving: for volunteers who drive, a promise that they hold a valid license and their own auto insurance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Calling unpaid helpers at a for-profit business volunteers. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, people who do that kind of work generally have to be paid, waiver or not. Volunteer waivers belong to nonprofits, churches, schools and public agencies.
- Using the adult form for teenagers. This template is for volunteers aged 18 and over; for younger helpers, add a parent or guardian as a second signer, or use a form written for minors.
- Burying the release in fine print. Courts look for a release that's easy to spot and easy to read, so keep it in its own numbered section in plain words, as section 4 does here.
- Collecting it once and forgetting it. Re-send it every year, and whenever the work changes, say from sorting donations to running a chainsaw crew.
- Leaving signed copies in a filing cabinet. If someone is hurt, you need their waiver, with the date they signed, in minutes rather than days.
Volunteers have their own protection
The federal Volunteer Protection Act shields individual volunteers of nonprofits and government agencies from many negligence claims while they act within their role. It protects the volunteer, not the organization, which is why the organization still needs its own release and its own insurance.
How to send it with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template above. It lands in your SignMaster account with two roles set up: the volunteer, who signs first, and your organization, who countersigns.
- 2
Fill in your program
Type your organization's name, the program, the tasks, the site and its hazards into the gray blanks. Every volunteer you send it to sees the same wording.
- 3
Share one link with everyone
Turn the template into a public link and put it in your sign-up email, or print its QR code on a flyer. Each person who opens it fills in their own details and gets their own envelope, and you countersign after.
- 4
Sign walk-ins on the day
For people who turn up unannounced, open an envelope at the check-in table and hand over a tablet with Sign in person. The tablet needs a connection while they sign.
- 5
Keep the signed copy
When you countersign, the volunteer and your organization each get the signed PDF, with a certificate of completion recording the volunteer's email, the time and the IP address.
Keep the emergency contacts at hand
On a paid plan, the Responses tab lists every answer given to this template in one table: each volunteer's phone, emergency contact and medical note. Export it as a CSV before a big event so the shift lead has the list on a clipboard, not only in the cloud. To re-sign last year's volunteers, bulk send the template to your roster, one envelope per row.
Questions? Answers.
Do volunteers have to sign a waiver?
Usually no law requires one, but your insurer, a partner venue or a grant may ask for it. It's the simplest way to show that each volunteer was told about the risks and agreed to your rules.
Is an electronically signed volunteer waiver valid?
In general, yes. The ESIGN Act and state e-signature laws treat an electronic signature like a handwritten one, and the certificate of completion records who signed and when. See are electronic signatures legal.
What about volunteers under 18?
Add a parent or guardian as a second signer so an adult agrees to the release and the medical consent for the minor. See how to get a parent's signature for a minor.
How often should volunteers sign it?
Once a year is common, and again whenever the work changes enough that the risks in section 3 no longer describe it.