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Volunteer orientation survey template

Make sure new volunteers feel ready, before their first shift

Three questions for new volunteers the day after orientation: how ready they feel on their role, training, help and welcome, how confident they are about the first shift and what is still unclear. Use it as it is or change any question, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this volunteer orientation survey tells you

A volunteer orientation survey checks what new volunteers took away from orientation while there is still time to fill the gaps. This template takes about a minute: a grid of four statements on being ready, a 1 to 10 confidence score for the first shift and one open question on what is still unclear.

It is written for the day after orientation, sent by Usertick to the list of volunteers who attended. The same survey runs as a link at the end of an online orientation or as a QR code on the last slide of an in-person session, and on your website it can open as a popup on your volunteer training pages. A QR code also reaches volunteers who joined orientation on the day without an email on file.

Every written answer is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as volunteering or communication, with a type and a sentiment. Results shows a heat map of the four statements with row averages and the average confidence with a column per step, against the period before.

In an emailAs a linkOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
3
Time to answer
About a minute
Written for
The day after orientation, by email to the new volunteers
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

In an email

Send it from Usertick to a contact list, and a button in the email opens the survey on its own page. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on the free plan, or connect your own sender.

The 3 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 3 · Matrix · Optional

After orientation, how ready do you feel?

Why ask it
Orientation has four jobs, and the grid checks each one: the role, the training, who to call and whether people felt welcome. Not yet and Partly point to the part to repeat. I felt welcome sits beside the practical rows because a volunteer who feels left out may not come back for a second shift.
What you learn
A heat map shows each statement from Not yet to Fully with its average, so a row such as I know who to ask for help that sits below the others is plain after one group.
Make it yours
Add a row for the rule that matters most at your site, such as I know the safety procedures.
Question 2 of 3 · Big scale

How confident do you feel about your first shift?

Why ask it
A volunteer can understand every part of orientation and still feel nervous about the first shift. The 1 to 10 scale shows who would benefit from a buddy on day one.
What you learn
Results shows the average and a column for each step from 1 to 10, so a cluster at the low end stands out. Select the low steps to read what those volunteers found unclear. Over time, the average shows whether changes to orientation make new volunteers feel more ready.
Make it yours
Pair anyone who answers 5 or below with an experienced volunteer for their first shift.
Question 3 of 3 · Text · Optional

What is still unclear?

Why ask it
The open question brings up the details orientation missed, such as where to park, what to wear or how to sign in on the day.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer as it arrives, files it under a category and a theme from your list, marks it as a question, a complaint or an idea, and Results shows up to 8 themes with their trends.
Make it yours
Add the most common answers to the welcome email for the next group of volunteers.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

After orientation, how ready do you feel?

Each row's answers side by side, so the part that needs work stands out.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Volunteer orientation in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Send it before the first shift

    Schedule the send for the morning after orientation, so the volunteer coordinator still has time to call anyone who feels unsure.

  2. 02

    Alert the coordinator to low scores

    On every plan, a workflow posts confidence scores of 5 or below to the volunteer team's Slack or Microsoft Teams channel, with the volunteer's answer to the open question.

  3. 03

    Keep a list per orientation

    Add each orientation group to its own list in Contacts, so the survey goes to the people who attended and each answer is tied to the volunteer's contact.

  4. 04

    Fix the session, group by group

    Read the heat map after each orientation. A row that stays low across groups calls for a change to the session itself.

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Questions from the library

Browse the question library
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  3. How confident are you that emergency gifts reach people quickly?Big scale · Emergency appeals
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  5. How easy was it to give?Customer effort · Donors and giving
  6. What moved you to give?Multiple choice · Donors and giving

Frequently asked questions

The day after orientation and before the first shift, so there is time to answer what is unclear. For a monthly orientation, keep one survey and send it to each new group's list.

Use a separate shift survey after the first shift. This survey checks readiness before the work starts; a shift survey checks how the work went.

Yes. The email and the survey page open in any phone browser, and a QR code on the last slide takes volunteers straight to the survey.

No. Usertick's terms don't allow surveys aimed at people under 16, so for youth volunteers ask a parent or group leader instead.

Select Not yet in that row of the heat map and open those answers in the inbox. When the survey went out by Usertick email, each one shows the volunteer's contact, so you can call them before their first shift.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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