Onboarding for human resources

Volunteer onboarding checklist template

Use this checklist to guide new volunteers through the necessary paperwork, orientation, and steps to get them ready for their first volunteer shift. Useful for charities, community groups, or in education.

Use this template to onboard your employees.

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Volunteer onboarding checklist

Welcome to our charity! We are thrilled to have you join our mission. This checklist will guide you through the necessary paperwork, orientation, and steps to get you ready for your first volunteer shift.

No due date

Link tasks to actions, such as completing forms or booking meetings

Getting started and paperwork

Let's start with the essential forms and agreements.

Complete the volunteer profile

Fill in your contact details, emergency contacts, and areas of interest.

No due date Complete form

Sign the volunteer agreement

Please read and sign our volunteer agreement and code of conduct.

Review submitted paperwork

Ensure all forms are completed and signed correctly.

No due date Any team member

Submit background check details

Depending on your role, we may require a background check. Please submit the necessary details.

No due date Complete form

Process background check

Run the background check through our standard provider.

No due date Any team member

Tasks can be for the employees being onboarded, or for the team

Orientation and training

Learn about our mission, values, and how you can make an impact.

Read the volunteer handbook

Review our volunteer handbook to understand our policies and procedures.

No due date Open URL

Schedule orientation session

Reach out to schedule a 30-minute orientation session.

No due date HubSpot HubSpot / Schedule meeting Any team member

Attend orientation

Join us for your scheduled orientation session to meet the team and ask any questions.

No due date

Complete training modules

Complete any online training required for your specific volunteer role.

No due date Open URL

Preparing for your first shift

Everything you need to successfully complete your first day of volunteering.

Grant access to volunteer portal

Create an account for the volunteer in our scheduling system.

No due date Any team member

Set your availability

Log into the volunteer portal and select the times you are available to help.

No due date Open URL

Assign a volunteer buddy

Pair the new volunteer with an experienced team member for their first shift.

No due date Any team member

Complete your first shift

Arrive at your scheduled time and enjoy your first day making a difference!

No due date

Follow-up check-in

Reach out after the first shift to see how it went and gather feedback.

No due date Any team member

Click the button below to edit or add tasks, add due dates, and much more...

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

How to use this template

Three simple steps to onboard employees

Step 1

Grab this template

Step 2

Send to employees

Only needs an email address. Or add an open invite link to your existing welcome emails.

Step 3

Employees complete tasks

  • Email reminders keep things moving
  • Ask questions or clarify with comments
  • Summary page shows everything you need to know

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Loved by 4,500+ happy users

The perfect way to onboard employees

Your brand (even the emails)
Instantly know what's been done
Shows employees what to do
Chases up while you sleep
Everything lives in one place

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Sick of the onboarding admin?

Switch to friction-free customer onboarding software

Secure link, no passwords

Accessing a plan (or getting back into it) is as simple as following a link. We're obsessed with useability.

Comment & collaborate

Customers can ask questions right from within a task. They can also invite others in to help them, without bothering you.

HubSpot ready

  • Start new onboarding plans inside HubSpot
  • Adds events to the timeline
  • Updates custom fields
  • Attaches photos and documents

If you don't use HubSpot, no problem. It works great without it too.

White label (including emails)

Every interaction, from invite through to the task page, showcases your brand.

Does the chasing up

Never send a "checking in" email again.
We'll make sure tasks always get done, on time.

Helps you improve

We'll ask employees to rate their onboarding experience.

  • Helps you to constantly improve your processes
  • Make sure your team are delivering exceptional service

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

Handles complex onboarding too

Calculated due dates

Set due dates calculated on the fly from the start date, a target date, or based off when other tasks are completed.

Sequential tasks

Choose to make tasks sequential, so that tasks need to be completed in order.

Frequently asked questions

How can I use this template?

Just click Customize this template above and we'll take you through a couple of simple steps to create an Onthen account and copy the volunteer onboarding checklist template into it.

Once that's done we'll take you straight into the template editor where you can customize it to your exact needs (there's bound to be a few things you'll do differently).

Finally, once it's ready you can use it to create individual checklists (we call them 'plans') for each of your employees. Just type their email address and we'll do the rest. As they move through the tasks, you'll see their progress in the dashboard.

Who is this volunteer onboarding checklist onboarding template for?

If you run a team that needs to onboard employees then the volunteer onboarding checklist template is a perfect starting point.

You'll first be able to tailor the template to your team's needs, by editing, removing or adding tasks to suit your onboarding process. When it's perfect, onthen has all the tools you need to easily invite employees to it and make sure all the tasks get done, on time.

How do employees use it?

First you'll invite employees to the checklist. You can either send an invite manually, through our HubSpot integration, or by using an invite link that lets anyone with the link create a new checklist.

Your employees won't need to create an account or a password, they'll simply access it with a 6-digit code we'll send to their email.

It's really easy to use and there's nothing to navigate, it's a simple single page onboarding plan that looks pretty much like you see above.

If any task gets forgotten about, we'll send email reminders to nudge your employees to complete everything.

Free plan • No credit card needed

Customize this template

Or build your own

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