A volunteer survey is a worthwhile addition to any nonprofit’s toolbox — they’re a great way to gather data and analyze your volunteer program, and they tend to lend themselves to relatively high return rates.
In this article, we’ll cover some of the best volunteer survey questions to ask and when—plus we’ll cover some top volunteer survey tools and best practices you can use right away.
What is a Volunteer Survey?
A volunteer survey is a series of questions presented to your volunteers to obtain statistically useful answers or feedback.
Some surveys or volunteer feedback forms are used by volunteer coordinators to simply gather the information needed to contact volunteers and schedule them, like volunteer contact information, availability, and interests. Others are designed to go a bit deeper into the volunteer experience, like:
- Volunteer satisfaction surveys: This type of survey is used to understand whether your organization and its practices meet your volunteers’ expectations. Volunteer professionals can use the volunteer satisfaction survey if they are concerned about retention rates or if they want to report on the volunteer experience to community members, the board, or donors.
- Volunteer engagement surveys: This type of survey helps nonprofits learn why their volunteers do the work they do, and digs deeper into volunteer motivation. This survey can also help your organization learn about the issues that are most important to your community.
- Volunteer recruitment surveys: This volunteer survey aims to zero in on the reasons and means by which new volunteers sign up with your organization. You can use this information to direct resources toward your recruitment and marketing efforts.
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Survey Type
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Purpose
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When to Send
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Volunteer Satisfaction Survey
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Measure whether your organization meets volunteer expectations; assess retention risk; report to stakeholders
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Annually or bi-annually; after major programs or events
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Volunteer Engagement Survey
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Understand volunteer motivations and values; learn what issues matter most to your community
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Annually or every 18 months
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Volunteer Recruitment Survey
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Learn how and why new volunteers sign up; optimize recruitment strategies and outreach
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Quarterly or after each major recruitment cycle
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Why are Volunteer Surveys Important?
When used effectively, volunteer surveys can help your organization:
- Boost engagement and retention: When volunteers feel heard, they’re more likely to stay involved. A quick survey can show them their opinions matter.
- Improve your program: Want better training? Smoother processes? More engaged volunteers? Surveys help pinpoint exactly what needs tweaking.
- Make smart decisions: Instead of guessing what volunteers need, surveys give you clear insights to guide your next steps.
Top Volunteer Survey Questions
Volunteer Satisfaction Questions
- How would you rate your overall experience? 5 = positive experience, 1 = negative experience.
- How satisfied did you feel after volunteering? Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral, Unsatisfied, Very Unsatisfied
- How likely are you to recommend our volunteer opportunities to friends, coworkers, or family? Very Likely, Likely, Unsure, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- How many hours of training did you receive for your assigned volunteer role? None, 1-3 hours, 4-6 hours, 7+ hours
- Please rate the training you received. Very Helpful, Helpful, Neutral, Unhelpful, Very Unhelpful
- How valued did you feel as a member of our organization? Very Valued, Valued, Neutral, Undervalued, Very Undervalued
- How likely are you to volunteer with us again? Very Likely, Likely, Unsure, Unlikely, Very Unlikely
- What do you enjoy about volunteering with us?
- Did you receive recognition or non-financial benefits when volunteering with us? If so, what did you receive?
- What would you say is the main reason you volunteered with us?
Volunteer Engagement Questions
- Do you feel your volunteer work is significant or impactful? If you answered no, please explain the factors that may make your volunteer work more meaningful.
- Do you feel comfortable sharing your input or suggestions with us? If you shared your suggestions and feedback before, how were they received?
- Do you feel like a valued member of our organization? What is something that we could do to make you feel valued?
- What do you think is the most important work you do for the community through our organization?
- What do you think is the most important work you do to support paid staff?
- Have you identified a need in our community that you think our organization could address? Please explain.
- In what ways can our organization be more supportive of your work as a volunteer?
- What motivates you to volunteer?
- Do you feel that you received enough training and information to feel prepared and carry out your volunteer work as effectively as possible?
- Do you feel your efforts had noticeable results? Were these results communicated to you?
Volunteer Recruitment Questions
- How did you hear about our organization? Newspaper, Email, Ad, Online, Coworker, Family or Friend, Social Media, Other (Please specify).
- What compelled you to volunteer with our organization?
- By which means did you register with our organization?
- Please specify the volunteer work or role for which you registered. If you have not registered with an opportunity yet, please specify.
- Were you provided with a clear position description?
- Please rate the ease of locating and signing up for a volunteer opportunity. Very easy, easy, neutral, difficult, very difficult
- How soon were you contacted after registering with our organization?
- How were you contacted? Phone, Email, Letter
- If you received assistance from staff, how would you rate your experience? Very helpful, Helpful, Neutral, Unhelpful, Very Unhelpful
- Is there anything we can do to improve your registration experience?
Top Tools for Volunteer Surveys
There are plenty of tools that nonprofits can use to administer volunteer surveys including:
- Online survey tools: Free online survey tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey can offer volunteer form templates and consolidate results in an easy-to-read report. Simply share the survey using the recipient’s email address.
- Online platform: Some volunteer management software systems have integrated volunteer survey templates and question tools, enabling coordinators to capture the necessary information when a volunteer registers with your site, signs up for a shift, or logs hours.
- Email: You can distribute the survey by emailing your volunteers. If you created the survey online, you can copy and paste the link in the email body or attach a PDF copy.
- Mail: Some of your volunteers may not have regular internet access. In this case, consider mailing a paper survey. Give respondents clear instructions on how and when to submit their survey responses.
- In-person: Sometimes, you may want to ask volunteers to fill out your survey in person. For example, following a training session or event, you can ask volunteers to complete your survey before they leave, while the information is still fresh in their minds.
Volunteer Survey Tips and Best Practices
Want to boost response rates and ensure your nonprofit receives the insights it needs? Here are some top volunteer survey tips and best practices to follow:
- Make it anonymous: If you’re worried about receiving honest and constructive feedback, make your surveys and forms anonymous. Likewise, if you’re sharing survey results with the public, inform your volunteers.
- Communicate the purpose: Be transparent about your organization’s goal so volunteers understand that their feedback has real implications for your organization.
- Offer a small incentive: A raffle ticket for a prize drawing or a small gift card to Starbucks can be enough to encourage volunteers to take your survey.
- Send a few friendly reminders: Your volunteers are busy, and may just need a reminder or two to complete your survey. We find that a friendly, gentle email does the trick. Don’t bombard their inboxes, however, or you’ll just annoy your volunteers.
- Keeps your survey short: Shorter surveys tend to yield higher response rates. Therefore, your volunteer survey should only take a few minutes to complete (around 10-12 questions).
- Avoid ambiguous questions: Your volunteers should know what you’re asking, especially if you’re asking open-ended questions like, “How do you feel about the work you do?” Instead, try questions like: “Do you feel like the volunteer work you do is important to the community?”
- Don't cram too much into one question: Questions with many parts can make volunteer answers challenging to analyze. Instead, isolate each item so that your volunteer base can provide a single brief answer for each question you’re asking.
- Avoid leading questions: The goal of your survey is to extract truthful responses. Leading questions can influence participants’ answers.
- Include the “other” option: You don’t want to force your volunteers to choose an answer that doesn’t apply to them. Provide multiple-choice answers that include an “other” option and a blank space for survey participants to fill in their responses.
- Test your questions: Do your volunteers understand what you’re asking? Are you getting the answers you need? Test your questions with a small focus group of volunteers or staff before distributing them to the entire sample.
- Make it fun: Volunteer interest survey questions don't all have to be serious. There are plenty of fun questions to ask volunteers, too, that can help better engage them in the long run and make the survey more exciting (Think: What would you love to get as a gift?).
- Build hype on social media: Announce your survey on social media or your website and include a link to the survey location. Make your post engaging and have a call to action.
Pro tip: Use Social Media Integrations to share opportunities, events, and community announcements straight from your volunteer platform.
Learn more about Social Media Integrations
Free Volunteer Questionnaire Template
Ready to put all these questions and strategies to good use? Use our free volunteer survey to instantly gather valuable insights into your volunteer program.
Download the Template Now→
Put All Your Volunteer Data in One Place with Get Connected
Volunteer surveys are a powerful tool for strengthening your volunteer program. By gathering honest feedback, you can improve engagement, boost retention, and create a better experience for everyone involved.
As an all-in-one volunteer management software, Get Connected makes it simple to distribute surveys via email, track volunteer satisfaction, and turn insights into action. Plus, with features like scheduling, communication, and impact tracking, you’ll have everything you need to keep your volunteers engaged and your program running smoothly.
Want to see how Get Connected can help your organization? Learn more today with a free demo!