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Create Waiver Templates

Goal: Have your liability waivers, photo releases, and conduct agreements ready as reusable templates so volunteers can sign them electronically before participating.

Waivers and requirements​

Waivers are a type of requirement. When you create a waiver template here, Ayuna automatically creates a paired waiver-type entry on the Volunteer Requirements page. That gives you one unified picture of what each volunteer needs to do — paper-signed waivers, e-signed waivers, training completions, and certifications all live in the same list.

You manage the e-sign template (PDF, fields, applicability, validity) here. You manage what the volunteer sees, and review their completions, under Volunteer Requirements and the volunteer's profile.

Most affiliates have at minimum a liability waiver as a waiver template, then optionally other documents such as a code of conduct.

Build the template​

Each template is a versioned document with text content, fields the volunteer signs, and a generated PDF. Have your legal counsel review the body before publishing.

When you save a template, Ayuna generates the PDF that volunteers will see. You can preview the PDF before publishing.

Choose a signing mode​

Each template has a signing mode that decides how volunteers complete it. Pick it when you upload the template; you can change it later from the Edit dialog.

  • Digital signature (recommended) — the volunteer reads the PDF in their browser and signs on a signature pad. Ayuna places the signature on the document for them. It works on a phone, needs no setup on your side, and nobody gets stuck without a printer. Use it unless the document itself needs boxes filled in.
  • Fillable PDF — the volunteer types into boxes you draw on the PDF (name, date, initials, checkboxes) and signs inside a signature box. Use it for forms that collect information beyond a signature.
  • Print & sign — the volunteer downloads and prints the PDF, fills it in by hand, then uploads a photo or scan. Every upload goes to staff for review, so the Require staff approval setting is always on for this mode.

Placing fields on a fillable PDF​

A fillable PDF only works once it has fields on it, so saving a template as a fillable PDF takes you straight into the PDF field editor. Any form fields already built into the PDF are picked up as a starting point.

  1. Pick a field type — Text, Checkbox, Date, or Signature — then click and drag on the page where the box should go. A quick click drops a box at the default size.
  2. Drag a box to move it. Click anywhere inside a box (or on its name tag) and drag it into place. Pull the handles on its edges and corners to resize it.
  3. Select a box to set its name, type, whether it is required, and its exact position and size in the Field Properties panel.
  4. Switch to Preview to type sample values and see how the filled document will look.
  5. Click Save Fields.

Choose Finish later if you need to come back; the template is already saved. The templates list shows No fields placed yet on it until you return. To add, move, or resize fields on an existing fillable template, click the gear icon on its row.

Edit a template​

Click the pencil icon on a template row to change any of its settings: name, description, signing mode, scope, how it attaches to opportunities, validity period, and the signature, staff-approval, and required-before-registration toggles. The PDF itself cannot be swapped; see Versioning for how to replace it.

Switching an existing template to Fillable PDF opens the field editor as soon as you save, the same as creating one.

Applicability — global vs event-specific​

Each template has an applicability setting:

  • All volunteers — every volunteer at the affiliate must sign before they can register for any event. Use this for your standard liability waiver and any other affiliate-wide agreement.
  • Event-specific — the waiver only applies when explicitly attached to an event. Use this for one-off events with their own legal language (e.g., a sponsored build with a sponsor-mandated waiver).

The applicability surfaces as a badge on the paired requirement under Volunteer Requirements so coordinators can see at a glance which waivers everyone needs.

Tie waivers to events​

A waiver template can be attached to an event so registrants are prompted to sign it during registration.

Versioning​

Editing a published template can affect new submissions. If your legal team makes a material change:

  • Save the change as a new template version rather than overwriting. Create a new waiver template with the same name as the previous template to create a new version of that template
  • Decide whether previously signed waivers need to be re-signed or whether the prior version still satisfies your needs

Approving submitted waivers​

Submitted signatures are reviewable by coordinators. Most affiliates auto-approve standard waivers; some review each one. See Review and Approve Waivers.