Automate This: Volunteer Application Processes with Salesforce

Quick Summary: You can automate volunteer application processes with Salesforce using FormAssembly – no code required. A single form collects applicant data, uses conditional logic to serve different volunteer types, supports multiple languages, captures secure e-signatures, and writes every response straight to Salesforce as a new or updated Contact, Application, or Enrollment record. Prefill matches returning volunteers to existing records to prevent duplicates, and automated emails notify applicants and coordinators instantly. Big Brothers Big Sisters runs this workflow across 70,000+ applications a year, saving roughly 35,000 staff hours and $9,000 in e-signature licensing annually.

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Many aspects of volunteer management are more difficult than they should be. Making sure volunteers show up on time, have the equipment they need, and log their hours can be time-consuming. The process of finding new volunteers shouldn’t be made more difficult by the application process itself. 

In this blog, we take a look at how to streamline volunteer application processes with Salesforce – making applications better for volunteers, your staff, and your Salesforce CRM – and how you can save time doing it.

The manual volunteer intake problem most nonprofits share

The average nonprofit volunteer application goes through at least four touches before it becomes a usable Salesforce record:

1. A web form (usually Google Forms)
2. A follow-up email
3. A PDF agreement sent for signature
4. A staff member manually re-entering the data

Each handoff is a place where something gets lost, and the problems that follow are predictable:

• Duplicate Salesforce records
• Data entry errors
• Incomplete applications
• Slow turnaround time
• No audit trail when something goes wrong

For an organization like Big Brothers Big Sisters that operates across dozens of markets, collecting data on minors and serving communities that speak multiple languages, these aren’t just inefficiencies. They’re compliance and safety risks. Luckily, the right data collection workflow eliminates these risks.

Below, we outline exactly how to build a data collection workflow that eliminates these risks.

What you need before you build

This workflow requires:

• A FormAssembly account
• A Salesforce org with Contact and/or Lead objects configured for your applicants
• The following FormAssembly features:
  • Salesforce integration (prefill and submit connectors)
  • Conditional logic
  • Multi-language form settings
  • Secure e-signature
  • Automated email notifications
  • Form workflow (for multi-step applications)

This workflow does NOT require:

• A developer
• Coding knowledge

How to automate volunteer applications in Salesforce: 6 steps

Step 1. Build your base application form

Start with the core fields your volunteer or applicant intake requires, such as name, contact information, availability, background information, and references. Drag in the fields you need, set validation rules (required fields, date formats, phone number patterns), and group related questions into sections using page breaks.

Pro tip: Build this form first without any connector logic. Get the field structure right before connecting it to Salesforce. It’s much easier to adjust fields before the mapping is in place.

Step 2. Add conditional logic to handle multiple applicant types

Most volunteer programs have more than one application path  –  for example, a general volunteer inquiry looks different from a mentor application or a coach agreement. Rather than building and maintaining separate forms, use FormAssembly’s conditional logic feature to show or hide sections based on how applicants answer early questions.

For example: if an applicant selects “Volunteer Mentor” from a dropdown, show the background check consent section. If they select “Event Volunteer,” hide it. The applicant sees only what’s relevant to them and your data collection will stay consistent across both paths.

Step 3. Enable multi-language support

If your volunteer or participant pool includes non-English speakers  –  as it does for Big Brothers Big Sisters, which serves communities across the country  –  FormAssembly’s multi-language form settings let you create translated versions of the same form without duplicating the entire build.

You can explore two methods for creating multilingual forms here.

Step 4. Connect the form to Salesforce

This is where the process becomes truly powerful. FormAssembly’s Salesforce integration has two sides: Prefill and Submit.

The Prefill side pulls existing Salesforce data into the form before the applicant sees it. If a volunteer is returning for a second year, their name, contact information, and Salesforce record ID are already populated when they open the form; there is no need to re-enter information that’s already in your system.

Prefill also enables record lookup logic: if a Contact record matching the applicant’s email already exists in Salesforce, prefill from it and update it on submit. If no match exists, create a new record instead. This single pattern eliminates the most common source of duplicate Salesforce records in nonprofit intake workflows.

The Submit side writes form responses back to Salesforce on submission. You map each form field to the corresponding Salesforce field and configure whether the submission creates a new record, updates an existing one, or both. For a volunteer application, this typically means:

• Creating a new Application or Enrollment object record
• Updating the Contact record status field
• Creating a Task for the assigned program coordinator

Pro tip: Use hidden fields to pass the Salesforce Contact ID from the Prefill into the Submit connector. This ensures the submitted data updates the exact record that was prefilled  –  no lookup required on the submit side.

Step 5. Add e-signature for agreements

Anything that requires a signature can be handled by a FormAssembly workflow, including permission agreements, volunteer codes of conduct, and media release forms. Simply add a signature field to the relevant form section, mark it as required, and FormAssembly captures a timestamped, secure e-signature.

Big Brothers Big Sisters used this to replace DocuSign entirely for their participation agreements. The result: $9,000 per year saved on DocuSign licensing, and signatures collected in the same form session instead of a separate tool and email thread.

For multi-signer flows  –  for example, when both a parent and a youth need to sign  –  FormAssembly’s Workflow can route the form to a second signer after the first completes their section. Both signatures are recorded, timestamped, and written to the same Salesforce record. You can upload the signed document to Salesforce too!

Step 6. Configure automated email notifications

When an application is submitted, three things should happen automatically:

1. The applicant receives a confirmation email with their submission details and next steps
2. The assigned program coordinator receives a notification with a link to the new or updated Salesforce record
3. If required fields were left incomplete, a follow-up email prompts the applicant to return and finish

All three are configured in FormAssembly’s Email Notification settings  –  no Zapier, no follow-up flow or additional automation tool, and no manual send necessary.

“FormAssembly eliminated paper records and manual processes across our entire application pipeline.”  –  Big Brothers Big Sisters

What automated volunteer intake looks like at scale

Big Brothers Big Sisters built this workflow across more than 70,000 applications per year, including volunteer inquiries, youth enrollment forms, multi-language participation agreements, and permission waivers. Every application now routes directly to Salesforce, every record is created or updated automatically, and every signature is captured in the same session.

The result: 30 minutes of manual work eliminated per application. At 70,000+ submissions per year, that’s more than 35,000 staff hours returned to the programs themselves.

Too good to be true, you say? Trailblazers have been talking about this process since 2022.

What to build next

Once your base application workflow is running, there are three natural extensions worth considering:

• Save & Resume: Let applicants pause a long application and return later without losing progress. This is especially useful for youth program applications that require a parent to complete a section.
• Customized Document Generation: Automatically produce an enrollment confirmation, offer letter, or program agreement at the end of the workflow and deliver it via email. No manual document creation after the fact.
• Payment Processing: Collect program fees, deposits, or membership dues inside the same FormAssembly form. Stripe, Authorize.net, and other processors are supported. All transaction data writes to Salesforce.

Stop managing paperwork. Start managing volunteers.

Volunteer intake shouldn’t cost you your best hours. When your application form does the heavy lifting  –  matching records, capturing signatures, translating itself, and writing everything straight to Salesforce  –  your team can stop re-keying data and start doing the work that actually moves your mission forward.

Big Brothers Big Sisters didn’t just trim their process; they gave 35,000 hours back to their programs and cut $9,000 in software costs along the way, all without a single line of code. Your organization can build the same workflow with the tools you already have. The only question left is what your team will do with the time you get back.

Frequently asked questions