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How do I create and send a custom form for an event?

This article is for group managers. A custom form is an extra form you create for one event and send to approved volunteers on that event's opportunities. Use it for anything those opportunity application forms and feedback surveys do not cover.

You can create more than one custom form on the same event.

When to use one

  • Details you need before the day. Travel preference, shirt size, dietary needs, or what time someone can arrive, so you can plan from the answers.
  • A signed agreement. A waiver, code of conduct, or photo consent. The volunteer signs the content they have just filled in, and you can check that the signature still matches those answers.
  • A one-off question for this event. Equipment they can bring, or a mid-event check-in. Send it to the approved volunteers you choose, or to all of them.

Read one person's answers on the form page, or download everyone when you need to compare or share the list. A custom form does not produce the satisfaction summary that Feedback does.

Not sure whether a question belongs on an opportunity application form, a custom form, or feedback? See Which questions go on the application form, a custom form, or feedback?

Custom forms are available to Be Collective Plus, Pro and Full Platform subscribers.

To learn more about plans, see Be Collective's product plans & pricing

Create a form

  1. Open your group management page (How do I manage my group?)
  2. Open Events, then open the event
  3. Open Forms in the event menu
  4. Click Create form
  5. Choose Custom as the type
  6. Enter a Form name (for example, "Travel on the day")
  7. Click Create

You are taken into the form builder. Add the questions you need, then save. A new form starts blank.

Question types match the application form builder: short and long answers, single and multiple choice, dropdowns, yes/no, dates, file upload, headings, and paragraphs.

Signature is available on a custom form only. Add it when you need the volunteer to agree to what they have filled in, such as a waiver or a code of conduct. A form can have one signature. Click the signature question to edit the Consent text. That line is shown above the signature. The default text asks them to agree to the content above.

You can return to the builder later from Forms (the pencil action) or from the form page (Edit form).

Send the form

Sending goes to approved volunteers on the event's opportunities. People who already have the form are skipped.

From the form page:

  1. Open Forms, then open the form (the eye action, View details)
  2. Click Send
  3. Choose who should receive it:
    • All currently approved volunteers, then Send to all approved volunteers
    • Find members with a smart list, search, then Send to matching members. The form is sent only to people in that search who are currently approved volunteers on the event

You can also send from the Forms list with the send action on that row.

After a send, the form page lists everyone who has it, with All, Responded, and Pending tabs. Each row shows when it was sent and, if they have answered, when they responded.

  • View response opens that person's answers. If they signed, the page says whether the signature still matches those answers
  • Resend form sends the request again to someone who has not responded yet

Download the answers

On the form page, click Export CSV. The file has one row per person: name, email, whether they have answered, when it was sent, when they responded, then one column per question. A signature is the name they typed, or marked signed if they drew it.

The download includes up to 2000 people. Above that, the download stops and does not send a partial file. You can still open one person's answers from the list.

Share the form in a message

In a conversation with a volunteer, use Send a form and choose the custom form. An approved volunteer who opens that link can complete it. If they had not been sent the form yet, opening the link includes them.

Edit questions after sending

Each person keeps the questions they were given when the form was sent or first opened. Editing the form afterwards changes the questions for people who receive it later. Edit the questions before you send, when everyone should answer the same version.

If you are a volunteer

When a manager sends you a custom form, it appears under Actions on your dashboard, shown as the form name and the event name.

Open it, answer the questions, and click Submit. You can submit once. After that, the page shows Thanks. Your response has been submitted.

If the form includes a signature, draw it or type your name. The line above the signature is what you are agreeing to. If you change another answer after signing, the signature is cleared and you sign again before you submit.

Only approved volunteers on that event can open the form. If it is not available for your account, the page says so.