4 Volunteer Resume Examples & Writing Guidelines for 2024

Volunteer Resume Template (Text Format)

Start by choosing the best resume format for your volunteer role.

Copy-and-Paste Volunteer Resume Template

FIRST AND LAST NAME

Email: your.email@email.com

Phone: (123) 456-7891

Address: Street, City, State

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile

SUMMARY

Compassionate volunteer with [number] years of experience. Seeking to leverage my experience in [relevant abilities] to fill the [Volunteer Role Title] position. Hold a [degree/diploma/certification] in [Degree/Diploma/Certification Title]. Skilled at [2–3 relevant skills]. A [adjective #1] and [adjective #2] worker aiming to contribute to the success of [Organization/NGO/Charity/Non-Profit Name].

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Current Volunteer Title (e.g., Volunteer Coordinator)Charity/Non-Profit Name, City, State | Month 20XX–Present

• Include a bulleted list of your achievements as a volunteer coordinator
• Start each bullet point with an action verb (like “coordinate” or “organize”) to grab attention
• Use the present tense for your current volunteer role unless describing a completed project or initiative
• Use hard numbers when possible to quantify your accomplishments as a volunteer
• Mention how you’ve used some of the skills listed in your skills section to demonstrate your mastery of these abilities

Previous Volunteer Title (e.g., Student Volunteer)Charity/Non-Profit Name Name, City, State | Month 20XX–Month 20XX

• List relevant accomplishments from your previous role as a student volunteer
• Assuming you’re no longer in this volunteer role, use past tense verbs to describe your volunteer efforts
• Include 3–6 bullet points for each volunteer role, both your current one and previous ones
• Skip the pronoun “I” and begin directly with a verb
• Although you’ll usually list volunteer experience, feel free to include formal work experience too

EDUCATION

Degree Name / MajorUniversity, City, State | Graduation Month, Year

• GPA: 3.X/4.0 (optional)
• Latin honors (if applicable)

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

• List skills relevant to the volunteer role you’re applying for
• Look at the job description for ideas of the skills the organization is seeking
• Emphasize specific hard skills and technical skills in this section
• Be as specific as possible by including names of tools, equipment, and software you’ve mastered as a volunteer

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No matter your volunteer role, we have samples for you to draw ideas from or compare your existing resume to.

Hospital volunteer resume

If you’re seeking a hospital role, model your resume after this hospital volunteer resume:

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Hospital volunteer resume highlights

• Relevant education: Organizations will want to see you have previous education or experience in their field of interest, especially if a volunteer role is competitive. This hospital volunteer has completed a grad program in bioscience, which makes them stand out from other applicants and shows that they already have a foundation in healthcare.
• Language skills: This applicant speaks fluent Russian. If you have language skills, list them on your resume because it shows organizations that you can support people from countries that don’t speak English.

Food bank volunteer resume

Food banks support low-income families who struggle to afford healthy, nutritious food. Show you’re perfect for a role supporting a food bank with a volunteer resume like this one:

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Food bank volunteer resume highlights

• Leadership: This candidate is a volunteer team leader, so they showcase their leadership skills through action verbs like “coordinate,” “supervise,” and “lead.” Action verbs are a great way of highlighting your strengths.
• Additional skills: Add a list of relevant skills to your volunteer resume to show you’d be capable of the tasks you’d be doing on a daily basis. Food safety, quality control, and process improvement are vital skills at a food bank, so the volunteer here lists them.

Church volunteer resume

Serving the Lord is your life’s mission, but you might be less enthusiastic about writing a resume. Follow this example to show how passionate you are about your church and volunteering for it:

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Church volunteer resume highlights

• Full-time job: This candidate has a full-time server job at McDonald’s, and they strategically include their work responsibilities that would also be relevant for a church volunteer position, like welcoming people and collaborating with others.
• Numbers: This volunteer uses numbers to showcase their capabilities. For example, they welcomed 150+ guests a month at church services in their former hometown, which shows they’re capable of doing the same thing if King Solomon Baptist Church accepts them as a volunteer.

How to write a volunteer resume

Still have questions about writing your volunteer resume? Here are a few tips to help you perfect it:

1. Add numbers to outline your volunteer successes

Adding numbers to your resume bullet points (called quantifying your resume achievements) is a great way of showing organizations what you’re capable of — and it shows them you’re a diligent worker because you track your achievements.

We recommend you add as many numbers as possible to your resume so that you stand out among a pile of applicants who haven’t quantified their resume accomplishments. Here are some ideas on how to do so (We’ve bolded the numbers to make them easier to see):

2. Write a compelling volunteer resume summary

A resume summary sits atop your resume and is the first resume section an organization will see, so it’s best to make it short and sum up your achievements and skills as a volunteer.

Here are three strong volunteer resume objectives:

3. List a mix of hard and soft skills

As a volunteer, you’ll need both hard and soft skills.

Hard skills are skills you learn through training or volunteering; you need them to effectively fulfill your volunteer responsibilities. Here are 10 common volunteer hard skills for various roles:

1. Patient care
2. Medical terminology
3. Inventory management
4. Food safety handling
5. Event planning
6. Audio/visual operation
7. Fire suppression
8. Emergency medical response
9. Community outreach
10. Advocacy and lobbying

By contrast, soft skills are linked to your personality, and you develop them by interacting with people in your community. Here are 10 valuable soft skills for a volunteer:

1. Communication
2. Teamwork
3. Empathy
4. Adaptability
5. Time management
6. Problem-solving
7. Cultural sensitivity
8. Active listening
9. Patience
10. Initiative

Resume examples for different industries

Not sure what your resume should look like? The best way to learn is by taking inspiration from resume examples written by other candidates in your industry.

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