There are a number of reasons why people choose to volunteer in an organization. For some, volunteering offers them a chance to make a difference by giving back to the community through service delivery. Others provide them with the opportunity to learn new skills or to advance their careers, among other benefits. Regardless of what drives you into volunteering, when you get into volunteering organizations, you may interact with some crucial information that is confidential to the organization. Therefore, in order to be certain that the information will be safeguarded and prevented from leaking outside, the organization will want you to sign a Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement.
What is a Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement?
A Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement (Volunteer NDA) refers to a legal contract between a volunteer and a volunteer program to safeguard and maintain the confidentiality of specific information within an organization.
This information may vary from one organization to the other and may include confidential data, financial details, or proprietary information, among other sensitive details. Usually, your non-profit volunteers may be accessed to a range of confidential information such as financial donor records or personal files. As a volunteer, the least you can do is to expose these documents to the public, or any other unauthorized persons. Even an accidental disclosure of this information could break the trust between you two.Â
Free Templates
If you are looking for ways to safeguard the confidential information within your non-profit organization, you can go ahead and download our free Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement templates. By utilizing our pre-built templates, you benefit from the technical advantages of a well-structured agreement, saving time and effort in drafting from scratch.
What to Include in a Volunteer NDA
Below is some crucial information to include in your Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement should you plan to write one.
- Introductory paragraph: This should be the first part of your volunteer NDA. This section contains the name of the volunteer, the organization, the date in which the agreement will take effect.
- Confidential information: here, the details pertaining to the protected information is written. If the information is delivered verbally, then you should announce its confidentiality.
- Non-disclosure: this section highlights precisely the type of information that needs to be kept secret unless given consent by the seniors.
- Term: here, a volunteer is provided with the period after which his or her volunteering agreement expires. Usually, a volunteering agreement lasts for a period of 5 years, depending on the trade secrecy.
- General provisions: this clause highlights all the miscellaneous information about the agreement. The information is grouped together at the end of the Volunteer NDA. They may include the following:
- Severability
- Integration
- Waiver, among others.
- The signing of the agreement: after the general provisions, the agreement form is concluded with the signing section. Here, the signatures of the relevant authorities are appended. Each party involved in the agreement should sign his or her respective part and keep a copy. Once the form is signed, it is then treated as legally binding.
Do You Need a Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement?
Well, every non-profit organization needs to have Volunteer NDA. The agreements are very important when it comes to securing and safeguarding the organization’s rights. Usually, these non-profit organizations do receive financial donations from well-wishers who want their details to be kept secret. Therefore, the Volunteer NDA will restrict employers, including volunteers, from disclosing this crucial information from the public or any other rival body.
In addition to that, the volunteer confidentiality agreement also provides a clear picture to the volunteer on what information is considered confidential. While different organizations operate differently, the term ‘confidential’ may also vary. Therefore, upon signing the agreement, the volunteer is made aware of what type of information should be treated with secrecy and confidentiality.
What’s more, a Volunteer NDA helps in defining the course of action taken when one breaches the terms of the contract. Since the Volunteer NDA highlights the code of behavior expected, if the volunteer goes against these behaviors, then he or she will be held responsible.
Last but not least, a Volunteer NDA can be used as a legal proof to settle any dispute that may arise between two or more parties in a volunteering organization.
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