Steps to create a signup sheet template for any event

A person shopping for shoes on a rack while another person in a yellow shirt builds a signup sheet template PDF on a laptop.

You can’t host an event without volunteers. Create an easy-to-fill signup sheet template you can use for any event in three simple steps.

You might be a fantastic organizer, but you can’t run an event alone. You need people to sign up for the various positions to keep the event going smoothly. Make it easier for people to volunteer with a simple signup sheet template. Learn how to create a new template document, insert a fillable table, and save the form as a PDF for easy sharing.

Step 1: Open a new document.

To start the process, open a new document in your word processor of choice. Most people prefer to make a signup sheet template in Microsoft Word for its simplicity.

Give your new document a title. Since this is a generic template, it would probably be something like “Event signup sheet template.” You can (and should) change the title for each event.

Below your title, include enough space for a brief event description. Again, this will likely just be filler text for your template. But you want to make sure it’s there so volunteers know what event the signup sheet is for.

Step 2: Insert a fillable table.

If you’re making your signup sheet template in Word, click on the Insert tab on the top toolbar. Then, choose Table. In the drop-down, choose the number of columns and rows you want in your fillable form.

The horizontal columns on the x-axis will be for the various types of information you want to collect from volunteers. For example, name, email address, phone number, position, etc., will each have a column. Choose the number of columns that fit all the information you want to collect and label them accordingly.

The vertical rows along the y-axis will be the number of volunteers you want to fill out your sheet. Since you want lots of volunteers, the number of rows is typically however many fit on your signup form template without going over one page.

Once you’re happy with your signup sheet template, it’s time to save it. Word documents aren’t the best for sharing, since the formatting might not hold on different devices. Instead, save your document as a PDF.

PDF documents maintain their formatting across devices, so you can be sure your signup sheet will look good regardless of device.

You can save your Word document as a PDF or convert Word to PDF online using an editor like Adobe Acrobat online services. Simply visit the converter web page and follow these steps:

Upload your Word document.
Let the software complete the conversion.
Download the PDF file.

Once you’ve successfully converted your Word document to a PDF, you can share it with volunteers for them to complete. They can even fill and sign your sheet online, so nobody has to deal with pesky printers or collecting physical papers.

If you're not confident creating a fillable document from scratch, plenty of free sign-up sheet templates are available online.

Many templates download as PDFs. While that might be great for sharing, PDFs can be challenging to edit. Luckily, you can convert a PDF to Word online to make it easy to customize your signup sheet template to fit your needs.

Frequently asked questions.

Absolutely! Excel is a great platform for creating fillable tables. You can fill in the headings just like you would in a Word document. However, you might have to combine some cells at the top to include your event description. Excel sheets also don’t fit standard document sizes, meaning they’re not ideal if you plan to print your signup sheet. You can convert your Excel to PDF online to make it easier to manage.

How do I ask my team for input?

Once you save your signup sheet template as a PDF, you can easily ask your team for their input by sending them the document and having them add comments online using Adobe Acrobat online.

When someone opens your PDF signup sheet, they can simply click on the various sections and type their responses using their device’s keyboard.