10 Interactive Forms Builders for Surveys & Lead Generation
When running a business, you need a number of legal documents in your arsenal. Having the right legal documentation is critical for ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations. They also protect your business's interests, shielding it from potential legal issues like lawsuits, penalties, hefty fines and fees.
One essential legal document most businesses often neglect is consent forms. Consent forms are used to legally obtain permission to perform certain actions, ensuring that all parties involved fully understand the terms and conditions of the agreement.
Maybe you're wondering how consent forms might come into play in your business and how to create them properly. This article will explore everything you need to know about consent forms. We’ve also included 12 consent form templates you should have on hand while doing business.
Before we dive in, here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit consent form templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:
A consent form is a document used to obtain permission from an individual or parties to perform certain actions or engage in activities. The form indicates that the signatory understands the associated terms and cannot hold the other party liable for any injury or harm.
The purpose of a consent form is to:
Consent forms are useful in business, marketing, finance, law, psychology, social sciences and education. Also, they are commonly used in medical research, clinical trials, and other healthcare-related activities.
Whenever you need individuals to participate in an activity or study, you need to have all concerned parties fill out a consent form as a form of legal backing. They protect businesses, organizations and individuals in various situations.
Here are some of the critical reasons why consent forms are important in various fields:
Consent forms are designed to provide individuals with detailed information about the nature of the activity or procedure, its risks and benefits and their rights as participants. Armed with this information, individuals can make educated decisions about whether or not to participate.
Consent forms also serve as legal documents. Beyond outlining the rights and responsibilities of both the individual and the entity performing the activity or procedure, they protect their rights and ensure they are not exploited.
As a key part of the ethical conduct of business, research and other activities, consent forms help ensure participants are treated with respect and dignity. It also protects the privacy and confidentiality of human subjects.
Consent forms provide evidence that an individual is aware of an activity or procedure and voluntarily agrees to participate. This helps to prevent misunderstandings, disputes, and legal liabilities that can arise when consent is not obtained.
In most business situations, such as data privacy laws or employment agreements, consent forms are often required by law or regulations. By obtaining written consent from individuals, businesses can:
Whether you’re creating consent forms for employment, finance or marketing purposes, they foster transparency and clear communication between businesses and individuals.
Consent forms outline the specific terms and conditions of the activity or transaction. All the parties involved get to understand their responsibilities and rights, including the ones they’re waving.
Issuing consent forms shows that your business is committed to transparency, fairness, and ethical conduct. This can help build trust with customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
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Informed consent and consent forms are two separate but related concepts.
Although they’re often used interchangeably, let's show you what sets them apart.
Informed consent is the process where an individual or parties are provided with all the necessary information about a transaction, examination, test, procedure or research study so they can make an informed decision about whether to proceed.
When it comes to seeking informed consent, all parties involved must be explicitly informed about the provisions, obligations, responsibilities and benefits specified in the agreement. It’s all about ensuring everyone is on the same page and fully aware of what's happening.
On the flip side, a consent form is just one of the pieces of evidence showing that informed consent has been obtained. The document that formalizes the individual’s decision to participate in the activity—be it a transaction, procedure, treatment or study.
But here’s a caveat. A completed consent form doesn't automatically translate to informed consent, especially in fields like medicine. You need to include document proof of the physician/patient conversation in the patient’s medical record.
And on top of that, there should be a letter from the physician showing the process has been completed and the patient's informed consent has been obtained. This letter serves as better supporting evidence than just the consent form.
A consent form isn’t a one-size-fits-all document. The content of your content form will differ depending on the context or industry in which it is deployed.
However, there are essential elements that should be included in all consent forms, whether it’s for research, treatment, employment, or marketing.
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Here are the key elements of consent forms.
This section should briefly highlight the aim of the consent form. Is it meant for employment, advertising, research or medical purposes? The information in this section should be clear to all parties involved or anyone reading the form.
The online consent forms should list all parties or stakeholders participating in the agreement. In addition, include their names, contact information and a brief description of their roles.
Consent forms should include a detailed explanation of the procedure, activity, agreement or transaction involved, such as:
Include a statement indicating that the participant has read and understood the information provided in the consent form and has voluntarily agreed to participate in or engage in the activity.
Also, consent forms should include a space where all parties involved in the agreement can sign and a date to show when the agreement was made.
If the participant is under 18 years of age, include a statement indicating that the parent or legal guardian has read and understood the information provided in the consent form and has given their consent for the participant to engage in the activity or participate in the study.
Some common examples of situations where a consent form may be necessary include:
1. Medical Procedures: Consent forms are commonly used in medical procedures, such as surgeries, medical treatments, and diagnostic tests. They provide patients with information about the procedure and the risks and benefits associated with it and obtain their voluntary agreement or consent to undergo the procedure.
For example, online consent forms are used in the beauty industry for invasive procedures like cosmetic surgery, tattooing and botox. However, you may also use it for non-invasive procedures like waxing, laser hair removal, sculpting, etc.
2. Research Studies: Similar to medical procedures, consent forms are also used in research studies to inform participants about the nature of the study, the potential risks and benefits of participation, and their rights as participants.
3. Business Situations: Consent forms may be used in certain business situations, such as
In addition, you can use consent forms to secure an employee’s agreement to a new or revised code of conduct or policy change.
4. Financial Transactions: Banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions can create and use consent forms for financial transactions, such as loans or investments. It helps ensure all parties understand the terms of the transaction and have voluntarily agreed to them.
5. Educational Activities: Schools, colleges, universities and other academic institutions use consent forms for various activities like
They keep their participants and sponsors informed about the activities, potential risks or requirements and secure their voluntary agreement or consent to participate.
6. Legal Agreements: Consent forms may also be used in legal agreements, such as business contracts or waivers, to ensure that all parties understand the terms of the agreement and have voluntarily agreed to them.
7. Intellectual Property: Consent forms can also be used for photography, video, or any other intellectual properties where you need permission from the owner before use.
8. Liability Waivers: You can use consent forms in certain situations, like liability waivers. For example, during recreational activities or events, you can obtain an individual's agreement to waive certain rights or take on certain risks associated with the activity or event.
9. Data Privacy and Security: Using online consent forms, you can obtain an individual's consent to collect, use, and share their personal data in accordance with data privacy laws and regulations.
Visme has a large repository of consent form templates to save you time, provide brand consistency and ensure legal compliance.
Hear what Lorens, a graphic designer, said about Visme’s templates.
“Some templates you stumble upon and are blown away that someone put the time and effort into creating them and you did not know you needed them in your life until that minute.” -
You can customize these forms as much as you like to suit different situations, purposes or use cases.
Obtain permission to administer medical treatment or procedures to patients using this minimalist consent form template. The two-page consent form template includes fields for patient information, emergency information, a statement of consent, signatures and dates.
Feel free to tweak the content and the design as you like. You can add additional fields to collect more data. Or swap the logo, fonts and colors to match your brand.
You can pick from a wide range of preset colors, make your own from the color wheel. Or simply copy-paste a HEX code to generate the color you want. Plus, you can grab colors from an image just by uploading it to the tool.
Marketing release consent forms like this are important for obtaining permission from individuals to use their image or likeness for marketing and promotional purposes.
This single paged consent form template takes on a different dimension than our previous example. It presents the statement of consent before the fields for the participant’s name, signature and date.
When working on multiple media release forms, Visme’s dynamic fields feature ensures you don’t miss out on important information. You can create custom fields, assign values and have them automatically updated across all your projects containing those values.
With product consent forms like this one, your company can stay on the right side of the law. You can use it to obtain consent from individuals who are willing to test or use a product and provide feedback or reviews. Or get permission to use their information to improve the product or user experience.
This product consent form has a rich blend of cool accent colors that are visually appealing. You can share it online with a link. Or download it in PDF, PPTX, MP4 and HTML5 format, print it and share it with your participants by hand.
Onboard consultants, freelancers and vendors and get your project started on the right foot with this consent form template. The templates include fields for client details, freelancer details, consent statements and the signatures of both parties.
Notice how the footer of the letter has the same color combination as the logo. That’s the beautiful thing about using the intuitive Visme editor. No matter your skill level, Visme puts design and creative control in your hands.
With a few clicks, you can change the color and position of different design elements, add a checklist to your consent and much more.
This consent form helps you establish clear communication with individuals when using their information, intellectual property, videos and images for marketing purposes.
The good news is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. This template already includes the key sections, including the details of informed consent, parties involved, signatures and date. All you need to do is tweak the text and add your brand details and logo to make your form look professional. And boom! Your consent form is ready for use.
Don’t have a logo? Here’s Visme’s complete design suite to your rescue. Using Visme’s logo maker, you can whip up professional-looking logos in a matter of minutes.
Are you running a service-based company and want to protect your business from legal issues? This professional consent form template is an excellent starting point and useful in two ways.
You can use it to obtain consent from clients before providing services. Or make your contractors consent to provide services based on the terms and conditions agreed upon.
It features an attractive blue and purple hue, which exudes a professional feel. Spice up your forms with realistic-looking 3D icons, widgets, animations and other cool design assets from Visme.
This professional client consent form template is a perfect pick for a wide range of businesses. Beyond its minimalism, it offers plenty of room for expressing your creative abilities.
Feel free to include as much information about the contract as you deem fit. In the consent statement section, include specific details about the terms and conditions, like fees, timelines and deliverables.
Keep your consent form and other projects on brand with Visme’s AI-powered brand kit. Simply input your website URL and the wizard will automatically pull your brand assets and add them to your form, giving your projects a unique and consistent look.
Organizations at all levels are required to show transparency in their data collection and usage practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations. Use this privacy policy consent form to secure consent to collect, use, store and protect individuals’ personal information.
Notice how the statement of consent highlights the personal information that can be collected. This can be adapted for medical, research, business and legal purposes.
When writing contract documents, you want to run them by your team or legal expert to ensure you don’t leave out anything important. You no longer have to deal with the hassle of exchanging numerous emails, messages, and phone calls.
Visme makes collaboration seamless for teams of all sizes. Team members can tag each other, comment and edit documents in real-time and asynchronously. They can also react, resolve and delete comments when the review process is complete.
Kimberly Barrett, the Client Consultant at Ameritas, shared her thoughts on what’s like to use Visme.
“I love the flexibility Visme has to make changes on the fly and have real-time updates for anyone viewing with the link. We collaborated with other groups, created a newsletter early, and made last-minute changes to an event. We can update the main site published through Visme and not send an updated document,”- Kimberly Barrett
Looking to secure your employee’s permission to do a background check or drug testing? This employee consent form template fits the bill. The form can also be edited to include areas like confidentiality agreements, non-compete clauses and the use of company property.
The form outlines the types of information being collected, how the information will be used, and any limitations on who has access to the information. With Visme’s drag-and-drop editor, you’re invincible. You can edit content, change the logo and fonts, apply custom colors and more.
The best part? With Visme’s mobile app, you have a complete design suite in your palm; you’re no longer limited to your desktop. You can create forms, make changes, collaborate with your team and share your projects on the go.
Our last pick is a sales consent form that authorizes you to use an individual’s contact information for sales and marketing purposes. It establishes clear expectations and boundaries between your company and customers regarding the use of customer information.
Your form doesn't have to be filled with some boring wall of text. Visme’s graphic library comes with millions of free, built-in assets you can simply drag and drop onto your document. Take advantage of icons, shapes, characters, gestures, avatars and special effects to inject fun and energy into your document.
We've shared some of the top consent form templates from our robust template. Now it’s time to start creating yours right away and here’s how to do that.
Start by selecting one of the templates or head over to our template library to find one that suits your unique needs. All of our templates are designed by experts and guaranteed to elevate the quality of your visual content.
Another option is to start with a blank document template. Head over to the editor and click Create New > Project > Product and then scroll to the right to select “Form”. You can click on Bland Template below or revert back to templates as your starting points.
Our templates are easily customizable. From the left sidebar, you can quickly access lots of different customization options, such as the ability to:
To find these elements faster, take advantage of Visme’s Shortcut feature. While working on your project, type forward slash "/" on your keyboard and a search bar will appear. You can find any design elements, assets, features and more.
Run your consent forms by your HR or legal team to get feedback. Visme lets you create multiple workspaces, add members, create user roles, and control permissions and access levels.
Using Visme’s collaboration feature, team members in the same workspace can tag each other, leave feedback and comments and work on consent forms both synchronously and asynchronously.
Read this article to see how to do collaborative designs in Visme. Or watch the video below to learn more.
Once you’re sold on the final version, you can share the consent form by generating a shareable link by clicking Share at the top right of the editor. Or you can download it in different formats:
Looking to produce effective online forms? Here are the best practices to keep in mind when creating and sharing consent forms.
The goal of getting informed consent is to ensure each party is protected. When creating one, you should provide both parties with clear and pinpoint information about the activity or agreement Be sure that they fully understand their rights, benefits, risks, implications, waiver of rights, use of data and other vital information stated in the agreement.
Clarity is the core of informed consent. Consent forms should be written in plain language that your involved parties can easily understand.
Using plain language can mean the following:
For example, if you are in the marketing field and creating a consent form for participants in a survey, interview or focus group, you want to avoid complex buzzwords like QRE (an abbreviation for questionnaires).
You should also provide translations for participants who speak different languages or accessibility for disabled individuals. This helps ensure everyone is on the same page and there are no grey areas that can cause litigation issues in the future.
Before writing an informed consent document, you need to know the laws and regulations that govern informed consent in your jurisdiction. This includes any additional guidelines, laws or policies specific to your institution, industry, profession, or state.
For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have policies and regulations on informed consent, including when, why, and how it must be obtained.
Why does this matter? Well, different professions have rules or codes of conduct. The same goes for countries and states with different laws, guidelines, or policies.
As these laws continue to evolve, you need to update your consent forms to ensure you’re on the right side of the law. Feel free to consult a legal expert where necessary.
When sharing consent forms, make sure to obtain valid consent from all parties. Now you’re probably wondering, "When is consent valid?" Valid consent means
Our attention spans are getting shorter, and no one wants to fill out some lengthy form. So it's best to keep it short and to the point.
Certainly, you need to include all of the important questions and information. But the rule of thumb is to only keep what‘s important and eliminate fluff or filler questions. Above all, make sure every question is valuable.
Gone are the days when users had to stick with boring forms. With Visme forms, you can create beautiful branded forms that leave lasting impressions on your audience.
Our intuitive editor makes it easy for you to rearrange design assets, add interactivity and animations, and create a more immersive and user-friendly experience.
Conduct regular reviews and updates of your consent forms whenever there are changes to your policies, services, laws and regulations or even technological advancements.
When these changes occur, inform your participants and obtain their consent. This will help you stay ahead of any potential issues or risks and ensure all parties are well aware of how it affects them and their rights.
Having a consent form on hand can help prevent misunderstandings, legal disputes and other potential issues down the road. We've covered everything you need to know and how to start creating yours. Now the ball is in your court.
Visme has the resources to help any business owner or professional create legally binding consent forms. Our powerful and intuitive editor makes creating eye-catching forms a breeze. You can create branded forms using thousands of design elements and visual assets in our library, make them interactive and download them in multiple formats.
Take advantage of Visme’s collaboration tool to ensure everyone on your team is on the same page. Then share your form online, make it private, or download it for offline use.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg regarding what Visme has to offer. You can create other engaging business documents like presentations, reports, contracts, infographics, charts, graphics, videos and more.
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