Mentoring Agreement Template (Free, Fill-In, Printable)
A mentoring agreement is a one- to two-page document in which a mentor and a mentee write down their goals, how often they will meet, how they will communicate, what stays confidential and how either side can end the relationship. Use the free template below in the first or second meeting of any mentorship that will run for more than a few weeks.
It is not a legal contract. It is a shared reference that saves both people from guessing, and it gives you something concrete to review at the midpoint.
How do you use this mentoring agreement template?
- Copy or print the template below. Delete sections that do not apply; do not add legal language.
- The mentee drafts the goals before the first meeting. One to three goals, each with a success criterion. The goal-setting guide covers how to write them.
- Fill in the rest together in the first meeting. The first-meeting guide shows where the agreement fits in that conversation.
- Both sign and keep a copy. A shared document or a photo of the paper is enough.
- Book the review dates now, in both calendars. An agreement nobody revisits stops meaning anything by month two.
If you run a program, set a short program-wide agreement first (conduct, data, escalation contact) and let pairs use this template for their own working terms. How to start a mentoring program explains where that fits in the launch.
The template
Mentoring agreement
1. Parties
| Mentor | Mentee | |
|---|---|---|
| Name | ________ | ________ |
| Role / organization | ________ | ________ |
| ________ | ________ | |
| Preferred contact channel | ________ | ________ |
| Time zone | ________ | ________ |
2. Program and dates
- Program name (if any): ________
- Program coordinator and contact: ________
- Start date: ________
- Planned end date: ________
- Total planned duration: ________ months
3. Goals and success criteria
| # | Goal (what the mentee wants to change) | How we will know it worked | Target date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 2 | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| 3 | ________ | ________ | ________ |
Topics that are out of scope for this mentorship: ________
4. Meeting cadence and format
- We will meet every ________ weeks, for ________ minutes.
- Format: in person / video / phone / mixed (circle one). Location or link: ________
- Who schedules the next meeting: mentor / mentee (circle one). The next date is set before each meeting ends.
- The mentee sends an agenda or one key question at least ________ days before each meeting.
- If a meeting must be moved, we give at least ________ hours’ notice and propose a new time in the same message.
- Two missed meetings in a row trigger a check-in about whether to continue.
5. Communication between meetings
- Channel for short questions: ________
- Expected response time: within ________ working days.
- Hours we will not contact each other: ________
- Urgent matters: ________
6. Confidentiality and its limits
- What we discuss stays between us unless we both agree to share it.
- The mentor will not share the mentee’s personal or career information with the mentee’s manager, team or organization without the mentee’s consent.
- Confidentiality ends where there is a risk of harm to someone, a legal obligation to report, or a breach of the organization’s code of conduct. In those cases we will contact: ________
- Notes: each of us keeps our own notes. Shared notes are limited to: ________
- Personal data is handled under the program’s privacy policy and applicable data protection law (for example GDPR in the EU).
7. Boundaries
- The mentor gives perspective and advice; decisions stay with the mentee.
- The mentor is not the mentee’s manager, therapist, lawyer or recruiter. Requests outside the mentorship’s scope will be redirected.
- No financial transactions, gifts beyond the symbolic, or hiring decisions between us during the mentorship.
- Either of us can decline a topic without giving a reason.
- Other boundaries we agree on: ________
8. Roles and responsibilities
| The mentor will | The mentee will |
|---|---|
| Show up prepared and on time | Drive the agenda and bring the questions |
| Listen first, then share experience | Do what was agreed between meetings, or say why not |
| Give honest, specific feedback | Ask for the feedback they need |
| Open doors where appropriate | Follow up on introductions |
| Say early if availability changes | Say early if goals or availability change |
Additional commitments: ________
9. Pausing or ending the mentorship (no-fault exit)
- Either of us can pause the mentorship for up to ________ weeks by telling the other person. We agree on a restart date when we pause.
- Either of us can end the mentorship at any time, for any reason, without blame. We will say so directly, not by going silent.
- If the match is not working by week ________, we will tell the program coordinator, who can arrange a new match without asking either of us to justify it.
- At the end, we hold a short closing conversation: what changed, what the mentee will keep doing, whether to stay in touch.
10. Review checkpoints
| Checkpoint | Date | What we review |
|---|---|---|
| After meeting 2 | ________ | Is the cadence realistic? Are the goals the right ones? |
| Midpoint | ________ | Progress per goal. Keep, change or drop each goal. |
| Final meeting | ________ | Results against success criteria. Next steps. |
Changes agreed at a review: ________
11. Signatures
This agreement is a mutual understanding, not a legally binding contract.
- Mentor signature: ________ Date: ________
- Mentee signature: ________ Date: ________
- Program coordinator (optional): ________ Date: ________
Minimal one-page version
For short programs, flash mentoring or informal pairs, this is enough:
- Mentor: ________ Mentee: ________ Start date: ________ End date: ________
- Our main goal: ________
- We will know it worked when: ________
- We meet every ________ weeks for ________ minutes, by ________. ________ books the next date.
- Between meetings we use ________ and reply within ________ days.
- What we discuss stays between us, except where someone could be harmed or the law requires otherwise.
- Either of us can end this at any time, without blame, by saying so directly.
- We review this agreement on: ________
- Signed: ________ (mentor) ________ (mentee) Date: ________
How should you adapt the template?
Keep it short. Two pages is the ceiling. Every extra clause is one more thing nobody reads. If a section does not change how the pair behaves, cut it.
Match it to the program type.
- Employee programs: add that the mentor is not in the mentee’s reporting line and that nothing from the mentorship feeds into performance reviews. Mentoring platforms for employee programs often enforce the reporting-line rule at matching time.
- Student and youth programs: add a line on meeting in public or on-platform spaces, and name the staff contact for safeguarding concerns. Where minors are involved, your institution’s safeguarding policy overrides this template.
- Startup and accelerator programs: add a clause on conflicts of interest and on whether the mentor may invest in or advise competitors.
- Reverse and peer mentoring: rewrite section 8 so both columns read as equals, since each side teaches.
Do not turn it into a legal document. Confidentiality here is a promise between two people. Intellectual property, compensation and formal non-disclosure belong in separate documents, if they are needed at all.
Version it at program level. If you change the program-wide agreement mid-cohort, tell everyone what changed and when. Pair-level agreements can change at any review without ceremony.
Step-by-step guides for every stage of a mentoring program, from launch to closing, are in the guides library.