Mentorship Program Template: Copy-and-Paste Template for 2026

A mentorship program template is the one document that tells a paying mentee exactly what they are buying: the outcome you are working toward, how long the program runs, how often you meet, what support they get between calls, what each of you agrees to, what each tier costs and how progress gets checked. The free template below is written for mentors who sell their experience, whether you mentor new consultants, early-stage founders, salon owners, designers or first-time managers. Copy it, replace the [bracketed] fill-ins and you have a program document you can send today.

We make Coachful, a coaching platform where this document becomes the live program: intake questions are asked on booking, the agreement section is signed before the first call, check-ins and habits run between sessions, and every answer and signature is stored with the client record. You do not need Coachful to use the template. A Word file or a Google Doc works too, and this article compares the options honestly.

What is a mentorship program template, and who is this one for?

It is a reusable outline of a paid mentorship offer that you fill in once and send to every mentee before they commit. This version is built for independent mentors who charge for access to their judgment, network and pattern recognition, not for HR teams pairing employees.

That difference shapes every section. A workplace program has a sponsor, matching rules and a budget owner. A paid mentorship has a buyer who wants a result they can name, a mentor whose time is the product, and a real risk that the relationship drifts into unlimited free advice by text message. The template therefore spends more words on boundaries, response times and what happens when a mentee goes quiet than a corporate template would. If you are running mentoring inside a company, our guide to mentoring program software covers matching and reporting for that setting.

Mentorship as a practice is old and well documented (the Wikipedia overview of mentorship traces formal and informal models). What has changed is the business of it: mentors now sell defined programs with a start date, an end date and a price, which is exactly what this template captures.

Where does this document sit between the first enquiry and the first session?

It belongs in the gap between "yes, I am interested" and the first paid call. A prospect reads it after a discovery conversation, before they pay, and it becomes the reference point for every session after that.

Here is the usual order for a paid mentorship:

1. Enquiry. Someone finds you through a referral, a post or your website and asks how you work.
2. Application or intake questions. You ask a handful of qualifying questions so you only take mentees you can genuinely help.
3. Fit call. A short conversation, usually 20 to 30 minutes, where you confirm the outcome and the starting point.
4. Program document (this template). You send the filled-in version with the tier that fits them highlighted.
5. Agreement and payment. The mentee signs the agreement section and pays in full or starts a payment plan.
6. Kickoff session. You set the 90-day targets, open the between-session channel and schedule the rhythm.
7. Mid-program review and close. You check progress against the outcome halfway, then run a closing session with a written handover.

The template does double duty. Before payment it sells the program by being specific. After payment it settles disagreements, because "what did we agree about messaging on weekends?" has a written answer. Mentors who skip this step tend to discover their scope in week six, during an awkward conversation.

The mentorship program template (copy and paste)

Copy everything in this section into your document of choice. Replace each [bracketed] item. Delete any line that does not apply to your program rather than leaving it vague.

1. Program name and one-line promise

• Program name: [e.g. The First 90 Days of Your Consulting Practice]
• Who it is for: [role or stage, e.g. senior marketers who have left employment and want their first three retainer clients]
• Who it is not for: [e.g. people still deciding whether to leave their job; people who want me to find clients for them]
• The promise in one sentence: By the end of [number] weeks, you will have [specific, observable result] because we will [the mechanism, e.g. build your offer, price it and run your first outreach together].

2. Your mentor and why this program exists

• My relevant experience: [years and roles directly related to the mentee's goal; only claims you can back up]
• What I have done that you want to do: [e.g. built a design studio from one client to a team of six]
• What I do not have experience in: [be honest, e.g. venture fundraising, regulated industries]
• Credentials, if any: [certifications, memberships, or "none, my experience is practical"]

3. Outcomes and how we will measure them

1. Primary outcome: [one result, e.g. three signed retainer clients at or above [rate]]
2. Supporting outcomes: [two or three, e.g. a written offer, a pricing sheet, a repeatable outreach routine]
3. Leading indicators we track weekly: [e.g. conversations booked, proposals sent, hours of deep work]
4. What success depends on from you: [e.g. ten hours a week of work between sessions]
5. What I cannot promise: [e.g. specific income, a job offer, investment, any result outside your control or mine]

4. Program length and phases

• Total length: [e.g. 12 weeks, starting [date]]
• Phase 1, weeks [1 to 3]: [e.g. Diagnose: audit your skills, network and current offer]
• Phase 2, weeks [4 to 8]: [e.g. Build: offer, pricing, positioning, first outreach]
• Phase 3, weeks [9 to 12]: [e.g. Run: weekly pipeline reviews, proposals, first delivery]
• Midpoint review: week [6], a written check against the outcomes in section 3
• Closing session: week [12], with a written plan for the next 90 days

5. Session rhythm

• 1:1 sessions: [number] sessions of [length] minutes, [weekly / every two weeks], by [video tool]
• Group sessions, if included: [e.g. a monthly 60-minute hot-seat call with the current cohort]
• Before each session you send: [e.g. a three-line update: what moved, what is stuck, the one decision you want help with]
• After each session I send: [e.g. a short recap with agreed actions within 24 hours]
• Rescheduling: [e.g. with at least 24 hours' notice; later than that, the session counts as used]
• Missed sessions: [e.g. one missed session can be rebooked within the program window; sessions do not roll past the end date]

6. Support between sessions

• Channel: [e.g. direct messages in the client app; not my personal phone or social DMs]
• What it is for: [e.g. quick decisions, reviewing a proposal draft, sharing a win]
• What it is not for: [e.g. full strategy sessions by message, urgent same-day turnarounds]
• Response time: [e.g. within one business day, Monday to Friday, [hours] in [time zone]]
• Document reviews: [e.g. up to [number] reviews per month, up to [number] pages each]
• Weekly check-in: [e.g. a five-question form every [Friday] that I read before our next call]
• Resources included: [e.g. my proposal templates, pricing worksheet, recorded trainings]
• Introductions: [e.g. I make introductions when I judge them useful; they are not guaranteed]

7. Mutual agreements

1. I agree to: show up prepared, keep what you share confidential [except where the law requires disclosure], give you my honest view even when it is unwelcome, and tell you if I think the program is not the right fit.
2. You agree to: do the work between sessions, tell me when you are stuck instead of going quiet, make your own decisions and own their results.
3. Confidentiality of my materials: [e.g. templates and recordings are for your own business use and not for resale or redistribution]
4. Recording: [e.g. sessions are recorded only with both parties' agreement and shared only with you]
5. Scope: mentorship is guidance from experience. It is not legal, tax, financial, medical or mental health advice, and I will suggest the right professional when a question needs one.
6. Ending early: [e.g. either of us can end the program with [7] days' written notice; refunds follow section 8]
7. Conduct: [e.g. I may end the program without refund for abusive behaviour or non-payment]

8. Pricing tiers and payment

• Tier 1, [name, e.g. Group]: [group calls + check-ins + resources], [price] paid in full or [number] payments of [amount]
• Tier 2, [name, e.g. Core 1:1]: [Tier 1 + number of 1:1 sessions + message support], [price] or [number] payments of [amount]
• Tier 3, [name, e.g. Intensive]: [Tier 2 + document reviews + an in-person or half-day strategy session + introductions], [price] or [number] payments of [amount]
• What is not included in any tier: [e.g. done-for-you work, travel costs, software subscriptions]
• Payment terms: [e.g. first payment due before the kickoff session; plans charged automatically every [30] days]
• Late payment: [e.g. sessions pause after [7] days overdue until the balance is paid]
• Refunds: [e.g. full refund if you cancel before the kickoff session; after that, no refund for sessions already delivered]
• Taxes: [prices include / exclude VAT or sales tax where it applies]

9. Check-ins and progress reviews

1. Weekly check-in questions:
   • What did you finish this week that moves the primary outcome?
   • Rate your progress toward [primary outcome] from 1 to 10. What would make it one point higher?
   • Where are you stuck, and what have you already tried?
   • [Your leading indicator] this week: [number]
   • What do you want to spend our next session on?
2. Midpoint review (week [6]): compare results to section 3, keep or change the plan, confirm the closing target.
3. Closing review (week [12]): what you achieved, what you learned, the next 90-day plan, and whether a continuation makes sense.
4. If check-ins stop: [e.g. after two missed check-ins I will message you once; after three, we use the next session to reset the plan]

10. Continuation and alumni

• After the program: [e.g. a monthly alumni call, or a lighter continuation tier at [price] per month]
• Referrals: [e.g. if you refer someone who joins, you receive [benefit]]
• Testimonials: [e.g. I may ask for a testimonial at the end; you are never required to give one, and I only use your name with permission]

11. Signatures

• Mentee name: [name] · Signature: [signature] · Date: [date]
• Mentor name: [name] · Business name: [legal business name] · Signature: [signature] · Date: [date]
• Tier selected: [tier] · Start date: [date] · End date: [date]

Why does each section matter, and what should you watch for?

Each section answers a question a mentee will ask sooner or later, usually at a bad moment. The table shows the job of every section and the mistake that tends to creep into it.

If you would rather draft the phases interactively, the program outline builder walks through weeks, milestones and deliverables and gives you an outline to paste into section 4. For deeper design work on the phases themselves, see how to create a coaching program curriculum and the week-by-week layout in our 12-week coaching program template.

What must a paid mentor add to this template?

Four things the template cannot fill in for you: your scope of practice, how you handle sensitive information, the local rules on contracts and consumer refunds, and a safety plan for conversations that go beyond business.

Scope of practice

Mentors are often asked questions that belong to a licensed professional: "Should I form an LLC?", "Is this contract clause enforceable?", "How much tax should I set aside?" Write your scope line in section 7 and repeat it out loud in the kickoff session. Share what you did in your own business if it helps, then send the mentee to an accountant or attorney for their situation. If you hold a coaching credential, the ICF Code of Ethics is a useful public reference for boundaries, confidentiality and conflicts of interest, even for mentors who are not ICF members.

Sensitive data

Mentees share revenue figures, client names, salary history and sometimes health or family circumstances that explain a stall. Decide where that information lives, who can see it and how long you keep it. If you work with people in the EU or UK, data protection rules apply to how you store and delete it. Keep notes factual and keep them out of personal email threads and phone notes.

Local law on agreements and refunds

Cancellation rights, auto-renewing payment plans and refund rules differ by state and country, and some places give consumers a cooling-off period for services bought online. Have a lawyer in your jurisdiction review sections 7 and 8 before you rely on them.

Safety and referral

Mentorship conversations about burnout, money stress or a failing business can surface something more serious. Mentoring is not therapy. If a mentee describes thoughts of self-harm, a crisis or symptoms that are affecting daily life, pause the business agenda, encourage them to contact a qualified professional or local emergency services, and write down in your own policy what you will do in that moment before it happens.

How do you run this mentorship program template in Coachful?

In Coachful, each section of the template maps to a part of the product, so the document stops being a PDF the mentee forgets and becomes the program they log in to. Here is the client journey from enquiry to closing review, with what you set up and what the mentee sees.

Step 1: Turn sections 1, 2 and 8 into an offer

Create the mentorship as an offer, with the promise from section 1 as its headline and each tier from section 8 as a price option. Payments run through your own Stripe Connect or Razorpay account: one-time, subscriptions, payment plans, coupons and order bumps are all supported, with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Coachful charges a 0% platform fee, so only the processor's fees apply. An invoice is created per transaction, and you can send manual invoices for anything off-menu.

Step 2: Put the qualifying questions on the booking page

Your fit call is a booking page with availability rules, buffers, minimum notice and time-zone detection, synced both ways with Google, Apple/iCloud or Outlook calendars. Add intake questions to the booking so you read the prospect's situation before the call: current role, the result they want in 90 days, what they have tried, and their budget range. Answers land on the Intakes page and then on the client record.

Step 3: Send sections 7 and 11 as an agreement before the first call

Coaching agreements with e-signature are sent before the first call and stored on the client record. Paste sections 7, 8 and 11 into the agreement, so the mentee signs the scope, refund and conduct terms in one place. If a mentee signed a paper or third-party copy instead, drop the signed PDF on their Agreements tab.

Step 4: Build sections 4 and 5 as the program

Multi-week programs hold weekly goals, daily tasks, habits and goals with progress bars, so the phases in section 4 become weeks the mentee moves through. Michelle, the built-in AI assistant, can draft the program from your outline; questions and planning are included in your Coachful membership, and confirmed builds use AI credits. Sessions get built-in video or auto-created Zoom, Meet or Teams links, with email reminders and, once messaging is enabled, SMS 24 hours and WhatsApp one hour before.

This short walkthrough shows how a program is built:

On the mentee's side, the program sits in their branded home and app: the current week, what is due and the route into the next lesson.

Step 5: Run section 9 as check-ins and habits

Attach a weekly check-in with your five questions from section 9, and morning or evening check-ins if your mentees benefit from a daily prompt. Habits and streaks cover the leading indicators from section 3, such as outreach messages sent or hours of focused work.

Before each call the mentee sees their next session and anything they need to send first, which is where the three-line pre-session update from section 5 goes.

Step 6: Deliver section 6 without your personal phone

Direct messages in the client app give you the single channel the template names. For group tiers, cohort groups are created automatically on program enrollment, with a community feed, group chat and video events for the monthly hot-seat call. Your templates, trainings and worksheets go into the mentee's home as downloads, videos or a course with drip and completion tracking. If you want mentees to have help between calls, the AI Coach is an AI version of you that selected clients can chat with; you configure what it covers.

Step 7: Watch the roster and close well

The client record collects goals, check-ins, habits, notes, intake answers, payments and sessions, and gives each mentee a status of thriving, active, quiet or at risk, plus an AI briefing before each session. That status is what makes the "if check-ins stop" rule in section 9 workable: you see the quiet mentee in week three, not week nine. For the midpoint review, our mid-program check-in template gives you the questions.

What Coachful is, who it is for and what it does not do

Coachful is a coaching platform that covers booking, payments, agreements, programs with habits and check-ins, courses, community, a website with funnels and email, and an AI assistant, with one login for you and one branded app for your clients. It suits mentors and coaches who deliver programs rather than single sessions, solo practitioners growing into a small team, and anyone replacing four to six separate tools. It does not accept PayPal, has no permanent free plan, is not HIPAA-certified and is not a course marketplace. Your clients use the Coachful app with your branding, not an app under your own App Store account. To start, take a free trial and ask for the free white-glove build (Current plans: Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; Studio: $199/month with unlimited clients).

Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service. From Create, choose "We'll build it for you" and describe what you want: the program, the sales page, the application form or the email sequence. You can attach up to 8 reference links and up to 10 files, such as this template filled in. The Coachful team builds it inside your own account, usually within about 24 hours, and leaves gaps for you rather than inventing prices, credentials or testimonials. One recent request came from a business mentor for beauty professionals, who received a 12-week mentorship sales page, a free start-up-guide funnel and rewritten follow-up emails. Read more about the free white-glove service.

What are the ways to send and store a mentorship program document?

You can send this template as a file, a shared doc, through an e-signature tool or inside practice software. The deciding question is whether the document stays connected to the sessions, payments and check-ins it describes.

A file by email is fine for your first two or three mentees. Past that point, the problem is not sending the document; it is keeping the signed version, the payment plan and the week-six review in the same place. The vendors above document contracts and client portals; what differs is how much of the between-session work (check-ins, habits, community, messaging) lives next to the agreement. If you are also choosing how to sell the program, see platforms to sell a 12-week coaching program and the coaching contracts overview.

What does a filled-in mentorship program look like?

Below is an example for a fictional mentor and mentee. Every name, number and price is illustrative, chosen to show the level of detail, not a recommended rate.

Example only.

1. Program: Studio Owner Launchpad. For hair stylists with at least five years behind the chair who want to open their own two-chair studio within six months. Not for stylists who want to stay employed or rent a single chair. Promise: by the end of 12 weeks, Priya will have a signed lease, a pricing menu and a waiting list of 40 clients because we will build her business plan, numbers and pre-launch outreach together.

2. Mentor: Dana Okafor, salon owner for nine years, grew one studio to three locations. Has not run a franchise or raised outside investment.

3. Outcomes: primary, signed lease on a two-chair space. Supporting: a one-page business plan, a service menu with prices, a waiting list. Weekly indicators: spaces viewed, waiting-list sign-ups, hours on the plan. Not promised: a specific income or a landlord's approval.

4. Length: 12 weeks from 5 January. Weeks 1 to 3 diagnose (savings, current client base, area research). Weeks 4 to 8 build (plan, menu, budget, space search). Weeks 9 to 12 run (lease negotiation, pre-launch list). Midpoint review in week 6.

5. Rhythm: six 60-minute 1:1 calls every two weeks by video. Priya sends a three-line update the day before. 24-hour rescheduling rule.

6. Support: messages in the client app, answered within one business day, Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 UK time. Up to two document reviews a month (lease summaries, budget sheet).

7. Agreements: Dana does not give legal or tax advice; lease terms go to Priya's solicitor and the budget to her accountant.

8. Tier chosen: Core 1:1, example price £1,800, paid in three monthly payments of £600. Refund in full before the first call; no refund for sessions delivered.

9. Check-in on Friday, week 4: "Viewed two spaces, one too small. Progress 5/10; one point higher if I had the budget finished. Stuck on how much to keep in reserve. Waiting list: 11. Next call: the budget."

10. Continuation: monthly alumni call for studio owners in their first year, example price £90 per month.

Notice what the example does: the promise names a document (a lease) rather than a feeling, the "not for" line filters out stylists who would have been unhappy, and the check-in is short enough that Priya actually filled it in. More filled examples for adjacent programs sit in our mindset coaching program and group coaching program templates guides.

How do you price the tiers in a mentorship program?

Price from the value of the outcome and the hours each tier costs you, then make sure each tier changes access, not just the number. We do not publish a recommended mentorship rate here, because rates vary widely by industry, seniority and market.

A simple working method:

1. List every hour a tier costs you over the full program: live calls, preparation, message replies, document reviews, admin.
2. Decide the minimum you need per delivered hour to run a sustainable business, after processing fees and taxes.
3. Multiply, then sanity-check the total against the value of the primary outcome to the mentee. As an example, if the outcome is a first retainer client worth several months of income, a program priced at a fraction of that is easy to justify.
4. Make the group tier the entry point, the 1:1 tier the main offer and the intensive tier the one with the most access (more reviews, faster replies, introductions).
5. Offer a payment plan that totals slightly more than paying in full, and state it plainly in section 8.

If your mentees are employees whose company pays, the billing differs; our guide to company-funded coaching program billing covers purchase orders and payment terms. For a first cohort at a lower price in exchange for feedback, see how to run a paid beta coaching program.

Example tiers for the Studio Owner Launchpad above, all illustrative:

What are the most common mistakes with a mentorship program template?

Most problems come from leaving a section vague because it felt awkward to write. These are the ones that cause the most friction later:

• A promise without a noun. "Clarity and confidence" cannot be checked at week six. "A signed lease" can.
• Unlimited access by default. "Reach out anytime" turns a 12-week program into a permanent on-call job. Name hours and response times.
• No "not for" line. The mentees who are a poor fit are the ones most likely to ask for refunds.
• Signing after the kickoff. Once the work has started, the agreement feels like an afterthought. Send it before the first call.
• Check-ins that are too long. Ten open questions get answered twice and then ignored. Five short ones on a fixed day keep coming in.
• No rule for going quiet. Decide in advance what you do after two missed check-ins, so the follow-up feels like the plan rather than a chase.
• Tiers that only differ in price. If the intensive tier does not change access, people will pick the cheapest and feel underserved.
• Copying a corporate mentoring template. Matching criteria and HR reporting do not help a paying mentee. Keep the document about their outcome and your boundaries.
• Burying the scope line. If legal, tax and mental health questions are out of scope, say so in the agreement and again on the first call.

For more on keeping people engaged through the middle weeks, see how to create a coaching program clients finish and the anonymous cohort pulse survey for group tiers.

Is this template legal, financial or professional advice?

No. This mentorship program template is a starting point for a business document, not legal, tax, financial, medical or mental health advice. Contract, consumer protection, refund and data protection rules vary by state and country.

Ask a lawyer in your jurisdiction to review the agreement, refund and conduct sections before you rely on them, especially if you sell to consumers across borders, use auto-renewing payment plans or record sessions. Check with an accountant about sales tax or VAT on digital services where you and your mentees are based. If your mentorship touches health, wellbeing or mental health, add a clear referral process and have a qualified clinician review the wording; clinical records belong in a clinical system, not in coaching software.

Frequently asked questions about mentorship program templates

Is this mentorship program template free to use?

Yes. Copy it into any document, adapt it and use it with paying mentees. You do not need to credit us or use any particular software.

How long should a paid mentorship program be?

Long enough to reach the primary outcome with a midpoint review in between. Many paid programs run 8 to 16 weeks, with 12 weeks a common middle ground. Pick the length from the outcome: a first client might take 12 weeks, a business launch might take six months.

How often should mentorship sessions happen?

Weekly suits intensive tiers and fast-moving goals; every two weeks gives mentees time to act between calls and suits most 1:1 tiers. Whatever you choose, pair it with a short weekly check-in so the weeks without a call still have a touchpoint.

What is the difference between mentoring and coaching in a paid program?

A mentor shares direct experience and opinions from having done the thing; a coach mainly asks questions and helps the client find their own answers. Many paid programs blend both, which is fine as long as the template says which you are offering and what is out of scope.

Should a mentorship program include a contract?

Yes. Sections 7, 8 and 11 of the template work as the agreement, and they should be signed before the first session. Have a local lawyer review them, since refund and cancellation rules differ by place.

Can I use this template for group mentorship?

Yes. Use the group tier in section 8, replace 1:1 calls with group calls in section 5, and add community rules (confidentiality of what others share, respectful feedback) to section 7. Our guide on how to structure a group coaching program covers cohort design in detail.

How do I send the template and get it signed in Coachful?

Put the qualifying questions on your booking page as intake questions, send sections 7, 8 and 11 as a coaching agreement with e-signature before the first call, and build the phases as a program. The signed agreement and all intake answers are stored on the client record.

What is Coachful's free white-glove service?

It is a build service included on every plan. You describe what you need, such as a mentorship program, sales page or application form, attach up to 8 links and 10 files, and the Coachful team builds it in your account, usually within about 24 hours. It does not include recording videos, logo design or ad management.

Is Coachful suitable for workplace mentoring programs?

Coachful is built for coaches and mentors who sell programs to their own clients, with team plans adding coach seats. It does not provide routing forms that pick a mentor from form answers, so for large internal programs with matching rules read our mentoring program software guide first.

What should a mentee check-in ask?

Keep it to about five questions: what moved this week, a 1 to 10 progress score with what would add one point, where they are stuck, their leading indicator number, and the topic for the next session. Short, fixed-day check-ins get answered; long ones get skipped.