Volunteer Background Checks & Screenings: Ultimate Guide

While the law doesn't always require volunteer background checks, many organizations implement volunteer screening into their recruitment process. Running these checks can protect your community, improve volunteer experience, uphold your organization's reputation, and mitigate risks.

Let's take a closer look at arranging background checks for volunteers quickly and efficiently.

What is a Volunteer Background Check?

A volunteer background check is a process used by organizations to assess the history and suitability of individuals who wish to volunteer. A background check is often used in roles that involve working with vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities.

Why Do Nonprofits Use Volunteer Background Checks? 

 Volunteer background checks might feel like a lot of work when recruiting and onboarding volunteers. But, they can provide quite a few benefits like:

• Safety and protection: Background checks help ensure the safety of vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities, by identifying any past criminal behavior that could pose a risk in a volunteer role.
  
  
• Trust and credibility: Conducting background checks builds trust with stakeholders, including clients, donors, and the community. It demonstrates that the organization prioritizes safety and is committed to creating a secure environment.
  
  
• Legal and regulatory compliance: Many organizations, especially those working with minors or sensitive populations, are legally required to conduct background checks. Compliance helps protect the organization from legal liabilities.
  
  
• Informed decision-making: Organizations can make more informed decisions about volunteer placements and roles based on the findings of background checks, ensuring that individuals are matched to appropriate responsibilities.
  
  
• Volunteer accountability: Background checks can deter individuals with harmful intentions from applying to volunteer, fostering a culture of accountability and integrity within the organization.

Best Practices for Conducting Volunteer Background Checks

When conducting a volunteer background check, be sure to keep these best practices in mind:

Maintain Confidentiality and Offer Transparency 

Handle all background check information with strict confidentiality. Limit access to authorized personnel only and store records securely to protect volunteer privacy. And, when choosing and interviewing volunteers, volunteer leaders should be transparent about the background check requirement. 

Being straightforward about your plans for background checks can simplify volunteer selection and minimize the number of candidates who may not pass the screening.

Consider Extensiveness 

Do you need a state background check or a national background check? More often, nonprofits require lighter requirements for volunteer background checks than most employee screenings.

Note that state background checks don’t include federal courthouse records and may not include driving records.

While it's up to you to decide how extensive the check will be, opting for surface screenings could lead to unfortunate oversights, especially when working with vulnerable populations. 

Create a Volunteer Screening Policy

When considering using background checks, you’ll want to create a nonprofit background check policy so everyone at the organization administers and uses them correctly.

This type of policy should include:

• Purpose of prospective volunteer screening in your organization
• Scope of volunteer screening (do all volunteers need to undergo a background check?)
• Guidelines for getting volunteer consent for screenings
• List of checks that should be conducted
• Criteria for disqualification in case one or more checks uncovers something.

In this policy, you can specify which types of volunteers undergo specific types of checks. They can vary from group to group, depending on their responsibilities. 

Partner with a Volunteer Screening Solution

To run a background check, you will need to find a volunteer screening service provider. 

Pro Tip: A robust volunteer management system should integrate with volunteer screening solutions. Get Connected’s background check integrations simplify the process of screening volunteers, giving you peace of mind while keeping your community safe. 

Learn more about Get Connected's Volunteer Background Checks

Your HR team can use the system to seamlessly collect and monitor local and national background checks. The information about these screenings is stored in the volunteer's secure web-based profile, so volunteer programs and their volunteers can review their background checks at any time.

It's not uncommon for nonprofit organizations to ask volunteers to pay for their own background checks. However, this could be a motivation-buster for people who are willing to provide services for free. That's why it may be reasonable to opt for affordable background check solutions.

What Do Background Checks for Volunteers Include? 

The common background check for volunteers includes:

• Criminal background check: Check for felony convictions, misdemeanor convictions, pending criminal cases, and arrests that resulted in a conviction. Using a volunteer's social security number, you can check criminal databases on state or national levels for criminal history.
  
  
• Sex offender check: If volunteering includes working with children, you can check National Sex Offender Public Website Registry.
  
  
• Driving record check: If driving or operating a vehicle is one of the key volunteer responsibilities, you may want to run a motor vehicle records check. It can provide information about accidents that a volunteer was responsible for.
  
  
• Drug tests: Drug screening can be one of the top volunteer background check requirements for people who plan to work with children or whose activities put them in a position of trust (like church volunteers who work with youth).
  
  
• Credit check: A credit check can give you an idea of the volunteer's responsibility and financial situation. This could be an important factor for volunteers who may be handling money, like your free tax prep volunteers.

Other parts of volunteer background screening can include ID verification, employment verification, education verification, and civil conviction checks.

Are Volunteer Screenings a Requirement?

While state and federal laws don't require background checks, some states may require volunteers to undergo screenings if they execute specific duties. In most cases, volunteers who work in educational facilities or hospice care need to pass background screenings.

Federal laws that regulate background checks for volunteers include:

• FCRA: Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates hiring practices for employers in the United States. This act requires employers in all types of organizations, including non-profits, to obtain authorization from volunteers before running a background check.
  
  
• Volunteers for Children Act of 1998 (VCA): VCA allows volunteer organizations to request a nationwide background check when deciding whether to accept a volunteer. However, you still need to request these files through a state agency. The act also reduces fees for these screenings so volunteers can participate in childcare programs.

Make Volunteer Background Checks Simple

Volunteer background checks are an important part of a community organization's work. Ensuring your volunteers are reliable and trustworthy is essential to the success of your operations.

Arranging a volunteer screening doesn't have to be complicated. With a comprehensive volunteer management system like Get Connected, volunteer leaders can streamline volunteer management, improve communication, simplify reporting, and integrate with background check service providers.

Want to learn more about Get Connected? Request a free demo.