¹ Urban Institute (2017), analysis of 1.7 million employment background checks
The Problem
Background check companies have been overcharging nonprofits for years.
Here's something the industry doesn't advertise: the vast majority of background checks come back completely clean. A 2017 Urban Institute study of 1.7 million background checks found that roughly 94% returned no criminal finding. A separate University of Georgia study found that approximately 92% of U.S. adults have no felony conviction on record. Volunteer populations — people who choose to give their time — skew even cleaner than those averages. Most are exactly who they say they are.
Yet nonprofits are routinely charged $25, $40, even $80 per report. Some providers bundle checks you don't need. Others charge monthly platform fees on top of per-check costs. It's the medical industry's over-ordering problem applied to background screening — maximum billing, minimum transparency.
VolunteerBadge was built to fix that. We designed our pricing around what a national criminal check actually costs to run — not what the market will tolerate. That number is $5.
Typical Provider
What nonprofits are paying right now
Est. annual cost — 200 checks
~$9,200 / year
200 checks × $40 avg + $100/mo platform fee
What it should cost
Transparent pricing, no surprises
Est. annual cost — 200 checks
$990 / year
200 checks × $5. That's it.
How It Works
Three steps. Start to finish.
We stripped every unnecessary step. Here's what running a volunteer background check actually looks like.
Build your application
Create a volunteer application in minutes. FCRA disclosure language is embedded automatically — applicants sign digitally, you stay compliant from day one.
No charge to create applications or collect signatures.
Always freeWe verify address history
The moment they submit, we pull their actual address history and cross-reference it. Any gaps or addresses they 'forgot' get flagged before you spend a single credit.
No credits used. Catches incomplete applications early.
Always freeRun the check. Done.
One click searches county courts, sex offender registries across all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, and OFAC. Plain English results with FCRA guidance included.
One credit per check. No hidden fees.
$5 per checkThe FCRA-compliant volunteer screening platform — everything included, nothing hidden.
Other platforms charge extra for these. We don't.
We search 650M+ court records across all jurisdictions — county, state, and federal courts, sex offender registries, FBI Most Wanted, OFAC sanctions, and global watchlists. If county records exist but can't be verified under FCRA guidelines, we tell you and refund your fee. No games.
- County, state & federal courts
- Sex offender registry (all 50 states)
- FBI Most Wanted & OFAC
- FCRA-compliant results report
Every volunteer application includes a free address history pull. We verify what they report against what we find. Gaps, inconsistencies, or addresses they "forgot" to mention get flagged before you spend a dime on a criminal check. It's the most underrated screening tool in the industry — and we give it away.
- Digital volunteer e-form with FCRA authorization
- Real-time address cross-reference
- Instant flag on discrepancies
- No credits used, ever
We own the Natural Language Prompt space for volunteer screening. Just talk to VolunteerBadge. "Run a background check on Sarah Mitchell, born March 4, 1988, last in Tucson." That's it. We handle the rest — including walking you through adverse action if a record is found.
- Plain-English background check requests
- Instant results with plain-English explanations
- FCRA adverse action notice generation
- Integrates with Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini
Fully documented REST API and Webhook support. Plug VolunteerBadge into your CRM, volunteer management software, or your AI tool of choice. One API key. 1 credit = 1 background check, consumed the same way regardless of how you access us — in-app, mobile, or API.
Integrations
Works with the tools you already use
Two-way volunteer sync with the volunteer-management, CRM, and church-management systems you already use — no spreadsheets, no double entry.
We verify the human — not just the name on the form.
VolunteerBadge is the only volunteer screening platform that ties a real, verified identity to every application: a biometric face match against a government photo ID, then triangulated against the SSN trace and address history behind the check. A borrowed clean identity can't get through.
Biometric facial match
A live liveness selfie — proof a real person is present, not a photo.
Government photo ID
The selfie is matched face-to-face against their official ID document.
SSN + address triangulation
Identity cross-checked against the SSN trace and address history on the report.
Enterprise-grade verification at a nonprofit price. The same rigor banks use — built into every $5 check.
Pay $5 to screen a volunteer. Run your whole organization free.
Background screening is the core. Everything an organization needs to manage the volunteers it already screens — from hour tracking to AI grant writing to corporate volunteer grants you didn't know you qualified for — is a free perk built into every account. No subscription, no per-seat fees.
Volunteer Hour Tracking
Log timestamped hours by volunteer, program, and event. Every hour is worth $34.79 in documented in-kind match value — money left on the table when hours go untracked.
Grant-Ready Impact Reports
One-click PDF and CSV exports funders and boards actually ask for — hours by program, in-kind match value, screening completion rates. Branded with your org's name and logo.
Live Compliance Roster
One screen. Every volunteer. Green means cleared. Yellow means expiring. Red means lapsed. Answer "is everyone serving this weekend cleared?" in a single filter.
Automated Re-screening Alerts
Configurable re-screening intervals with alerts at 30 and 7 days before expiration. One-click re-run reuses the volunteer's existing profile — no re-entry. Never get caught with a lapsed check.
AI Grant Writing Assistant
Powered by Claude. Drafts the organizational impact sections of grant proposals using your real VB data — volunteer counts, verified hours, in-kind value. No PII ever sent to the model.
Dollars for Doers Capture
Roughly 40% of Fortune 500 companies pay $8–$25 per volunteer hour. Most nonprofits never claim it. VolunteerBadge flags eligibility automatically when a volunteer's employer and hours cross the threshold.
Every management feature, free for your whole team.
Hour tracking, compliance roster, grant-ready reports, re-screening alerts, AI grant writing, and corporate grant capture are all built in at no charge. At Independent Sector's national volunteer value ($34.79/hr), documenting volunteer hours alone can return thousands in claimable in-kind match value. No per-seat pricing. No subscription.
Every feature included free. You only pay $5 per background check.
Just tell us who to screen. We handle the rest.
No forms to fill out. No dropdown menus. No uploading spreadsheets. You describe the person in plain English — or through your favorite AI assistant — and VolunteerBadge runs the check, interprets the results, and tells you exactly what to do next.
If a result requires adverse action under FCRA, we generate the notice for you. You review it, you send it. No guesswork. No legal exposure from doing it wrong.
Click below to see it in action.
Pricing so simple it's almost embarrassing.
Pay $5 per check for screening. Everything else to run your whole volunteer program is free.
Buy credits one at a time. No commitment, no expiry.
- Federal, state & county courts — 650M+ records
- All 50 state sex-offender registries
- FBI Most Wanted, OFAC & global watchlists
- Free biometric identity verification
- Human review of every record, FCRA-compliant
- Free address-history check on every application
$4.50 per check. Credits never expire.
Use in-app, via mobile, or via API.
- Everything in Pay As You Go
- 10 background check credits
- 10% savings vs single-check rate
- Credits roll over, never expire
- Bigger bundles up to 25% off in-app
- Usage dashboard & reporting
Every management feature, included.
Unlimited admin users. Only background checks cost $5.
- Everything in Pay As You Go
- Volunteer hour tracking
- Grant-ready PDF & CSV reports
- Live compliance roster
- Automated re-screening alerts
- AI grant writing (Claude)
- Dollars for Doers capture
- Document vault
- Unlimited admin seats
When a record is found, we walk you through exactly what to do.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a specific process before you can deny someone a volunteer position based on a background check. Get it wrong, and you're exposed. VolunteerBadge generates the adverse action notice for you — pre-filled, FCRA-compliant, ready to send.
We also issue refunds for any check where county records exist but can't be verified under FCRA guidelines. If we can't give you a clean report, you don't pay.
Learn More About FCRA ComplianceGuides & Resources
What every nonprofit and church should know about volunteer screening.
Volunteer Recruitment Statistics (2026): The Data Behind Finding & Keeping Volunteers
A deeply-sourced 2026 report on volunteer recruitment — how many Americans volunteer, the recruitment gap, who says yes, which channels work, and what the data means for your program. 26 cited sources. Updated annually.
Elder Care Volunteer Screening Requirements: What the Law Actually Says
If your nonprofit serves older adults, volunteer screening often isn't just best practice — it's the law. But it's a patchwork of Medicare rules, state vulnerable-adult statutes, and facility licensing. Here's what actually applies.
Do Senior Centers Require Background Checks for Volunteers?
Short answer: usually yes — and for many roles, you’re legally required to. But it depends on what your volunteers actually do. Here’s how to think about it, which roles to screen first, and what it should cost.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about volunteer background screening
Everything nonprofits, churches, and volunteer organizations want to know before they start screening.
How much does a volunteer background check cost?
VolunteerBadge charges $5 per volunteer background check with no monthly fee. There are no setup fees and no contracts — you pay only when you run a check. A 100-credit bundle is available for $375, bringing the per-check cost down to $3.75. Credits never expire.
Is VolunteerBadge FCRA compliant?
Yes — fully. Every volunteer application includes built-in FCRA disclosure language and a digital authorization signature. If a record is found that requires adverse action, the platform automatically generates the pre-adverse and final adverse action notices so your organization follows the legally required process without exposure.
Are there any monthly fees for volunteer screening software?
No. Screening is always pay-as-you-go — $5 per check, no monthly fee, no subscription required. The management features (hour tracking, compliance rosters, AI grant writing, and corporate grant capture) are included free with every account, for unlimited admin users. Background checks themselves have no monthly fee, ever.
What does a volunteer background check include?
Each $5 check searches 650M+ court records — county, state, and federal courts across all U.S. jurisdictions, sex offender registries in all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, OFAC sanctions lists, and global watchlists. A free address history check is included with every volunteer application at no extra cost.
How long does a volunteer background check take?
Most checks complete within 24 to 48 hours. Results are returned in plain English with guidance on next steps. If county records exist but cannot be verified under FCRA guidelines, we issue a full refund — you only pay for complete, usable results.
Can churches use VolunteerBadge for child protection screening?
Yes. VolunteerBadge is widely used by churches, faith-based nonprofits, and organizations that serve children and vulnerable populations. Sex offender registry checks across all 50 states, FCRA-compliant adverse action notices, and $5 pricing with no monthly fee make it a practical choice for congregations of any size.
Start screening volunteers today.
Free account. No credit card required to get started. Your first check is $5, or grab the 10-credit Starter Pack for $45. Credits never expire.
Sign up with Google or email — no password needed.
Compare
See how a $5 volunteer background check beats the rest
Honest, side-by-side comparisons against Sterling Volunteers, Checkr, GoodHire, NCSI and more — verified identity, human-reviewed records, and a refund on any hit we can’t confirm.
See all comparisons