For animal rescues, shelters & clinics
Fosters take vulnerable animals into their homes. Volunteers get unsupervised access, keys, and donor trust. VolunteerBadge helps you vet every one of them for $5 — identity-verified and FCRA-compliant — so caring, screened people are the foundation of your rescue.
Rescue work runs on trust. The data on animal cruelty — and its well-documented link to violence against people — is exactly why the wrong volunteer or foster is a risk no rescue can afford.
companion animals enter U.S. shelters every year
ASPCA
more likely animal abusers are to commit violence against people — "The Link"
American Humane
of homes investigated for child abuse also had animal abuse present
MSPCA / Northeastern
the FBI tracks animal cruelty as a top-tier crime, alongside murder & arson
FBI
A background check is one layer of a caring program — not a guarantee. Sources linked at the bottom of this page.
A foster takes a vulnerable animal into their private residence, unsupervised, often for weeks. You’re trusting them with a life and, sometimes, a home visit.
Dog walkers, kennel and clinic staff, transport drivers, and event helpers work hands-on with animals — and with the public who come to adopt.
Volunteers handle donations, adopter applications, and personal data. Adopters and donors expect you to have vetted the people representing your rescue.
Everything a rescue needs to vet a foster or volunteer — nothing you don’t.
Email a link or share a QR code on your foster/volunteer page. They apply from their phone in minutes.
A government ID + selfie confirm the real person; the $5 national check runs with their consent.
A verified badge lands on your roster — with adverse-action handled for you if records appear.
Free guide
A practical, no-fluff guide to launching a rescue, building a foster network, and recruiting the caring, trustworthy volunteers your animals depend on.
Most successful rescues begin foster-based (no building to fund) with a tight mission. Get the legal and operational bones right before you take in your first animal:
A foster network scales with your people, not your budget — animals live in real homes, socialize better, and you avoid a lease. A facility offers capacity and visibility but carries rent, staffing, and licensing. Almost every rescue should start foster-based.
Growth is a function of two things: more animals placed, and more capable people to place them. Grow both deliberately.
Fosters are your capacity. A great foster program recruits widely, vets carefully, supports generously, and matches thoughtfully.
Ask at every adoption event and in every “adopted!” post. Offer flexible commitments (a weekend, a litter, a hospice case) so more people can say yes.
Provide supplies and cover vet costs, give fosters a real point of contact, and never guilt them at return time. Supported fosters foster again — that’s your growth engine.
Free training: VolunteerBadge Academy has free, certificate courses your volunteers can take — safe boundaries, mandated reporting, and more — at academy.volunteerbadge.com.
This is the layer most new rescues skip — and the one adopters, donors, and your insurer expect. It protects the animals, the people, and the rescue.
Cruelty to animals is a documented predictor of violence against people (§stats above), and animal hoarding — often disguised as “rescue” or “fostering” — harms hundreds of thousands of animals a year. Fosters and volunteers get exactly the unsupervised access that a bad actor seeks. Screening filters for the caring, accountable people you want.
Most established rescues screen. Fosters take vulnerable animals into their private homes, often for weeks, and volunteers get unsupervised access to animals, donor funds, and adopter information. A background check is a reasonable, defensible layer that protects the animals, your adopters, and the rescue’s reputation.
A national criminal search across county, state, and federal court records, sex-offender registries in all 50 states plus the national registry, and federal watchlists — with biometric identity verification and a free address-history check. Every possible record is reviewed by a trained analyst before it reaches you.
The platform is free for nonprofits — no monthly fees, no contracts, no per-seat charges. You only pay $5 per background check when you actually run one. Credits never expire, and bulk bundles bring the price down.
Yes. Send any applicant — foster, adopter-ambassador, transport driver, event volunteer, or board member — a link or QR code. They apply from their phone, verify their identity, and consent to the check. A verified status (or a flagged review) lands on your roster.
Yes. Every check is consent-first with permissible-purpose handling and a built-in adverse-action workflow (pre-adverse notice, a waiting period, and a final notice) if you ever decline someone based on a record.
Vet every foster and volunteer for $5 — free platform, no contracts, FCRA-compliant. Set up in minutes.
Create your free rescue account