For churches & ministries · $5 per check · FCRA compliant

Church background checks — $5 and identity-verified.

Protect your congregation and your children's ministry with FCRA-compliant background checks for $5, plus biometric identity verification that confirms every volunteer is who they say they are. Built for churches, ministries, and faith-based nonprofits.

FCRA Compliant
Adverse Action Included
Bank-Level Encryption
24–48hr Turnaround

Safe ministry starts with knowing who's serving

Churches rely on volunteers for nursery, youth group, small groups, missions, and outreach — often working closely with children and vulnerable people. A background check is the baseline of a safe-ministry program, but two things have long made it harder than it should be: cost and certainty. Many providers charge $25–$80 per report, and a name-and-date-of-birth search alone never confirms the person in front of you is actually who they claim to be.

VolunteerBadge fixes both. Every volunteer can complete a full national criminal check — county, state, and federal courts, sex-offender registries across all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, and OFAC watchlists — for $5. And before they're cleared, you can verify their real identity with a government photo ID and a biometric liveness selfie, matched to the identity on file. It's the difference between screening a name and screening a person.

Everything is FCRA-compliant, with adverse-action notices included, and a free address-history check on every application. Affordable enough to screen every serving volunteer, rigorous enough to protect the people in your care.

Background checks for nonprofits
~94%
of background checks find no criminal record¹
$5
full national criminal check
650M+
court records searched per report
100%
FCRA compliant process, always

¹ Urban Institute (2017), analysis of 1.7 million employment background checks

Everything included, nothing hidden.

Other platforms charge extra for these. We don't.

National Criminal Check
$5 per report

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
Address History Check
Free. Always.

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.

  • Digital volunteer e-form with FCRA authorization
  • Real-time address cross-reference
  • Instant flag on discrepancies
  • No credits used, ever
Biometric Identity Verification
Confirm the real person

Go beyond name-and-date-of-birth. Verify each volunteer with a government-issued photo ID and a biometric liveness selfie, matched against the identity they provide — so you know the human behind the application is who they claim to be.

  • Government photo ID capture
  • Biometric liveness selfie
  • ID-to-applicant identity match
  • 500 verifications/month included
API & Webhook
Included at no extra cost

Fully documented REST API and webhook support. Plug VolunteerBadge into your CRM, volunteer management software, or AI tool of choice. One API key. 1 credit = 1 background check, however you access us.

  • REST API + webhooks
  • NLP interface (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini)
  • Adverse action notice generation
  • In-app, mobile, or API — same price
Next-gen identity verification

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.

$5included — no premium tier, no add-on
How it works
Live biometric scanFACE MATCH · 99.2%
Verified
Live selfie
Photo ID
SSN + address
Identity confirmed & triangulated

Enterprise-grade verification at a nonprofit price. The same rigor banks use — built into every $5 check.

How it works

Application to cleared volunteer in three steps.

1

Build the application

app.volunteerbadge.com
Volunteer ApplicationCity Parks Dept.
Full Name
Email Address
I authorize a background check per FCRA disclosure. I have received and reviewed the required disclosure document.

Create a digital volunteer application with built-in FCRA authorization. Send a link or embed it on your site.

2

Verify identity & address

app.volunteerbadge.com
Address History Check Scanning…

A free address-history check and biometric ID verification confirm the applicant before you spend a dollar.

3

Run the $5 check

app.volunteerbadge.com
National Criminal SearchSarah Johnson
County & Superior Courts
Sex Offender Registries
Federal Criminal Courts
FBI Most Wanted + OFAC

A full national criminal check returns an FCRA-compliant report — with adverse-action notices if needed.

Pricing so simple it's almost embarrassing.

Pay per check for screening. Subscribe to run your whole volunteer program.

Pay As You Go
$5/ check

Buy credits one at a time. No commitment, no expiry.

  • Full national criminal check
  • Free address history check
  • FCRA-compliant results
  • Identity verification
  • API & Webhook access
  • Adverse action generator
Get Started Free
Save 20%
100-Credit Bundle
$400($4.00 / check)

Save 20% vs single-check pricing. Credits never expire.

  • Everything in Pay As You Go
  • 100 background check credits
  • 20% savings
  • Credits roll over, never expire
  • Priority support
  • Usage dashboard & reporting
Buy 100 Credits — $400
VolunteerBadge Pro
$50/ month

Unlimited admin users, flat. Checks billed separately at $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
  • Unlimited admin seats
Create Free Account — Upgrade to Pro
Screening is always pay-as-you-go. Pro adds the management layer.
Background checks are $5 whether you're on free or Pro. The subscription never bundles checks — it adds hour tracking, compliance tools, AI grant writing, and corporate grant capture on top.
FCRA Compliance, Built In

Compliance isn't an add-on. It's the default.

Every check follows an FCRA-compliant process, with applicant authorization captured up front and adverse-action notices generated for you when a record is found. The guardrails that protect your volunteers and your organization are included — not sold separately.

FCRA-compliant process Bank-level encryption 24–48hr turnaround Adverse action included

Start screening volunteers for $5.

Create a free account in minutes. No contracts, no monthly minimums, no sales call. Just $5 per check when you're ready.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a church background check?

A full national criminal background check is $5 per volunteer through VolunteerBadge, with free address-history checks and FCRA-compliant adverse-action notices included. There are no monthly fees on the pay-as-you-go plan.

What does the check include?

It searches 650M+ court records across county, state, and federal courts, plus sex-offender registries in all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, OFAC sanctions, and global watchlists — the coverage a children's and youth ministry needs.

Does it verify the volunteer's identity?

Yes. VolunteerBadge can confirm each volunteer's identity with a government-issued photo ID and a biometric liveness selfie, matched to the identity they provide — so you know the person serving is who they say they are.

Is it appropriate for children's and youth ministry?

Yes. The combination of a national criminal check, all-50-state sex-offender registry search, and biometric identity verification is well suited to safe-ministry and youth-protection programs. Always pair screening with your church's broader child-protection policies.

Church Background Checks — $5, FCRA-Compliant, Identity-Verified | VolunteerBadge