November & December
The busiest volunteer season is the least screened
Angel Tree, toy shops, meal service, delivery routes, Christmas programs. For six weeks your building fills with people who have never volunteered for you before — and the roles with the least supervision are the ones you staff last. Screen every one for $5, with results back in minutes.
All 50 state registries + NSOPW · Results in minutes · Credits never expire · FCRA-compliant
The season builds for three months and peaks in nine days
Holiday volunteering is not one event. It is a ramp, and the point of maximum volume is also the point of minimum time to think.
Warehouses open
Toy-shop warehouse work begins months before anyone sees a tree. Staff and volunteers sort, organize and inventory gifts from September through late December. This is your quiet window — and the only one where screening is not urgent.
Angel Tree hosts run
Salvation Army Angel Tree hosts operate across this window, with corporations, congregations and individuals adopting angels through November and dropping gifts in early December. Volunteer counts climb weekly.
Meal service peaks
Community dinners, pantry distributions and delivery routes. Families sign up together, often for the first and only time all year.
Distribution and delivery
Toy shops open to families, gift routes go out to homes, Christmas programs and pageants run. The most volunteers, the least vetting time, the most contact with children and homebound adults.
Four roles worth screening without exception
Sorted by how much unsupervised access the role actually carries — which is rarely how organizations sort them.
Toy shop & Angel Tree distribution
Parents walk a shop floor to choose gifts while volunteers help, and children are frequently along. Angel Tree serves over a million children a year nationally — distribution days are the highest-traffic hours most corps or churches will run.
Gift & meal delivery routes
Delivery is the role most often overlooked and the one with the least oversight: a volunteer, alone, at the door of a family or an elderly resident who is expecting them. Pair drivers and screen every one.
Holiday meal service
Community dinners bring in guests who are unhoused, isolated or in recovery. Volunteers serve, sit with, and sometimes drive them. It looks like the safest job on the list and it is not.
Christmas programs & pageants
Rehearsals, costume help, backstage supervision and nursery cover across December — often staffed by extended family and visitors who never appear on a ministry roster.
Delivery is the blind spot. Every other holiday role happens in your building, in front of other people. Delivery happens alone, at a stranger's door, often with an elderly or isolated recipient on the other side of it. If you screen exactly one group this season, screen the drivers. The same logic applies year-round to meal delivery programs.
What gets said in the meeting
Four arguments that come up every November, and what they are actually worth.
“They are only here for one shift.”
A single unsupervised shift is all it takes, and the one-shift volunteer is the one nobody knows. Regular volunteers have a reputation in your building; the December walk-in has none. If anything, brevity is an argument for screening rather than against it.
“We will not have time.”
A volunteer completes the application on a phone in a few minutes and a clear result typically comes back the same session. The bottleneck is getting the link out, not waiting on results — which is why it belongs in the first sign-up message rather than a follow-up.
“It will cost too much at this volume.”
$5 a volunteer, charged only when someone actually completes their application. Forty holiday volunteers is $200. Credits do not expire, so whatever you do not use rolls into your spring programming.
“Our insurer has never asked.”
Most policies expect screening for volunteers in roles with unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults, and holiday delivery and distribution roles qualify on both counts. It is worth reading the endorsement before December rather than after an incident.
Six things that make the season easier
- Screen the delivery drivers first. It is the role with the least supervision and it is almost always screened last.
- Put the link in the sign-up form itself, not in a confirmation email — December volunteers do not read confirmation emails.
- Keep a bench of no-contact roles: warehouse sorting, inventory, wrapping, setup, parking. Late walk-ups go there.
- Two volunteers per delivery route and per distribution station. Pairing costs nothing and does more than any check.
- Do not re-screen your regulars. If they cleared for fall programming, that clearance still stands — spend the budget on the new faces.
- Buy credits before Thanksgiving. Not for the price, but so nobody is asking finance for a card on December 18th.
Roster import
Bring a spreadsheet of holiday sign-ups and invite the whole list at once.
Learn moreVolunteer-pays
Corporate groups often cover their own $5 — switch it on per campaign.
Learn moreReusable clearance
Fall festival volunteers are already cleared. Do not pay twice.
Learn moreA check is one control, not the whole policy. Paired routes, named badges, a sign-in sheet and a supervisor on the floor do as much for a distribution day as any screening will. What our $5 search does and does not cover is written out in the Trust Center, and the compliance side is covered under FCRA compliance.
Questions we get in November
Do we need background checks for one-day holiday volunteers?
If the role includes unsupervised contact with children or vulnerable adults, yes — the duration of the shift does not change the exposure. Toy distribution, gift and meal delivery, and any role inside a private home are the ones to screen without exception. Warehouse sorting, wrapping and setup can generally be staffed by unscreened help with supervision present.
How fast can we screen a group of holiday volunteers?
Volunteers apply on their phones in a few minutes and clear results usually come back within the same session. A group of thirty can realistically be screened over a weekend, provided the link goes out with the initial sign-up rather than after it.
What does the $5 check include?
A national criminal search across county, state and federal sources, all 50 state sex-offender registries plus the national registry (NSOPW), and federal watchlist screening. There is no subscription or platform fee, and credits never expire.
We are screening a corporate group that adopted angels. Who pays?
Either side can. You can cover the checks from your own credits, or switch on volunteer-pays so each person covers their own $5 when they apply — which is common for corporate groups, since the company frequently reimburses it.
Can we reuse a clearance from earlier in the year?
Yes, and you should. A volunteer screened for your fall festival or summer program is already cleared in your roster; there is no reason to run or pay for a second check in December. Most organizations re-screen on a one- to two-year cycle rather than per event.
What about volunteers delivering to elderly or homebound recipients?
Treat those exactly like child-facing roles. A volunteer entering the home of an isolated adult has the same unsupervised access, and it is the profile most often exploited in financial-abuse cases. Screen them, pair them, and make sure the recipient knows who to expect.
Is it too late if we start in December?
No — results come back in minutes, so a December start still works for the volunteers you screen. What you lose is the ability to place people thoughtfully. Starting in early November means you assign roles based on who cleared; starting on December 15th means you are making exceptions under pressure.
Planning the rest of your year? The volunteer screening calendar lays out every season month by month, or start with the full volunteer background check guide.
Set it up before Thanksgiving
Create your organization free, send the link with your first sign-up, and go into December knowing exactly who cleared. $5 a volunteer, credits never expire.
Get started freeQuestions first? Trust Center · How it works · Pricing
Related screening guides
- Volunteer screening calendarEvery season, month by month, and when to screen for it.
- Food bank volunteer screeningPantries, mobile distributions and delivery routes.
- Meals on Wheels screeningHome delivery to elderly and homebound recipients.
- Church background checksChristmas programs, pageants and children’s ministry.
- Homeless shelter screeningMeal service and overnight shelter volunteers.
- Fall festival & trunk-or-treatThe October event your December regulars already cleared for.