Applications, waivers, agreements, and screening policies are the paperwork backbone of a safe volunteer program. VolunteerBadge turns the application + authorization into a digital flow that feeds straight into $5 FCRA-compliant background checks and biometric identity verification.
A safe volunteer program runs on a handful of documents: a volunteer application, an FCRA disclosure and authorization, a liability waiver, a code of conduct, and a written screening policy. Templates are a fine starting point — but a stack of PDFs does not screen anyone. The value comes when the application and authorization flow directly into a real background check.
VolunteerBadge digitizes the front of that stack: a branded volunteer application with FCRA authorization captured up front, a free address-history check on every submission, and one-click escalation to a $5 national criminal check (county, state, and federal courts, all-50-state sex-offender registries, FBI Most Wanted, OFAC) with adverse-action notices generated for you.
It also adds the layer paperwork can never provide on its own: identity verification. A government photo ID plus a biometric liveness selfie confirms the person signing your forms is who they claim to be — so your policy protects a verified individual, not just a signature.
What a defensible volunteer screening policy should include — who to screen, how often, and how identity is verified.
¹ Urban Institute (2017), analysis of 1.7 million employment background checks
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Application to cleared volunteer in three steps.
Create a digital volunteer application with built-in FCRA authorization. Send a link or embed it on your site.
A free address-history check and biometric ID verification confirm the applicant before you spend a dollar.
A full national criminal check returns an FCRA-compliant report — with adverse-action notices if needed.
Pay per check for screening. Subscribe to run your whole volunteer program.
Buy credits one at a time. No commitment, no expiry.
Save 20% vs single-check pricing. Credits never expire.
Unlimited admin users, flat. Checks billed separately at $5.
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.
Create a free account in minutes. No contracts, no monthly minimums, no sales call. Just $5 per check when you're ready.
Typically a volunteer application, an FCRA disclosure and authorization (if you run background checks), a liability waiver, and acknowledgment of your code of conduct and policies. VolunteerBadge turns the application + FCRA authorization into a digital flow that feeds your screening.
Yes. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you must obtain written authorization before screening a volunteer through a consumer reporting agency. VolunteerBadge captures that authorization up front as part of the digital application.
A waiver helps with liability but does nothing to vet the volunteer. Pair your forms with an actual background check and identity verification — a $5 national criminal check through VolunteerBadge — to genuinely reduce risk.
Yes. Build a branded digital volunteer application with FCRA authorization built in, share it by link or embed it on your site, and every submission triggers a free address-history check and can escalate to a full $5 screening.
Roughly 94% of background checks find no criminal record — which is why screening every volunteer should be affordable, and why confirming the person's real identity matters as much as the record search itself. The research and industry data below back that up.