Volunteer recruitment — from sign-up to screened.
Recruiting volunteers is only half the job — you also have to vet them. VolunteerBadge turns recruitment into a clean pipeline: a digital application, free address-history checks, $5 FCRA-compliant background checks, and biometric identity verification, so the people you recruit are ready to serve safely.
Recruitment and screening belong in one pipeline
Most volunteer recruitment advice stops at "get more applications." But every applicant you attract still has to be vetted before they work with children, the elderly, or vulnerable people — and bolting a separate background-check vendor onto your recruiting funnel is where most programs stall. VolunteerBadge closes the loop: recruit, apply, verify, screen, and onboard in one place.
Build a branded digital volunteer application with FCRA authorization built in, share it anywhere, and every submission gets a free address-history check automatically. When you are ready, run a full national criminal check for $5 — county, state, and federal courts, sex-offender registries in all 50 states, FBI Most Wanted, and OFAC watchlists — with adverse-action notices included.
And because a clean name is not a verified person, VolunteerBadge confirms each recruit with a government photo ID and a biometric liveness selfie. You spend your energy attracting volunteers; the platform makes sure the ones you keep are exactly who they say they are.
How nonprofits recruit, screen, and track volunteers affordably — one platform, FCRA-compliant, $5 per check.
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.
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.
- Digital volunteer e-form with FCRA authorization
- Real-time address cross-reference
- Instant flag on discrepancies
- No credits used, ever
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
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
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.
How it works
Application to cleared volunteer in three steps.
Build the application
Create a digital volunteer application with built-in FCRA authorization. Send a link or embed it on your site.
Verify identity & address
A free address-history check and biometric ID verification confirm the applicant before you spend a dollar.
Run the $5 check
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.
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
10 credits, 10% off. Credits never expire. Bigger bundles up to 25% off in-app.
- Everything in Pay As You Go
- 10 background check credits
- 10% savings
- Credits roll over, never expire
- Bigger bundles up to 25% off
- Usage dashboard & reporting
Every management feature, included free for unlimited admin users. Only 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
- Unlimited admin seats
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.
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 do I recruit more volunteers?
Make applying frictionless and trustworthy: a short branded digital application you can share by link or embed, a clear description of the role, and a fast, professional screening process so good candidates do not drop off. VolunteerBadge gives you the application + screening pipeline in one place.
Should I screen volunteers I recruit?
Yes — any volunteer with access to children, vulnerable adults, money, or vehicles should be screened. VolunteerBadge runs a full national criminal check for $5 with identity verification, so screening every recruit is affordable.
Does VolunteerBadge help with the application itself?
Yes. You can build a branded digital volunteer application with FCRA authorization built in, share it anywhere, and every submission triggers a free address-history check automatically.
How fast can a recruited volunteer be cleared?
After they apply and verify identity, a $5 national criminal check typically returns an FCRA-compliant report in up to 72 hours, with adverse-action notices generated automatically if needed.
The data behind it
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.
- Urban Institute (2017): Criminal Background Checks: Impact on Employment and Recidivism
- Shortlister (2025): Background Check Statistics — ~6% of 1.7M checks found a record (≈94% clear), per Urban.org 2017
- CFPB (2019): Market Snapshot: Background Screening Reports
- Lageson, Criminology / Univ. of Maryland (2024): Discrepancies between state records and private-sector background checks