What Is a Volunteer Background Check?
August 5 2026
Summary: A volunteer background check looks at a person’s criminal history and other records before they start working with your organization. Nonprofits often run them to protect the people they serve and stay compliant with the law. Here’s how the process works and why it’s easier than most people expect.
Why Nonprofits Screen Volunteers
Most volunteer programs put people in close contact with kids, older adults, or others going through a hard time, and that’s exactly why a background check has to happen before anyone starts. Get a placement wrong, and you risk harming someone your organization exists to protect, along with donor trust that took years to build.
Insurance carriers and grant funders have caught on too. Many now require proof of volunteer screening before they’ll write a policy or cut a check. That’s especially true for volunteer organizations working in human services.
Rules on volunteer background screenings vary by state, and not every state requires the same checks for volunteers. Volunteer background checks are a legal requirement for certain roles in many places, and skipping them can put your nonprofit status at risk.
How Does a Volunteer Background Check Work?
The volunteer background check process usually starts with a simple consent form, since federal law requires written permission first. Volunteers deserve to know upfront what you’re looking for and why.
From there, the specific searches depend on the role. Most volunteer background screening programs start with a core set and build from there based on what the volunteer will actually be doing:
County or statewide criminal record checks
the foundation of most volunteer background check programs
National criminal history background check
broader coverage across multiple jurisdictions
National sex offender registry check
standard for nearly every volunteer role
Motor vehicle record
Credit check
added for anyone handling donations or organizational funds
A volunteer sorting donated clothing doesn’t need the same type of volunteer background check as a mentor who spends one-on-one time with a kid every week. A good screening provider helps you match the background check to the role rather than running the same background check for volunteers across every position.
Some roles call for more than a standard background check. A volunteer nurse or attorney, for example, would also need professional license verifications. Turnaround for most searches is a day or two once everything has been submitted correctly.
How Automated Adjudication Simplifies Volunteer Screening
Automated adjudication takes the guesswork out of volunteer screening. Instead of reading every volunteer background check line by line, you tell your screening partner what should raise a flag. Maybe it’s a felony conviction, or a DUI from the past few years. A misdemeanor from a decade ago probably shouldn’t sink someone’s volunteer background application, and you can set it up that way from the start.
Once those criteria are in place, the system clears most applications on its own, and you only see the ones with something worth a second look. For a nonprofit with a handful of staff and a long list of applicants, that’s the difference between reviewing three files a week and reviewing three hundred.
It also keeps decisions consistent across every volunteer screening you run, since two board members reviewing the same file by hand might land on two different calls. A criteria set applied the same way every time doesn’t have that problem.
What Happens When a Background Check Turns Up Something?
Finding something on a report doesn’t mean you have to handle the fallout alone, since federal law, specifically the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), spells out what has to happen before you turn someone away because of a volunteer background check. Skip a step, and you’re open to a complaint, even if your reasoning was solid.
Here’s the short version. Before you make a final call, the volunteer gets a pre-adverse action notice along with a copy of the report, which gives them a window to dispute anything that’s wrong. If you move forward with the decision anyway, a second notice goes out confirming it.
A good volunteer screening partner sends both notices on your behalf, timed correctly and worded the way the law requires. State law can add its own wrinkles on top of the federal baseline, so this isn’t a spot where guessing is a great idea, especially once a case gets complicated.
Choosing the Right Screening Partner
Screening companies aren’t all interchangeable. The differences are most noticeable when something goes wrong, or a deadline is tight. Look for a provider that treats the volunteer background check as its main focus, with volunteer background screening experience that comes from working with nonprofits every day.
Ask how they handle adjudication criteria, how fast results come back, and whether their screening practices flex around a nonprofit budget. Four things worth asking every provider before you commit:
How do you handle adverse action notices?
If the answer is “we don’t,” that work falls on your staff
What are your typical turnaround times?
Slow results delay placements and frustrate volunteers who are ready to start
Are you PBSA accredited?
Accreditation signals consistent practices and a real commitment to FCRA compliance
What does support look like?
A dedicated contact matters more than a ticketing system when you are already busy
The right partner fits into your volunteer management routine instead of adding another system to babysit. Cost matters too, and it doesn’t all have to fall on your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all volunteers need a background check?
Most nonprofits run a background check for volunteers as standard procedure. It matters most for anyone who’ll work with children, older adults, or people with disabilities, or who’ll handle money or drive. Low-contact roles sometimes get a pass, but many screen everyone anyway to keep the policy simple.
What shows up on a volunteer background check?
Reports include county or national criminal history and a sex offender registry check, plus a credit check or motor vehicle record depending on the volunteer role. That’s the standard background check for volunteers, and a good provider shares the background check information in one clear report.
How long does volunteer background screening take?
Most volunteer background check searches finish within one to two business days, though county criminal searches in rural areas can take longer if records aren’t digitized. National database searches tend to come back fastest since they’re already digital. Be sure to build in a buffer before a busy season.
What happens if a background check turns up a criminal record?
A record on a volunteer background check doesn’t automatically disqualify anyone, since it depends on what your organization chose to flag ahead of time. A DUI from two years ago might matter more for a driving volunteer than a desk-based one, but either way, the candidate gets a chance to respond first.
How much does a volunteer background check typically cost?
It varies by what you’re screening for and the volunteer’s role. A basic package covering criminal history and the sex offender registry costs less than one that adds a credit check or motor vehicle record. Some organizations also use a self-pay model, where the volunteer covers the cost directly, which can bring your organization’s cost down to nearly nothing.
Ready to Screen Smarter?
A good screening partner runs the searches, sets the criteria with you, and handles the adverse action notices, so volunteer background checks stop being one more thing on your desk. You’re not chasing any of it yourself. InfoMart prices VolunteerScreen around what a nonprofit budget can realistically handle. If your organization is ready to see what that looks like, talk to our team.
About Tammy Cohen
Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record.
About InfoMart
InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.