Volunteer Screening

If you're involved in the process of recruiting and selecting volunteers for your nonprofit organization, volunteer screening is an important consideration.

Why do people volunteer?

It is common for charities to rely heavily on the efforts of volunteers. The process of recruiting volunteers is one that is ongoing for most organizations. Finding enough people to give freely of their time and talent can be quit challenging for all types of nonprofit entities. However, even though finding a sufficient quantity of volunteers isn't always easy, it's a fact that pre-screening prospective volunteers prior to putting them to work is something that every charitable organization should do.

Even though volunteers aren't compensated for the time they spend working on behalf of your charity, the process of volunteer selection should be similar to that used when hiring employees. While it may seem counter-intuitive to screen out people who are offering to provide volunteer hours, you must keep in mind that your group bears responsibility for making sure that the people who represent your organization in the community will contribute in a positive manner to the reputation your charity has established through its good work.

It is an unfortunate fact that not everyone who offers to donate their time to a nonprofit group is doing so out of the goodness of his or her heart. In some cases, people with less than noble intentions attempt to affiliate themselves with charitable organizations in order to gain access to funds, people, or locations that they would not otherwise have access to with criminal intent.

The most effective volunteer screening program starts with conducting background checks on those who apply to donate time to your group. While it's impossible to predict what every volunteer might do when representing your organization, conducting thorough volunteer screening background checks can help ensure that wise decisions are made about who is accepted to represent your cause.

It's important to understand that when volunteers represent your charity in the community, their actions reflect on your organization as a whole. You also bear liability for the actions of volunteers acting on behalf of your organization. There is just too much at stake to send people out to work in your name without taking steps to ensure that the individuals you accept are reputable.

For example, it isn't unusual for sexual predators to seek to align themselves with charities that provide them with access to the types of victims they tend to target, such as children's programs or shelters for battered women. Additionally, someone with serious credit problems or a criminal record with a history of theft is not likely to be a good choice to participate in fundraising activities for your group. These are just a few examples of what you need to watch for when screening volunteers.

If you're ready to set up a formal program for screening volunteers, the first thing you will need to do is develop a formal policy that makes sense for your organization. Verify with legal counsel that the policy you have drafted is compliant with all applicable laws prior to implementing it. Once the policy has been cleared by counsel and your Board of Directors has decided to go ahead with implementation, it will need to be applied consistently.

You'll also need to establish a relationship with a reputable background screening company. Choose an organization that can provide you with comprehensive and reliable information that can be used to aid in making wise decisions that will allow you to protect your organization's reputation and the consumers your charity serves. While taking steps to screen volunteers won't guarantee that one of your volunteers won't do anything illegal or unethical, it is the best way to control for such problems.

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