VolunteerMatch and Verified Volunteers Join Forces

FORT COLLINS, Colo. and SAN FRANCISCO, August 15, 2018 /3BL Media/ — Whether it’s parents supporting their child’s sports team or individuals lending a hand after a natural disaster, volunteers perform an essential service – particularly when budgets are stretched thin. This support is welcomed by the thousands of organizations who rely on volunteers to fulfill their missions – yet it also adds to the daunting administrative tasks around recruitment, as well as to ensuring a safe and secure environment for everyone involved.

That’s why VolunteerMatch, the web’s largest volunteer engagement network, and Verified Volunteers, the leading background check platform tailored to the specific needs of the service sector, have partnered to provide greater protection for these organizations and the populations they serve.

"VolunteerMatch is all about making it easier for good people and good causes to work together to make a difference," said Greg Baldwin, CEO, VolunteerMatch. "That is why we are partnering with Verified Volunteers, to help create more safe spaces to volunteer."

Together, VolunteerMatch and Verified Volunteers aim to help organizations minimize risk and safeguard their people, assets and reputation through a high-quality background screening program and access to a library of resources designed to establish screening best practices and improve volunteer management.  Through their VolunteerMatch dashboards, organizations can easily connect with Verified Volunteers and request a comprehensive background check that allows potential volunteers to order and control their information using Verified Volunteers’ secure platform. These screening services are available to all VolunteerMatch organizations including more than 120,000 government agencies, hospices, hospitals, nonprofits and schools.

“Our shared commitment to helping so many wonderful organizations successfully carry out their good work really makes this the perfect partnership. By joining forces, we aspire to have an even greater impact,” says Katie Zwetzig, executive director, Verified Volunteers. “For instance, we know through our own research that background check quality is increasingly important for nonprofits, yet the appropriate level of risk mitigation is still not being met by current screening programs. By joining forces with VolunteerMatch, we can provide education and guidance to greater numbers of organizations on how to address these critical gaps.”

Verified Volunteers’ screening platform, with self-service features, sharing capabilities and management tools, enables the VolunteerMatch community to:

• Ease administrative burdens. Volunteers order and control their own background checks using a secure, online platform.
   
• Give their volunteers the option to pay – or ask for an optional contribution.  With budgets stretched thin, this option can preserve valuable funds by allowing (or requiring) volunteers to pay for all or part of their screening.
   
• Receive complimentary monthly updates. While other background checks are “one and done,” Verified Volunteers provides the added security of monitoring volunteers for new criminal records during the first year.
   
• Accept background checks from previously vetted volunteers. Within the Verified Volunteers network, volunteers who have previously been vetted with one organization can store and share their existing background check with other organizations at no additional cost. In addition, if a volunteer background check is shared with another organization, the organization that initiated the original check can earn rebates. 

About VolunteerMatch

VolunteerMatch believes everyone should have the chance to make a difference. As the web's largest volunteer engagement network, serving over 120,000 participating nonprofits, 150 network partners, and 13 million annual visitors, VolunteerMatch offers unique, award-winning solutions for individuals, nonprofits and companies to make this vision a reality. Since its launch in 1998, VolunteerMatch has helped the social sector attract more than $12 billion worth of volunteer services. Learn more about VolunteerMatch at VolunteerMatch.org, and follow @VolunteerMatch.

About Verified Volunteers

Verified Volunteers helps nonprofit organizations gain confidence in their volunteers by delivering thorough, compliant background checks using a sophisticated suite of federal, national, state and local criminal locator tools. Extensive expertise in screening and compliance best practices helps clients recruit the best volunteers to maintain a safe environment and positive reputation. By enabling volunteers to order, manage and share their background checks via a secure online platform, Verified Volunteers creates a community of vetted volunteers. Verified Volunteers is backed by Sterling Talent Solutions, one of the world’s largest background screening companies and is partnered with Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service.