Background Checks for Nonprofits & Volunteer Organizations
Your mission is to serve and protect the most vulnerable. But one unscreened volunteer, staff member, or board member can destroy everything you have built — your reputation, your funding, and the trust of every person who depends on you.
SecureSearch delivers comprehensive, FCRA-compliant nonprofit background checks and volunteer screening built for mission-driven organizations of every size — with no setup fees, no minimums, no contracts, and a dedicated team that actually gets to know your organization.
Nonprofit Volunteer Screening — Built for Organizations With a Mission to Protect
SecureSearch has spent over 20 years serving nonprofits, community organizations, government agencies, and public sector employers who carry the weight of protecting vulnerable populations every single day. We understand that your budget is lean, your team is stretched, and the people in your care cannot afford a mistake in your screening process.
That is why we built a nonprofit background check and volunteer screening program that is comprehensive enough to protect the people you serve, affordable enough to fit your operating budget, and simple enough that your volunteer coordinator can run it without a dedicated HR department.
Why Nonprofits & Volunteer Organizations Are Prime Targets
Your organization exists to do good — but that mission makes you a target. Predators, financial fraudsters, and bad actors deliberately seek out nonprofits, human service agencies, and community organizations because they know three things:
Budgets are tight
Screening is often skipped entirely or done with cheap instant checks that miss the records that matter most
Trust is assumed
Volunteers are rarely questioned — especially long-time community members, friends, or family of staff
Vulnerable populations are accessible
Children, seniors, people with disabilities, survivors of abuse, and those in crisis are directly in your care
The hard truth: Over 90% of abuse is committed by someone the victim already knows and trusts. A background check will not catch every bad actor — but a comprehensive, human-validated nonprofit screening program from SecureSearch is your strongest line of defense, and the most powerful deterrent you can put in place.
Negligent hiring liability is real. Courts have consistently held that nonprofits — not just corporations — are legally liable when they fail to screen individuals who then harm others. The ACFE’s 2025 Report to the Nations found the median fraud loss for religious and charitable organizations is $89,000 per incident. A single lawsuit can shut down a small nonprofit and erase decades of community impact.
Who Needs to Be Screened in Your Nonprofit
Effective nonprofit risk management means screening every person who interacts with those you serve — not just paid employees. Courts and insurance providers increasingly expect this. If it ever comes out that a harmful individual was not screened, “we didn’t know” is not a defense when a reasonable screening would have revealed the risk.
👥 Staff & Leadership
Full-time and part-time employees • Executive directors and senior leadership • Board members and trustees • Program directors and case managers
🤝 Volunteers
All volunteers regardless of tenure • Youth program and children’s ministry volunteers • Senior care and adult day program volunteers • Event and fundraising volunteers • Tutors, mentors, and coaches
🚗 Contractors & Third Parties
Contractors and vendors with facility access • Transportation and van drivers • Foster care and placement workers • Interns and student workers • Government agency staff serving vulnerable populations
📌 Insurance & Accreditation Requirements
Many nonprofit liability insurance carriers now require documented background screening for volunteers and staff as a condition of coverage. Grant-making foundations and government funders increasingly audit screening compliance before awarding funds. SecureSearch provides the documentation trail you need.
Volunteer Screening for Every Type of Nonprofit
SecureSearch serves nonprofits across every mission type. The populations you serve determine the depth of screening your roles require — and our FCRA-certified Client Advocates will help you build the right policy for every position at no charge.
Youth & Children’s Programs
After-school programs, tutoring, mentoring, youth sports, summer camps
Senior & Elder Care
Adult day services, assisted living support, meal delivery, companion programs
Human Services & Social Work
Homeless shelters, food banks, domestic violence programs, crisis intervention
Government & Public Sector
Municipal agencies, public health programs, government contractors, civic organizations
Healthcare & Disability Services
Disability support programs, rehabilitation services, health clinic volunteers
Missions & International Work
Mission trip teams, international relief organizations, cross-border volunteers
How It Works — Screening a Volunteer Takes Less Than a Minute
Once your account is set up, inviting a volunteer through our SearchMyBackground™ applicant portal requires minimal data entry from your team. Your volunteer handles the rest themselves.
No paperwork. No chasing volunteers. No guesswork.
Once your account is established, the entire invitation process takes under a minute — and your volunteers do the rest through our SearchMyBackground™ portal.
Free eBook for Nonprofits
The Volunteer Safety Guide
Screening, Onboarding, and Protecting the People in Your Care
By Steve Durie, Founder — SecureSearch & Safeguard from Abuse
The complete nonprofit volunteer screening guide — from building your policy to onboarding safely at scale.
“Nonprofits carry a mission that matters deeply — and the people they serve are often the most vulnerable in our communities. We built SecureSearch so that budget constraints are never the reason a dangerous person slips through. Your mission deserves protection that is thorough, affordable, and built specifically for organizations like yours.”
Steve Durie
Founder & CEO, SecureSearch & Safeguard from Abuse™
The Power of 2: Screening + Child Abuse Prevention Training
Background checks reveal criminal records. But what about the predators who have never been caught? That is where awareness training becomes essential.
SecureSearch partners with Safeguard from Abuse™ to deliver the most comprehensive nonprofit protection available — combining rigorous background screening with child abuse prevention training that equips your staff and volunteers to recognize warning signs, respond correctly, and build a lasting culture of safety throughout your organization.
This combination actively deters predators from targeting your organization — and provides critical documentation that protects you from costly litigation even when accusations are unfounded.
Not All Nonprofit Background Check Companies Are the Same
Most instant background check services are built for corporate HR departments — not for nonprofits managing hundreds of volunteers with lean staff and tight budgets. Here is how SecureSearch is different, and why it matters for the vulnerable populations in your care.
| Feature | Instant / Cheap Services | SecureSearch |
|---|---|---|
| Alias name & address history searching | ✗ Rarely included | ✓ Every search, always |
| County courthouse criminal searches | ✗ Not included | ✓ Every address, 7 years |
| National Sex Offender Registry search | ✗ Not always included | ✓ Every search, always |
| National Federal Courts search | ✗ Rarely included | ✓ Yes |
| Human validation of every criminal record hit | ✗ Automated only | ✓ Every record, every time |
| FCRA-certified staff and full compliance management | ✗ Rarely | ✓ All staff certified |
| Dedicated account team who knows your organization | ✗ Call center only | ✓ Your dedicated team |
| Volunteer self-pay option — APay™ | ✗ Not available | ✓ Pass cost to the applicant |
| Child abuse prevention training included | ✗ Not available | ✓ Safeguard from Abuse™ |
| SearchMyBackground™ — volunteer self-entry portal | ✗ Not available | ✓ Free with every account |
| Setup fees / monthly minimums / contracts | ✗ Often required | ✓ Never |
Why Nonprofits Choose SecureSearch
Invite a volunteer in under a minute
Email invitation, website link, or bulk-import hundreds at once — your team enters minimal data
One dashboard for your entire organization
Real-time screening status for every volunteer and staff member across all programs and sites
Nonprofit-friendly pricing
Designed for mission-driven budgets — including a volunteer self-pay option so screening costs nothing to your organization
FCRA-certified Client Advocates
Dedicated guidance on building the right screening policy for every role in your organization — at no charge
Full FCRA compliance management
We handle every compliance requirement so you can focus on your mission, not legal paperwork
Human-reviewed criminal records
Every record hit is validated by a real person — not just an automated flag handed off to you without context
1 billion+ criminal records with alias matching
We search every name a person has used — the step most cheap services skip, and where dangerous gaps are created
Custom Recheck system
Ongoing rescreening keeps your volunteer roster current — someone clean at onboarding may not stay that way
Documentation for funders & insurers
Screening records and compliance documentation readily available for grant audits, insurance renewals, and board reporting
No Setup Fees · No Start-Up Costs · No Monthly Minimums · No Contracts
What Nonprofit Leaders Say About SecureSearch
From all-volunteer 501(c)(3)s serving the elderly to large national youth development organizations — nonprofits across the country trust SecureSearch to protect the people in their care.
“At the YMCA of the Chippewa Valley, child safety is our number one priority. SecureSearch and Safeguard from Abuse have been an instrumental part of our organization being able to achieve that. SecureSearch is an incredibly reliable, quick, and easy program to use — it allows us to run exactly the screening components we need, with a great variety of options including MVR, Federal, Multi-state, and Sex Offender Registry. Their customer service is amazing. Steve and Cara have been so amazing and helpful to us — always very quick to respond and happy to help. Our switch to SecureSearch and Safeguard from Abuse was easy and quick, and one we would make again in a heartbeat. Their products allow us to hire and train confidently and ensure that we are keeping our members and children safe. I will recommend them again and again — we are so happy and proud to partner with them.”
“We chose to integrate with SecureSearch and Safeguard from Abuse based on their custom API for both services into our custom IT environment. Their team was extremely helpful in making the transition, and we have been very impressed with the quality of the searches and the responsiveness of their team.”
“We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization serving the elderly in our community in several ways. All prospective Board Members and volunteers are required to give written permission for a background check, which we have used SecureSearch to perform for several years. Results are made known to us in a timely manner and customer service has always been excellent. Five stars — without reservation.”
“SecureSearch has been an outstanding partner for NFL FLAG LA. When you are running a youth sports program, every volunteer and coach who steps onto that field needs to be thoroughly screened — and SecureSearch makes that process fast, reliable, and completely painless for our team. The pricing is great, but what truly sets them apart is their customer service. They are responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely care about helping organizations like ours protect the kids we serve. Highly recommend.”
“I wanted to express gratitude for your outstanding customer service and follow-up. You are patient, you explain processes well and your responses come so quickly. You truly stand out above any company I have dealt with.”
Rosemarie V., Director of Staffing — Corners Outreach“I’ve been working with SecureSearch for approximately 8 months and I’ve had outstanding service. As someone new to background screening, I’ve been very pleased that the team is always available and willing to walk me through the process as many times as necessary.”
Amy D., Vice President — Nonprofit Organization“We are an organization with multiple sites and the ability to run all background checks with a consistent process throughout the United States is amazing. The team has been very helpful and accommodating to adjust processes to better fit our business model and needs.”
Jill H., Manager of Strategic HR InitiativesReady to Protect the People You Serve?
Whether you are a small community nonprofit or a large multi-site human services organization, SecureSearch has a volunteer screening and background check solution that fits your budget and your mission. Opening an account takes just a few minutes — and once it is set up, inviting a volunteer to screen takes less than one.
*Source: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2025 Report to the Nations