Sterling Volunteers & Galaxy Digital FAQs

If a background check is required for a volunteer opportunity or need on the Get Connected system, the volunteer will click “Respond” and then will be directed to a background check page to complete their application. In addition, the Sterling Volunteers logo is displayed to the left of the opportunity or need, indicating that a background check is required.

Sterling Volunteers is the only background check provider that offers a platform your volunteers can use to access their background check and share it with other organizations. In order to provide confidential access to background check data, we ask that the volunteer creates a secure user account.

We often use the term Turnaround Time (TAT) to describe how long a background check takes. The TAT can vary significantly based on the types of searches conducted in the check and on the vendor that provides them. Sterling Volunteers can claim the fastest TAT in the industry for county courthouse records – the most common background check for volunteers. The majority of searches will be returned in 24 to 72 hours. In some cases, especially if we find criminal information or if a volunteer has lived in multiple jurisdictions, the search can take a bit longer.

Yes, the volunteer will receive an email notifying them that their background check is complete and they must login to their Sterling Volunteers account to see the details.

Volunteers will have the option to securely login and access their background check report which can be shared with one organization for free. Additionally, a volunteer may purchase a Fast Pass which extends the background check sharing feature for an additional 11 months. Volunteers will be provided with instructions on how to access this feature by Sterling Volunteers.

Galaxy Digital offers each organization the flexibility to customize the expiration date of their volunteer background checks.

Full background check reports will be made available on the Sterling Volunteers site. Galaxy Digital customers can set up as many staff users within the Sterling Volunteers site as needed. A report will either be returned as “Clear” or “Consider,” depending on whether Sterling Volunteers has reported criminal history or not. Background check reports that are “clear” may be automatically set to “eligible” by the Sterling Volunteers system and that result will then integrate into Get Connected for you to view. Reports that are returned “consider” should be reviewed and vetted based on each organization’s policy, and marked as “eligible” or “ineligible” within the organization’s Sterling Volunteers dashboard. That result will then flow into Get Connected for easy volunteer management all in one place!

Sterling Volunteers recommends that Galaxy Digital customers work with a risk manager and/or a legal advisor to develop written and consistent policies on how you will manage adverse information and volunteer eligibility.

If your organization determines that an individual is not eligible to volunteer based on information reported on their background check, you must follow the “Adverse Action” process. You may work with Sterling Volunteers to assist you with this legal requirement. Please contact theadvocates@sterlingvolunteers.com for more information.

A background check with ANY criminal information will be returned in “consider” status, and must be reviewed and vetted by your organization on the Sterling Volunteers site. Any volunteer with a “consider” background check may share their report with another organization within the Verified Volunteer site for the first 30 days. After 30 days, sharing will no longer be available.

Basic information about each volunteer’s background check will be visible within Get Connected. You may request that Sterling Volunteers send your staff an email notification when a new volunteer report is ready to view. In addition, each organization will have their own Dashboard on the Sterling Volunteers site where full reports and the vetting function is accessible – we will ask you to review each report and indicate whether that volunteer is eligible to work with your organization.

There is no cost for an action center or agency to set up a Sterling Volunteers account.

There are 3 levels of background checks available to choose from including basic, advanced and complete. Advanced and complete are recommended as they are the most robust options to protect your organization.

The agency will be setup in the Sterling Volunteers system within 24 to 48 hours to receive inbound background screening requests for the volunteers within Get Connected.

Sterling Volunteers offers several different payment set-up options – the full cost may be invoiced to your organization, or you can have the volunteer contribute towards some or all of the cost. During the payment process, if the volunteer is asked to contribute they will be re-directed to a highly secure 3rd party site to input credit/debit card information. Once the transaction has been completed they will receive an e-receipt and confirmation. In many cases, the cost of the background check can be tax deductible!

It depends how much breadth and depth your organization wants in your background checks. Sterling Volunteers delivers the most robust, accurate criminal record background checks available. Depending on the complexity of the screening – and what makes the most sense for your organization – the cost may be as low as $10 per background check. Sterling Volunteers offers many volunteer screening options and can help you build a program tailored to your needs.

Yes. Certain state laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law that regulates who is permitted to access a person’s consumer report information and how it can be used, generally require that you must obtain written or electronic consent from the applicant prior to a third-party screening company like Sterling Volunteers conducting any criminal record search, credit history check or reference check.

We will not share personal information with third party marketers for direct marketing purposes. We use and may share the information to provide and improve the site and the services; deliver correspondence, communications, or services, such as newsletters, events or training; solicit feedback, and inform users about the site and the services, our products and services and the products and services of our promotional partners.

At Sterling Volunteers, compliance is our expertise. Our background checks comply with all federal and state background screening laws, and our compliance team stays on top of each state’s current and pending legislative and regulatory changes. Verified Volunteer’s automated screening technology also applies relevant content filters based on the state and location of each volunteer background check, ensuring that every screening we do is 100% compliant with all applicable regulations.

The Sterling Volunteers platform is extremely secure. Sterling Volunteers complies with all national and local regulations with respect to the storage and transmission of sensitive data and is hosted in ISO 27001-audited data centers. The Sterling Volunteers platform is audited regularly throughout the year with external vendors. These audits include a network perimeter security assessment, an application penetration test and a physical security assessment.

If you have questions please contact Beverly@verifiedvolunteers.com.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to the Sterling Volunteers customer service team by emailing theadvocates@sterlingvolunteers.com.