❖ Heads up! This article is intended for Site Managers. If you're an Agency Manager, click here. 

You and your Agency Managers can use Sterling Volunteers to complete background checks on volunteers who are 18 years of age or older before they respond to a Need! 

ⓘ So you know: 

• Agency Managers can manage background checks for volunteers assigned to their Agencies. 
  • Click here for a resource you can share with your Agency Managers if they reach out with questions about using Sterling Volunteers. 
• Not all sites have Sterling Volunteer. 
  • Please contact us if you're interested in adding Sterling Volunteer to your site! 
• The volunteer must be 18 years of age or older to initiate a background check with Sterling Volunteers. 
• If a volunteer hasn't completed a required background check before responding to a Need, then they're routed to Sterling Volunteers when they try to respond to one. 
• You, the Agency Manager, and the volunteer receive the background check results within 4 to 48 hours. 
• Background checks cannot be completed for Team responses. 
  • When you add a Sterling background check to a Need, users won't be able to respond to that Need as a team.

Here, we cover: 

• How to set up Sterling Volunteers
• How to set up a Need 
  • New Needs
  • Existing Needs
• How to review background check results 
  • Background check statuses
  • Overriding a result
  • Exporting background check data
  • Expiration dates
• How to bypass a background check
• Sterling Volunteer notifications
• The volunteer perspective 

How to set up Sterling Volunteers

We must enable Sterling Volunteers on your site and work with the Sterling Volunteers staff to get it set up for you and your Agencies. If you're interested in adding it to your site, please contact us to get started! 

ⓘ So you know: 

• If you add a new Agency in the future and want to have Sterling Volunteers added for them, then you'll need to contact us to go through the process again. 
• If you have any questions about Sterling Volunteers, e.g., what background check packages are available or what they entail, please contact Sterling Volunteers for more information. 
  • Email: theadvocates@sterlingvolunteers.com 
  • Phone: (855) 326-1860, Option 3

How to set up a Need 

❖ Heads up! These steps apply only when an Agency has Sterling Volunteers packages set up in the database and Sterling Volunteers activated on the site. The only way to add Sterling Volunteers to an Agency is by contacting us to have it enabled on your site. 

You can make the background check a required step for volunteers to respond to your Needs! This can be done when you first create a new Need that's assigned to an agency with Sterling Volunteers enabled or you can add it to existing Needs. Just remember, the Needs must be assigned to an agency that has Sterling Volunteers enabled. 

New Needs

To get started: 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Needs. 

2. Click Add New Need.  

3. Be sure to select the Agency that has Sterling Volunteers. 

ⓘ So you know: You will not see the option to add background checks until you have selected an Agency with Sterling Volunteers from the Agency dropdown menu.

4. Scroll to Require Background Check and use the Select Package dropdown to select a package. 

• To learn more about available Sterling Volunteer packages, please visit Sterling Volunteers or contact their support at theadvocate@sterlingvolunteers.com. 

6. Continue creating the Need. 

• Click here for more information about managing your site's Needs! 

7. Be sure to click Create Need when you're done! 

ⓘ So you know: The Allow Team Registration option goes away when you opt to require background checks. 

Existing Needs

You can add a background check if the Need is associated with an Agency that has Sterling Volunteers. To get started: 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Needs. 

2. Select the Need that is assigned to an Agency with Sterling Volunteers enabled. 

3. Scroll to Require Background Check. 

4. Use the Select Package dropdown to select a package. 

• To learn more about available Sterling Volunteer packages, please visit Sterling Volunteers or contact their support at theadvocate@sterlingvolunteers.com.

5. You can continue to make updates to the Need as needed or click Update Need if you're finished. 

✅ Best practice: It's a good idea to check the box beside Notify respondents of this update?, especially if the Need already has volunteer responses. 

ⓘ So you know: The Allow Team Registration option goes away when you opt to require background checks. 

How to review background check results 

You can always review the results of your Sterling Volunteer background checks in the Agencies area of your dashboard! 

To get started: 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Agencies. 2. Select the agency that has Sterling Volunteers.

3. Click the Sterling Volunteers tab. 

4. Now you can review the data for your volunteers who have completed their background checks!

Background check statuses

Overriding a result

Did someone enter information incorrectly when completing their background check? No worries! We know mistakes happen! If this happens and you want to allow the volunteer to re-accomplish the background check, just contact us for an override! 

Exporting background check data

You can always export your background check data whenever you need it!

1. Go to Volunteerism > Agencies. 

2. Select the Agency with Sterling Volunteers enabled. 

3. Click the Sterling Volunteers tab. 

4. Select Export. 

• This downloads your report as a CSV file. 

Expiration dates

You can set the duration for how long you want to honor a volunteer's background check. 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Agencies. 

2. Select the Agency with Sterling Volunteers enabled, then click the Sterling Volunteers tab. 

3. Using the dropdown, select how long you wish to honor background checks. You can select: 

• 1, 2, or 3 Years
• 18 Months
• Forever

3. Click Submit when you're ready. 

ⓘ So you know: Once the expiration date is reached, the volunteer must complete the background check again. 

How to bypass a background check

Do you want to let someone bypass the background check? You can with a specific user tag—sterlingnotrequired. This special tag lets the volunteer respond to the Need even if they haven't passed the background check. 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Users. 

2. Search for the user you wish to apply this tag to. 

3. With the Select An Action dropdown, select Add/Remove Tags. 

4. Make sure you have Add the following tag selected and type sterlingnotrequired in the blank field beside it. 

5. Click Update Tags when done. 

• Click here to learn more about user tags.  

Sterling Volunteer notifications

There are specific notifications that go out related to Sterling Volunteers. These notifications are only present on your site when you have Sterling Volunteers enabled. 

The volunteer perspective 

The Sterling Volunteers logo is displayed on your Need cards when a volunteer visits your site. 

• It also appears by the Need title when they click on View Details.

• They're taken to a Background Check page when they click Respond for that Need.

• After they complete this information and click Submit Background Info., they're taken to the Sterling Volunteers' site to complete the rest of the background check. 
  • For more information about the process from here, please contact Sterling Volunteers: 
    • Email: theadvocates@sterlingvolunteers.com 
    • Phone: (855) 326-1860, Option 3