❖ Heads up! This article is intended for Site Managers.  

Does your organization require background checks on potential volunteers? If so, you may be wondering what your options are with your Get Connected site. In this article, we cover how you can use our integration with First Advantage to require background checks for volunteers before they start responding to your Opportunities. 

• When to use a background check 
  • Special package pricing 
• How to get First Advantage 
  • Set up a background check prerequisite 
  • Review and contact pending background check prerequisites 
    • The User Filter
    • How to email users with pending prerequisites
    • Override a pending background check
  • Background check statuses explained 
  • Prerequisite statuses

ⓘ So you know: If you have an existing account with First Advantage, it won't be able to integrate with the Get Connected software. You'll have to create a new account using the Get Connected XTDForce integration to manage volunteer background checks in your product.

When to use a background check 

You may want to require background checks for volunteers if your organization offers Opportunities for working with sensitive topics or groups, like: 

• Healthcare or other fields involving protected private information—e.g., administrative work in a medical facility, handling patient records, etc.
• Minors, youth, or school initiatives—e.g., summer camps, afterschool programs, etc. 
• Work that requires a clean driving record—e.g., to make deliveries of donations, etc. 

These are just a few examples of areas where a background check may be required before a volunteer can participate in an Opportunity. There are plenty of reasons you might choose to use a background check, especially if you need to verify that they: 

• Have a clean driving record
• Don't have any felonies on their record 
• Aren't registered offenders in any database, etc. 

A background check ensures the safety of your volunteers and your organization. 

Special package pricing 

When you integrate with First Advantage through Get Connected, you receive special background check pricing! Here is the special pricing available through this integration: 

• Basic—$16.95 per background check
• Advanced—$26.79 per background check
• Complete—$39.58 per background check

ⓘ So you know: If you have questions about pricing please send us an email. 

How to get First Advantage 

Ready to get started with background checks? You can set up the integration yourself. Here's how: 

1. Go to Settings > Integrations.

2. Click Login or Create your First Advantage account to get started. 

• This opens the XTDForce platform where you create a First Advantage account and start the integration process with your Get Connected site!  

3. Click Let's Begin! 

4. Fill in all required or necessary fields to create your User Profile. 

5. Complete the Business Information page. 

6. Add your Business Contact information. 

7. Add your Business Billing contact information. 

8. Review the information you've filled out so far and make any edits as necessary. 

9. Set up your Payment Method and continue to the final step where you add your Business Signature to finish.

❖ Heads up! If you see a Contact Support to Get Started button here instead, then you may have Sterling Volunteers enabled on your site. First Advantage background checks aren't available while using Sterling. 

Set up a background check prerequisite 

Now that you have First Advantage enabled on your site, it's time to set up a background check prerequisite. 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Prerequisites. 

2. Click Add New Prerequisite. 

3. With the Type dropdown, select Background Check. 

4. With the Package dropdown, select which background check package you want volunteers to complete. 

• Basic: This package includes: 
  • Social Security Number Verification 
  • National Criminal File PLUS
  • DOJ National Sex Offender 
• Advanced: This package includes: 
  • Social Security Number Verification 
  • National Criminal File PLUS
  • DOJ National Sex Offender 
  • Single County Criminal Search
• Complete: This package includes: 
  • Social Security Number Verification 
  • National Criminal File PLUS
  • DOJ National Sex Offender
  • 7 Year County Criminal Search

5. Give your prerequisite a Title. 

6. Type out a prerequisite Question. 

• This doesn't necessarily have to be in question format. You could write a line of instruction here or advise them to review an attachment if you have included one. 

7. Select if you want the background check to be auto-approved if a Clear status is returned or not. 

8. Use the Permissions dropdown to establish how and when volunteers are prompted to begin the background check process. 

• Required to View Any Opportunities: The volunteer must complete the background check and be qualified to view any Opportunities on your site. 
• Required to Respond to Any Opportunities: The volunteer can view your Opportunities but can't respond to any Opportunities on your site until they complete the background check. 
• Required to View Selected Opportunities: The volunteer must complete the background check for the Opportunities that you assign it to before they can view those Opportunities.
• Required to Respond to Selected Opportunities: The volunteer must complete the background check for the Opportunities that you assign it to before they can respond to those Opportunities.

9. You can add any additional content you think might be helpful. 

• This is great for including videos that explain the process or that provide an overview, etc. 

10. When you're ready, click Create Prerequisite! 

Review and contact pending background check prerequisites 

Once a background check is started, the status is set to pending while the background check is being conducted by First Advantage. You can review a pending background check prerequisite at any time. You can override a pending background check to allow volunteers to go ahead and respond to an Opportunity before it's complete.

1. Go to Volunteerism > Prerequisites. 

2. Select the Approval tab. 

3. Find the pending background check you want to review. 

The User Filter

You can also review pending background check prerequisites with the User Filter! Click here to learn more about using the User Filter. 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Users. 

2. Click User Filter. 

3. Select Volunteers > Prerequisites > is pending for > [Background Check Prerequisite].

4. Click Submit. 

How to email users with pending prerequisites

If you want to contact users with pending prerequisites, you can from the Prerequisites area on your site. 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Prerequisites. 

2. Select the Approval tab. 

3. Check the boxes for each user with a pending prerequisite you need to email. 

• You can select all users by checking the box at the top beside the Title column. 

4. Click Email Users. 

5. This takes you to the Email Blast area where you can write and send an email to those selected users. 

• Click here for more information about using the Email Blast tool. 

Override a pending background check

While reviewing pending background checks, you can always override their result to allow volunteers to go ahead and respond to an Opportunity. Under the Status column, select which status you wish to update the pending prerequisite to. 

Background check statuses explained 

Here are the different background check statuses and what they mean:  

Prerequisite statuses

Here are the different prerequisite statuses and what they mean: