Amy Mauck Krohmer was secretary for the West End United Methodist Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Unbeknownst to church officials, she had been stealing money to the tune of $195,000 over the course of her service. Was a background check conducted? No, not in this case. If one had been conducted, church officials would have found that she was charged and convicted for embezzling from a prior organization.
This case was likely entirely preventable, and should be cause for every organization to pause and check their volunteer hiring standards and procedures to help prevent risks like embezzlement and theft. One-in-four Americans volunteer. This means that in 2023, roughly 83 million Americans gave time to non-profits and other volunteer organizations.
The holiday season is also a time of giving, so it may not surprise you to learn that volunteerism increases by about 50% during this time, particularly for religious organizations. This means an additional 41.5 million Americans will be volunteering with organizations through the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.
Theft, abuse and volunteer injury to themselves or others are all concerns when volunteers are involved. Despite the risks, many organizations do not conduct background checks on their volunteers. One primary danger of not conducting checks is that people lie on their applications. One study found that of 1.6 million background screens performed during a three-year period, 86,000 people with undisclosed criminal records had applied for paid or volunteer work in the non-profit sector. The audit also found that every 43 hours, at least one convicted sex offender tries to apply for a volunteer position at a nonprofit.
Having unscreened and untrained volunteers around parishioners, staff and other volunteers—from child to adult—poses serious risks, such as property damage or criminal activity. Unfortunately, there are many examples we could point to where a closer look at a volunteer or even a brief training may have prevented a tragic event.
Fortunately, there are many tangible steps you can take to help prevent the types of risk we’ve discussed and more. From our own Glatfelter resources and external resources, we’ve gathered actionable steps you can take to help keep your religious organization staff, volunteers and flock safe from volunteer-imposed risks (these are listed in no particular order):
Note: before conducting background checks, be sure to get authorization from the volunteer, per the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Good news for Glatfelter clients: you have special access to discounted background screenings from IntelliCorp, a provider of comprehensive background screening and employment screening solutions for small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Before you establish your background check procedures, consult Galaxy Digital’s complete blog below on managing your church’s volunteer background checks.
Volunteers produce thousands of work hours for religious organizations and provide an untold number of benefits to the country. You’ll help keep your flock safe if you follow these steps.
What other steps have you taken to help mitigate volunteer risk in your organization? Please tell us in the comments below!