Background Checks: Manual Tracking and Sterling Integration

BetterUnite lets you track volunteer background checks two ways: Manual, where your organization records results you obtained elsewhere, and Sterling, where BetterUnite orders and manages the check for you through an integrated screening provider. Both paths feed the same underlying gate, so any report, requirement check, or eligibility rule that depends on a completed background check treats a manual record and a Sterling record identically.

Setting up a Background Check requirement

Background checks are configured as a requirement type on a volunteer page, the same way you'd set up a waiver or training requirement.

1. Go to Volunteer Management for the page.
2. Create or edit a requirement and set its type to Background Check.
3. Choose a Provider for that requirement: Manual or Sterling.
4. If you choose Sterling, you can optionally set a specific screening package for this requirement. If left blank, it falls back to your organization's default Sterling package.

You can run Manual and Sterling requirements side by side across different volunteer pages, or even different requirements on the same page, depending on how your organization handles screening for different roles.

Manual path: recording results yourself

Use the Manual provider when your organization runs background checks outside of BetterUnite (through a local agency, a state system, or an existing vendor) and just needs a place to track the outcome.

1. Go to Volunteer Management → Background Checks tab.
2. Find the volunteer and open Record Background Check.
3. Enter the consent date, the screening date, and select an outcome: Clear, Consider, or Not Cleared.
4. Enter a status and a reference number for your own records (e.g., the vendor's case ID).
5. Save. A Clear outcome satisfies the requirement immediately.

Re-screen alerts: if a background check has an expiration date that has passed, or is within 30 days of expiring, the volunteer is flagged in the Background Checks list so you know to re-run the screening. You can filter the list to show only checks that need attention (expiring/expired or still pending).

Sterling path: setup

Before you can order Sterling checks, connect your Sterling account under organization settings.

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Sterling.
2. Enter your API Key and Account ID from Sterling.
3. Set a Default Package to use when a requirement doesn't specify its own.
4. Enter your Webhook Secret (used to verify that result notifications really came from Sterling).
5. Toggle Live Mode on when you're ready to order real checks (leave it off to test against Sterling's sandbox).

Sterling path: ordering a check

1. From Volunteer Management → Background Checks, click Order via Sterling.
2. Pick the contact and the requirement to order against.
3. BetterUnite creates the candidate and places the order with Sterling. The check appears with a status of Invited.

The volunteer's experience: Sterling sends the volunteer a hosted invite link. The volunteer completes their consent and enters sensitive information (like SSN and date of birth) directly on Sterling's site — BetterUnite never collects or stores that information.

How results come back

Sterling notifies BetterUnite of status changes automatically via webhook, verified with an HMAC signature so results can't be spoofed. As a backup, an hourly job also polls Sterling for any orders that haven't reported back.

• If the outcome is Clear, the requirement is satisfied automatically — no admin action needed.
• If the outcome is anything other than Clear (e.g., Consider), the check is marked as needing adjudication before it can satisfy the requirement.

Adjudicating non-clear results

When a Sterling result comes back as Consider, an admin must review it and make a decision:

• Engaged — the organization has reviewed the result and decides to proceed. This satisfies the requirement.
• Adverse — the organization decides not to proceed. The requirement remains unmet.

You can also view the order status at any point: Draft, Ordered, Invited, Pending, Completed, Cancelled, or Failed, along with links to the invite and, once available, the full report.