Free · Certificate included

Safe Boundaries for Volunteers

Physical, emotional, and digital boundaries that protect the people you serve — and protect you.

48 min Beginner 8 modules Pass 80%

For: Volunteers, coaches, mentors, and staff serving children, teens, older adults, and other vulnerable people

What you’ll learn

Understand why clear boundaries protect both the people you serve and you as a volunteer
Set physical boundaries and recognize what appropriate touch looks like
Hold emotional boundaries in the face of the volunteer–client power imbalance
Apply digital boundaries — keep communication observable and inside organization channels
Spot gifts, favoritism, and secrets as grooming red flags
Apply the two-adult and observable-and-interruptible rules
Avoid money and dual-relationship pitfalls
Report boundary violations — your own, a colleague’s, or a warning sign in someone else

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Course outline

1
Why boundaries protect everyone
How clear boundaries safeguard the people you serve — and shield you from harm and false accusation.
6 min Quiz Interactive
2
Physical boundaries & appropriate touch
What appropriate, welcome touch looks like — and the physical lines volunteers never cross.
6 min Quiz Interactive
3
Emotional boundaries & the power imbalance
Why the volunteer always holds more power — and how to keep the relationship helpful, not entangled.
6 min Quiz Written + interactive
4
Digital boundaries: keep it observable
No private DMs, texts, or social media with minors and vulnerable clients — keep communication in org channels.
6 min Quiz Interactive
5
Gifts, favoritism & secrets
How gifts, special attention, and secret-keeping function as grooming — and how to shut them down.
6 min Quiz Interactive
6
The two-adult & observable rule
The single most protective habit: keep interactions observable, interruptible, and rarely one-on-one.
6 min Quiz Written + interactive
7
Money & dual relationships
Why lending money, doing business, and blurring roles with those you serve invites harm.
6 min Quiz Interactive
8
When & how to report a boundary violation
How to speak up about your own slip, a colleague’s red flag, or a warning sign in someone else.
6 min Quiz Written + interactive

Sources & further reading

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