• Make your tax deductible contribution to help build and sustain ElderHelpers.org. Make your donation via our Become a VIP Volunteer page: Become a VIP Volunteer . Remember that you are donating your time to the elders and not to us; we really need your financial support to keep this service going. We do not rely on government grants but on the generosity of users like you. Please do your part to help us with technology, administrative, compliance, advertising, insurance and legal costs. Volunteers are not required to donate to volunteer but donations from volunteers are necessary to the survival of Elder Helpers, please do your part to make sure that elderhelpers.org stays available to elders and volunteers desiring to help elders: donate online now via our Become a VIP Volunteer page: Become a VIP Volunteer.
  • Get your background checked by our trusted provider: IntelliCorp. A clean background check will increase the desire of people in need of help to trust you. Proven clean criminal and driving records are the perfect complement to a friendly profile picture and a thoughtful mini-biography. To avoid extra administrative costs, we only accept background checks processed through our portal. In order to start the background check process, you will need to use the password "elderhelpers". IntelliCorp (and not Elder Helpers) handles your social security number and payment information for the purpose of running your background check. For more information about IntelliCorp, please visit their website.
  • Be kind and gentle, in any situation. It's better to say no than to get frustrated by requests that you might judge as unreasonable. Only offer what time and energy you can spare. When you agree to help someone, smile as much as you can, just to show that you want to be there helping and that it is no problem at all. This will make the person feel really good.
  • Never ask for money. The reputation of the Elder Helpers program depends on your honesty and good will. Volunteers are not allowed to collect money, not even donations for the Elder Helpers program. Instead, we encourage you to let the people know about our donation page, and that the best way to give is monthly. You will help us sustain and develop the Elder Helpers program.
Click to read the full FAQs
I signed up. What do I do now?

First: Make sure that you have a great profile picture, smiley ones are better!
Second: Review your biography. If you were seeking help for your mother or grandmother and read your biography would you trust yourself? Would you feel comfortable calling up to ask for help?
Third: Get your background checked. If you were seeking help for a family member, would you think it's ok to ask the help of someone you have never met to help your parent without running a background check first? Probably not. IntelliCorp is a very serious company and we feel comfortable with the quality of their background check service. Due the large number of volunteers using our service, we are not able to cover the cost of your background check for you. But don’t worry, we have negotiated volume prices with them and passed on the discount to you.
Fourth: Help us spread the word on facebook by "liking" the Elderhelpers.org page and recommending it to your friends.
Fifth: Wait for someone to contact you. If you don’t want to sit around waiting for the volunteer opportunity to fall in your lap, keep posting flyers with your name on it in your community - It pays off!

How will I get contacted?

You will be contacted by phone, not by Elder Helpers, but directly by the person seeking help. You will either speak to the elder needing the help or to a relative of the elder needing the help. Be prepared to speak to a person, and not to someone who has been trained to ask for help from volunteers. Be kind and patient, chances are the person is not really comfortable and you will need to make them feel good. If someone seems a little bossy or awkward, that is probably because they are embarrassed and not sure that they are worthy of your generosity. Be cool. Also, if a relative is calling, keep in mind that you are going to help the elder, not the relative.

I just got contacted by someone asking for help, what do I do now?

First: Make sure to ask for the email address that they have used at the time of registration. You will need it to login your hours and get rewards.
Second: Get to know the person over the phone, make sure that the type of help that they need and your availability matches what you can offer.
Third: Meet the person in a public place to get more comfortable
Fourth: Decide if you want to help!
Fifth: Login your hours and get rewards!

How do I log in my hours?

To log in your hours, you need to email help@elderhelpers.org with the first and last name of the person and the city in which it took place. Most importantly, you need to give us the email address that the person used at the time of registration. We will verify that the person is an active subscriber and if so validate your log. We will then reward you accordingly. We are not able to login any hours without the email of the person who has registered so be sure to collect this right from the beginning. Remember: you need to know the email that they used at the time of subscribing and not any other email address that they might have, in order for us to be able to accept your logged hours.

Do I get rewarded for volunteering with elderhelpers.org?

Yes! Besides the reward that you are getting from a meaningful connection with an elder, we do reward our volunteers with gift cards and all sorts of goodies. Make sure to ask for the email address that the elder or relative used to sign up to be able to log your hours and claim your rewards!

I don't have time to volunteer right now, how do I take myself off the search results?

Simply login to your profile and set yourself to unavailable, you will not come up in the search results anymore. When you become available again, remember to set your profile back to available!

How do I completely delete my account?

Simply set your profile to make it unavailable and your information will not be available to anyone and you will not be contacted anymore.

Where can I send a donation to?

We appreciate any monetary support you can give to help keep our programs running, as we are a volunteer-based operation. Checks can be made out and mailed to: Campaign for Aging Research, 4629 Cass Street Suite 36 San Diego, CA 92109 USA. Please write "Elder Helpers" in the memo line and do not send cash through the mail.

Why am I getting a "url" error while trying to create a volunteer profile?

In an effort to fight spam, we are blocking web addresses, i.e. “urls” in volunteers’ biographies. If you are not trying to type in a url but you are still getting this error message, this means that your text has at least one syntax error. Run your biography through text processing software like Microsoft Word to see what you are doing wrong.

Do you offer live-in exchange services where I can get room and/or board in exchange for services?

No, we do not.