You may offer Opportunities that your volunteers want their whole family to get involved in. Maybe, your organization hosts an event for a local school or other school-aged appropriate opportunity. While you may not have an age restriction for who can participate in your opportunities, there are some things to keep in mind about volunteers under 13 years of age using your site. In this article, we cover: 

ⓘ So you know: Some sites have language overrides in place. This means you may see Opportunities in place of Needs, Programs in place of Agencies, or even Prerequisites in place of Qualifications. Contact us if you'd like to request language overrides for your site! 

Why does the registration form ask that?  

When a volunteer registers on your site, they fill out a registration form that asks if they are at least 13 years of age or older. This is a requirement for accessing and using your site which is in place to meet the requirements outlined in the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). 

What is COPPA?

COPPA defines a child as anyone under the age of 13 and is a rule that protects a child's personal and private information. It also prevents websites from collecting, using, or disclosing a child's personal data. 

What are the restrictions? 

In order to meet the requirements outlined under COPPA, anyone under the age of 13 must submit a parental consent via e-sign when registering an account on a Galaxy Digital site. 


How does it work? 

In order for us to adhere to COPPA regulations and support volunteerism for minors under 13 years of age, we're requiring a signed and submitted parental consent form. Parental consent is only required when a volunteer registers an account and indicates that they're under 13. They're added to a Parental Consent queue for processing. Here's how it works: 


Collecting date of birth at user registration

  • If you marked Show or Show and Require the Date of Birth field for standard user registration, then the site requires Parental Consent for any users that indicate they're under the age of 13. 
    • Click here to learn more about setting up your site's user registration. 
  • If a user indicates that they're under the age of 13 during user registration, then: 
    • The site asks them to enter a valid parent's email address.
      • An email is sent to the provided address containing an e-sign document.
      • Click here to see a copy of the e-sign document. 
        ⓘ So you know: This document cannot be edited. 
    • The user won't be required to confirm that they're over the age of 13. 
    • The user can agree to our privacy policy. 
    • The user can complete the rest of the user registration process and start using the site without limitation while the Parental Consent is pending. 


Collecting date of birth after registration

If a user updates their date of birth after registration and indicates that they're under 13, then: 

  • Galaxy Digital will monitor these accounts and take the necessary steps to collect the Parental Consent before deleting the account. 
    • If the account wasn't created by a manager or other person over 13, then Galaxy Digital will begin the Parental Consent collection process.


Pending parental consent 

Once the Parental Consent process begins, users are notified that they have 30 days for their parent to submit their consent or their account is deleted. 

  • A parent must sign the Parental Consent to indicate they agree with the terms and conditions.
  • The signed Parental Consent is returned to you and Galaxy Digital. 
    • You and Galaxy Digital have access to the e-sign Document Package details—i.e., IP address, date of submission, etc. 
  • If Parental Consent isn't returned within 15 days of sending, a reminder email is sent to the parent's email address. 
  • If Parental Consent isn't returned within 29 days of sending, the site notifies you, the parent, and the child that the account will be deleted in 24 hours unless signed Parental Consent is provided. 
  • If Parental Consent isn't returned within 30 days of sending, then the user's account and information are deleted from the site. 

ⓘ So you know: Parental consent won't be required when: 

  • A program manager or site manager adds a user account for a minor under 13. 
  • A program manager or site manager edits a user account that indicates they're under 13. 
  • When an account is created by another user over the age of 13.


How to check for pending parental consents

Do you want to see who has a pending parental or guardian consent? You can with the user filter! 

1. Go to Volunteerism > Users. 

2. Select User Filter. 

3. Select User Data > Under 13 > Guardian Consent Pending. 

4. Click Submit. 

  • You can also filter for completed parental consents with this filter!

The volunteer perspective

If a volunteer is asked to provide their date of birth during account registration and enter a birthdate that indicates they're under 13, then the Parental Consent process begins: 

Step 1: Create an account and enter birthdate: 

Step 2: The system requests a parent or guardian's email address based on the birthdate entered: 

Step 3: The volunteer can use the site without limitation while the Parental Consent is still pending. 

  • Their account is deleted after 30 if the Parental Consent isn't signed and returned before then. 


How to update a parent or guardian email

Want to check if the parent or guardian's email address is correct? You or the volunteer can update the email address if necessary! This is done through the volunteer's perspective. If you need to do it for them, you'll need to assume their role first. 
1. Go to your Edit Profile area. 

2. Click the Click Here in the banner that says "Account is still pending for Parental Consent. To update and resent parent email click here". 

3. Check the email and make any corrections as necessary, then click Send Email when you're ready.