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Why Pay to Volunteer

Many volunteers ask us, “Why should I have to pay to volunteer?” The answer is that volunteering in a developing country is different from volunteering on a Saturday afternoon in your hometown. Volunteers who travel abroad need accommodations, food, emergency health and evacuation insurance in addition to in-country transportation and orientation to ensure their safety while living abroad. Since UP places our volunteers with host families, there are costs that our host communities and partner organizations simply can not afford. The focus on United Planet’s Quest Volunteer Abroad programs is on the local community. Many programs have their own housing—and this may help to defray costs. However, we, at United Planet believe sending volunteers to live with host families does more to increase cross-cultural understanding and raise up the community in the long-term.

United Planet’s Philosophy

Volunteering abroad is a mutual exchange. Volunteers donate their time and pay for the cost of living in the host country as well as administrative fees tied to their program. In return, the host organization helps the volunteer to learn how local non-profits, schools and healthcare providers operate; improve their language and cross-cultural communication skills; and acquire important insight into cultural diversity. UP’s mission is to foster cross-cultural understanding while supporting communities to address local challenges. Therefore, UP spends resources on preparing our volunteers the best we can for the experience, while organizing the program in a way that maximizes the benefits to the host community and its economy.

Cooperating in a Community Beyond Borders

United Planet tries not to continue the practice of sending the “outsider” to projects to impose his/her ideas of development. Rather, volunteers work as additional staff members at local partner organizations. These organizations are not run by UP and operate independently with their own staff. UP volunteers are asked to assist its partner organizations in their work; volunteer roles and duties will be defined by the staff at the time of volunteering.

UP dedicates a portion of its program fee to preparing volunteers to be culturally-sensitive, so as to leave as little footprint as possible while also facilitating positive exchanges in the work environment and sustaining relationships with host families. UP does not directly fund its partner organizations, but empowers them by sending volunteers. Over time, the support of volunteers year in and year out will help grow UP’s partner organizations while avoiding the creation of a system of dependency. UP gives a small donation to the project per volunteer, but a larger portion of the program fee goes towards Country Funds—these larger funds enable UP to support larger, sustainable projects. Our partners can apply for funding for one-time improvements, such as an extra dormitory at an orphanage. Each partner organization who applies for financial assistance from the Country fund must demonstrate a partial financial commitment to the project as well. In this way United Planet completes its mission of sharing challenges while also focusing on sustainability.

Responsible and Sustainable Practices

UP believes it’s also socially responsible to recruit staff locally where possible. At its Boston headquarters, UP does its best to be as “green” as possible—using the internet as the main method of communication and volunteer preparation, as opposed to sending out large mailings. We recycle in-office-use paper, and all of our volunteers who go to Ghana plant trees to offset their carbon footprint. We plan to expand this kind of environmental responsibility to other programs.

Sustainable development is not just an issue of income and funding—development requires time, resources, creative thinking and manpower. UP volunteers help overstretched and understaffed community centers, schools and clinics by dedicating their time and sharing their skills and enthusiasm. The volunteers themselves are the resource and support that the community needs! Thus, United Planet Quest programs serve as a platform for sustainable development.

Volunteer Impact: Start Small, Think Big

Ten children receive attention, tutoring, and educational activities for every volunteer who works at a school, orphanage or after-school program for street children in Romania, Cambodia or Guatemala. One hundred children receive state-funded Hepatitis B vaccinations for every volunteer nurse or doctor who spends two weeks at a rural clinic outside of Cusco, Peru. Five low-income families receive a roof over their head for every high school or college-age student who joins the Homebuilding Quest in Chile. This is just the beginning! Each volunteer’s work has a tangible impact.

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How is the program fee allocated?

Volunteer Preparation and Field Expenses (60%)

While United Planet would love to sponsor every one of its dedicated volunteers to go abroad, without significant public donation, major gifts, or grants it is impossible for us to do so. Please see UP’s philosophy for more information on why volunteers pay for Quest programs.

The field expenses alone account for the majority of the program fee. Approximately 60% of the program fee goes to cover these expenses which also include the volunteer insurance coverage, pre-departure coordination, preparation and training, and a donation to the Country Fund to support sustainable development projects.

Field Expenses: Volunteer food and accommodation Emergency medical insurance Airport transfers Activities, language classes and excursions Small donation to project Country Funds

Volunteer Preparation: Application Processing Coordination with field staff and volunteer Pre-departure support Cultural-sensitivity and pre-departure training

Administration and Volunteer Recruitment (22%)

Without administration and volunteer recruitment funds, UP would not be able to sustain its current worldwide operations.  And you, the volunteer, would not be able to receive the personalized attention and around-the-clock support that UP currently offers.

Administration (15%)

The general administration costs support both the Boston office staff and the field coordinators in each country where UP runs a program. Unfortunately, no organization is able to operate without at least a small amount of overhead that goes toward:

Staff salaries & benefits  (Boston office and country coordinators) Communications – IT, Telephone, Email, Postage General office supplies

Insurance Legal consultation Office Rent Bookkeeping Taxes

Volunteer Recruitment (7%)

The Boston office is responsible for volunteer recruitment, outreach and communications.  We can not send volunteers to support our partner organizations if people do not know we exist!  Getting the name of UP out there with the intention of recruiting volunteers and other support is necessary for the running of our programs and assisting the host communities.  Items included in volunteer recruitment are:

Website maintenance Communications: Brochures, E-newsletters, UP Blog

Volunteer Abroad and Professional Fairs Web advertising

Program Development (10%)

UP consistently strives to improve the quality of its programs. In addition, UP measures the impact it has on local communities at the end of each year, when assessments are made on how to better serve our partners and their needs. Program development includes ongoing program evaluations, improvements and management; staff site visits; researching and setting up new project offerings and countries; project staff training; and special projects such as a laundromat in Guatemala—a microempowerment project that benefits a shelter for battered women and children.

Free Public Programs (8%)

UP also supports several free public programs, such as cultural-awareness presentations (CAP) for schools and communities, cultural-exchange groups at youth associations, schools, and universities (Ambassador Clubs), and our virtual peace-building project and online cultural exchange (Voices of Earth). The goal is to bring cultural exchange to schools and villages worldwide where individuals do not have the resources or ability to spend time abroad. Cross-cultural understanding can be enhanced in our own back yards!

 

United Planet Quests

United Planet offers 1-52 week svolunteer and learning projects in over 50 countries. These programs, called United Planet Quests, are UP's main source of revenue essential to grow and build our non-profit organization and also to support our free public programs.

Quest Programs:

• Short-term Quests (1-12 weeks)
• Long-term/Gap Year Quests (6 months - 1 year)
• Group Quests