By Dave Santulli, Founder & President of United Planet
“It is important to have a sense of humility as a humble traveler and volunteer-learner when entering communities.”
There are many organizations in the field of international volunteering, including for-profit companies and nonprofits.
No matter what you are purchasing in life, it is always important to try to understand the companies and organizations as well as the people behind the products and services.
In the volunteer abroad ecosystem, these companies and organizations have a diverse range of interests and motivations.
For-Profit Companies & Nonprofit Organizations
For-profits are generally driven by a profit motive to maximize their own benefit. These for-profits include travel companies that see international volunteering as an add-on revenue stream. There are religious organizations that might view international volunteering as a way of proselytizing within communities.
There are also nonprofits which are mission-based and focused on sustainability and impact for the volunteers and the communities in which they serve.
What You Are Paying For
When you pay to volunteer abroad, you’re paying for the expertise, support, and guidance of an organization that has deep-rooted partnerships and experience in working with and hosting volunteers across the world. You’re paying for access and support within trusted networks which have been developed over many years. You’re also paying for the support to help provide a safer experience under the wing of local experts and professionals.
Organizations and companies bring different levels of experience to the table. It is important to understand how long organizations have been around and what their approach is to international service.
What is Important to You?
Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding which volunteer abroad organization is the best fit for you:
- Do they have a commitment to working together with communities in partnership?
- Do they look at the bigger picture of volunteer integration within a community?
- Do they set the expectations of volunteers and prepare them appropriately to realize that they are there to learn about the culture and issues facing local organizations and to support where needed?
- Are they active and respectful listeners to all the essential community stakeholders?
It is important to have a sense of humility as a humble traveler and volunteer-learner when entering communities.
Relationships, Trust, and Impact
Everyone should be on an equal, not hierarchical, playing field – working together in partnership to build community and support for one another.
When you pay to volunteer abroad, you should gain access to a special trusted community that often takes years to develop. The focus should be on authentic experiences based on the development of genuine relationships and not simply the churning out of high volumes and the commoditization of participating volunteers.
It Takes Years, and Money, to Build a Trusted Organization
When an international volunteer program functions well, volunteers often don’t realize the massive iceberg of organizational infrastructure behind these kinds of programs.
There’s a whole organizational infrastructure supporting the preparation and sending aspects as well as the receiving and hosting aspects of international volunteer programs. There is also an entire dimension of monitoring and evaluation of effective programs from the community and volunteer perspective. Beyond all these programmatic elements, they’re all the recruitment initiatives, engagement initiatives, and fundraising initiatives that help support greater access for volunteers to participate regardless of their socioeconomic situation.
Caution!
International volunteer organizations provide different levels of support and it is important to evaluate this carefully.
Some organizations are essentially listing sites where they provide names and introductions to organizations. There is little advance preparation for the volunteers and little notice given to the hosting organizations. Basically volunteers show up and they are given tasks.
There are other organizations that are actively engaged in preparing volunteers for international experiences and customizing their experiences by working closely with host organizations in advance to make sure that all parties benefit to their fullest potential.
This upfront work and preparation pays off through providing a more fulfilling experience for the volunteers and better prepared and effective volunteers for the host organizations.
Volunteer Preparation and Training
When entering a country and working with organizations, it is important to receive the appropriate training before departure and also when arriving in the country. A prepared volunteer is a more effective volunteer. Volunteers should gain an understanding of the culture through language lessons and diverse cultural activities to the extent possible.
In many cases, program fees provide for a comprehensive program that gives a foundation of cross-cultural understanding while also creating a platform for meaningful volunteering.
In other cases, there is little support provided and volunteers are left to their own devices. For some people, this might be perfectly fine. For others, they seek to have more holistic support in the country where they are volunteering.
Are Your Values Aligned?
Here is some good questions to ask when considering a volunteer abroad organization:
- Do you prefer a for-profit or a nonprofit organization?
- How long has the organization been operating?
- What is the volunteer organization’s programmatic approach?
- Do they match volunteer interests and skills with specific projects and organizations before sending people overseas?
- Do they take the time to speak with each and every volunteer before they go overseas?
- Do they provide cultural activities, language lessons, and excursions to give volunteers a foundation for cross-cultural understanding to enable them to become more effective volunteers and to better integrate within communities?
- What is the overarching mission and vision of the organization?
How to Evaluate The Volunteer Abroad Provider
Here are a few areas to evaluate:
- Does the organization stress the numbers of volunteers over the support and quality of its programs?
- Does it provide personalized and authentic experiences which ensure true benefit to host organizations?
- Do they use superlatives like cheapest, biggest, or best which should create red flags?
The Mission is Critical
In today’s world, the challenges that we face transcend borders. In order to solve these challenges, we need profound levels of human collaboration and partnership. We need to learn about the challenges that we share across our world so that we can support and solve them. Each and everyone of us can make a difference in contributing to a more sustainable, just, and united planet.
United Planet’s Place in the Volunteer Abroad Ecosystem
At the United Planet, we believe in fostering “true” partnership – trust, respect, understanding, and empathy.
When we step out of our comfort zones, take risks, immerse ourselves in diverse countries and cultures, and engage in the service of others in the spirit of friendship and partnership, there are no limits to what we can achieve together.
If enough of us step up, volunteer, and work together, the challenges that overwhelm us will soon become overwhelmed by us.
Most importantly, whether you volunteer locally or globally, by all means volunteer. For many, it is the most filling experience of their lives.
Help With Funding Your United Planet Quest
Your willingness to give your time and money is a critical step in bringing understanding and change globally.
United Planet also works to raise funds to provide scholarships to help defray costs for volunteers and to establish new volunteer programs in countries.
Many volunteers also fund their Quests by crowdfunding within their own personal networks. We have created a complete fundraising guide titled Funding Your Quest.
Here is a look at United Planet’s volunteer abroad program fees.
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United Planet was founded in 2001 as an international nonprofit organization, with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time, and provides volunteer abroad programs, gap year volunteering, virtual internships, and classroom-based virtual exchanges in more than 40 countries.
If you are curious to see how trusted nonprofit watchdog sites examine how we spend your volunteer fees you can check out United Planet on Charity Navigator and United Planet on GuideStar.
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