Volunteer Global

In researching service organizations, I ran across five things that are important for potential volunteers to know, but that often aren’t mentioned on these groups’ websites. I apologize in advance for the blunt language -- it's actually not a product of a bad mood (today's great!). Just being straightforward here.

Location

Nearly half of the organizations I’ve found neglect to list anything more specific than the country in which they work; and about a quarter of the ones I've asked to clarify have responded with "It's not important" or similar. This can be especially important for groups that work many hours away from the closest airport; for participants who only have a week to give, spending two of those days traveling to and from the project site can be detrimental to the organization, to the community, and to the volunteer.

Volunteer requirements

By this I mean minimum or maximum age; groups, individuals, or families; career background; educational background; language ability; physical fitness; and other requirements there might be. Even if there are no requirements, it's better to say it rather than making the volunteer wonder.

Accommodation

Saying that accommodation is provided isn’t enough. Volunteers want to know how they’ll be housed – whether it’s in a dormitory, a cabin, a shared house, an apartment, a campsite, or with a host family.

Recently I discussed the issue of costs and accommodation with a group of potential volunteers. They brought up the point that in considering program fees, accommodations are the deciding factor as to whether the trip is too expensive. If they don’t know, then they move on to the next group.

Cost

While this usually is listed up front, too many groups lose potential volunteers by posting things like, “Please email us for current costs,” or “Starts from x amount.”

While I fully understand costs can change from season to season, I also understand that it takes all of five minutes to update current prices online. There are thousands of competing volunteer groups out there; people will lose interest and move on if they are asked to inquire within. And language like “Starts from...” can be seen as an indication that none of the volunteer trips truly cost "x amount."

On that note, a breakdown of where the fee goes is essential. How much goes toward a donation? How much toward accommodation? How much toward transportation? All of these things are important, and not listing them makes the volunteer think the group is a scam.

And finally, it would be a good idea, regardless of how inexpensive the organization might be, to provide some fundraising advice. The homestay might be economical, but the plane ticket is the killer.

Contact information

This just blows my mind! Why even start an organization if a person can’t get in touch with you? Ahh well.

Until next time, kids.