FAQ

If you have a question about your account or the Partnership program, click here.

Who are you?

Glad you asked! If you take a look at the "About Us" page, you'll get an introduction to the VG team.

A bit of background: I'm Sarah Palmer, and I created VG in 2005 as kind of a summer project between my freshman and sophomore years of college. At the time, I interned at an international service agency, and occasionally we got calls from people wanting to volunteer for short-term projects, which we didn’t offer. This interested me personally, so I began researching volunteer opportunities for college students or those who couldn’t take a couple years off.

Volunteer Global has come a long way since its inception. What started as a short list of well known volunteer agencies has since become an interactive website that promotes any service program—large or small—willing to take volunteers on mutually beneficial community projects.

Will you advertise my group/product/etc.?

We just started advertising again, actually. Contact info@volunteerglobal.com if you’d like to advertise on our site.

Can you give me information about [Group Name]?

I can give you basic information about them like where they work, what their volunteers do, etc., but not opinions. It just wouldn't be cool of me to say "Yeah, I really don't like these guys" because their PR person had a bad day.

Can you place me with [Group Name] or send me more information about them?

At the moment, VG only serves as a jumping-off point to finding the perfect volunteer program.

If you'd like more information about a volunteer program, most of the groups on here have included contact information and links to their websites; they’ll be able to give you much better, firsthand information than I can.

Why isn't my organization on this site?

Hey, before you get angry, let me explain! In August 2009, I stopped reaching out to individual volunteer organizations for posting on the site. Because Volunteer Global got large enough that groups started sending requests to be listed, the website became a self-populating one.

So between then and now, we might have become friends, chatted on Facebook or Twitter a bit, and whoops! You're not on VG! Well, you can certainly still join.

In May 2011, we released the Volunteer Global Partnership Program, which offers free and paid listing for service groups worldwide. To learn more, click here.

What are volunteer trips?

These are trips where you work with a volunteer organization to help their cause. They often range from one week to several years, and they cost about as much as or even less than one would spend on a leisure trip.

Why do I need to pay to volunteer?

Many organizations ask their volunteers to pay a fee. Usually, this is because donations are some of the only means of funding for the organization. These expenses may cover the cost of the housing, meals, supplies needed for the work performed, and building maintenance and upkeep.

I am disabled, but I still would love to do service work. Can I?

Absolutely! Many volunteer programs offer opportunities for disabled individuals to perform service work. Check with your preferred group; many of them offer alternative programs.

I am a student and I would like to volunteer abroad, but my parents won’t let me. What can I do?

There are many opportunities available to junior high and high school students who want to do service work, including service learning programs and alternative breaks. Many organizations also offer family trips.

Remember, you can focus on your own community, which may have excellent volunteer programs that are open to young people. If you want to get involved in an international program, you might want to start a club to focus on global issues and what you can do from home to help.

What kinds of internship opportunities are available for service work?

Many medium-length (six weeks or longer) service programs offer internships. Most ask for students majoring in the subject area, but some offer programs for students with some coursework or a relevant background in the subject.

Can I receive college credit from volunteer work?

You sure can! Many students opt for this instead of a standard study abroad program. You'll need to watch out for a few things:

How many credits does the group offer? If it's less than 10 or 12, your school might not count you as a full-time student and you may lose financial aid for that semester. See if you can pad this with independent study, find another program that offers full-time credits, or just pay out of pocket for that semester.
Clear this with your department and advisor well before you book your trip! You don't want to find out the day before your trip—or during—that you didn't receive any credit for your work, and you'll have to graduate a semester late.
Make sure you actually do your work. That should go without saying, but I know of people who saw the program as a long vacation, and then didn't do the required amount of work needed to receive credit.

Is it safe to volunteer in [Country] right now?

Usually volunteer programs are safe, but you always should be aware of the political and economic situations of the country. If an incident does come up in which there is a war or a natural disaster in that area, then many programs have protocol in place to evacuate their volunteers.

Before planning your trip, check out the CIA World Factbook or Travel.State.Gov, which list the most updated economic and political information about every country.

How can I tell which organizations are scams?

Unfortunately, some programs are out there primarily to make money, with little interest in helping the community in which they work. For example, they might charge an outrageous amount of money for very little volunteer work and for a very short amount of time.

That is not to say that service trips shouldn't be fun! Many volunteer groups offer events and tours as part of your leisure time; you can work for eight hours each day, and then attend a guided tour or a performance later that evening. Many people opt for culture and adventure tours as well, where they not only learn about important issues, but they also get to go whitewater rafting, hiking, mountain climbing, or other activities. These tend to be on the more expensive side, but that does NOT mean they are scams.

Most volunteer groups charge a fee—usually to cover housing, program support, food, and training. You have a right to know where the organization gets its funding and where your money is going. Legitimate programs will be happy to offer that information to you, and many display it on their websites already.

I heard that people who volunteer long-term find it difficult to get a job later on because they don’t have “real world experience.” What’s up?

It is a true complaint among many long-term volunteers that it is difficult to find a job because they are told that they have no “real world experience,” when in fact, they have quite a lot of it.

For more information about searching for a job after your volunteer project, here's a post I wrote about marketing your volunteer experience.

When I am abroad, how will I get my medications?

Usually you can contact your doctor and pick up all of the prescriptions you will need for the amount of time that you will be abroad. Unfortunately, many insurance companies won't cover the cost of your medications if you're picking several up at once.

An alternative is to have someone pick up the prescriptions for you each month and then mail them to you. Some pharmacies overseas will carry the prescriptions you need, though oftentimes you will be in a remote location with little access to a pharmacy. Speak with your doctor and with your host organization to figure out the best option.

I want to study abroad – is there some way I can combine my studies with service work?

You can! Learn more about service learning here.

I want to go on a service trip, but I don’t have enough money for it. What can I do?

Fundraise! To learn more, click here.

How can I contact you?

My personal email is s.palmer@volunteerglobal.com, though you also can use info@volunteerglobal.com; you also can use the Contact form linked in the menu above.