Volunteer Work Abroad - Why Do Many Overseas Volunteers Have to Pay for the Opportunity?
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After all, isn't international volunteering about donating time to an organization, so that they don't have to pay staff members? Shouldn't an NGO be offering the volunteer something, instead?
These are tricky questions, because every volunteer placement is different.
Volunteers pay the fee to the placement organization, which in turn coordinates room and board, and training.
This is often the most costly volunteer option.
Volunteer fees are used for things like housing and food, but also used to directly fund the service projects, or make a direct donation to the partner organizations in the host country.
Finally, some NGOs directly receive volunteers, and charge fees to them to support the administrative expenses associated with training and housing the volunteers.
But if an organization is receiving "free help" why must they also charge a fee? On an international scale, especially in developing countries, and community organization or NGO can operate with significantly less funding than it's US or European counterpart.
This makes the volunteer experience especially worthwhile and rewarding.
Volunteers rarely fully replace full staff members in any NGO, because they often arrive untrained and are somewhat transient.
It simply means that volunteers don't replace anyone, and therefore are not necessarily saving money for the host organizations they serve.
These inherent differences in the types of volunteer options available make research especially important.
To help a potential volunteer new to the system, below is a list of questions to ask when weighing different programs:
1) How is my program fee spent? How much is used to directly support my work and expenses, and how much is used to cover administrative costs?
2) Is a donation to the host organization included?
3) Is there a handbook or manual of how to fundraise to fund your experience?
4) If placement organization: Are the services offered by the placement organization significant? Would you have been able to find such a placement on your own, and do they offer significant support throughout your stay?
5) If placement organization: Is it a for-profit or non-profit organization?
If it proves difficult to find answers to these questions on the Web, you may want to consider another volunteer option, or email a staff person directly.
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