The Complete Guide to Free (and High Impact) Volunteer Projects Abroad

No matter your skills and availability, there is a social impact organization that can benefit from your time and real skills – this guide was written to help you find it. In exchange for your talents and energy, the right organization won’t charge you to volunteer. Instead, it will act as a local host and help you have a truly immersive experience that makes the world a better place in the process.

“You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself” – Harvey S. Firestone

This guide was constructed by the team at MovingWorlds.org, which has over 30 years of collective experience in planning, leading, and empowering skills-based volunteer projects abroad. In addition, we’ve combined insights and content from leading fellowship programs, published research, and our own experience supporting individuals as well as large corporate programs.

This guide covers the following topics (you can click on the links to jump to the most relevant section):

1. Why You Should Volunteer Your Skills Overseas
2. Types of Free International Volunteering Projects
3. How to Find Free Skills-Based Volunteering Projects Abroad
4. Planning for International Volunteering Work
5. Being an Effective International Volunteer
6. Gear, Visas, and Travel Insurance while Volunteering Overseas
7. Computers, Phones, Tablets, and Electronics while Volunteering Overseas
8. Books to Read While Volunteering Overseas
9. Returning from Your Volunteer Travel Experience
10. How to Fund Your International Volunteering Trip
11. Organizations That Can Help You Find Free Volunteer Projects Abroad

1. Why You Should Volunteer Your Skills Overseas

The United Nations has published research showing that volunteers, especially skills-based volunteers, have an important role in global development. In fact, by volunteering your skills, you can help address one of the leading barriers to progress, which is called the “Talent Gap.” There is an article on NextBillion.org which helps explain the role of skills volunteers in global development and here are 9 statistics you probably didn’t know about international volunteering.

In addition to working on specific projects, you can also help transfer knowledge and skills to students, entrepreneurs, and leaders to help them continue to make a bigger impact after you finish.

2. Types of Free International Volunteering Projects

International volunteer projects can vary greatly and be for almost any length of time. From a 1 day virtual project to a 2 year field experience, there are countless ways that you can use your skills. Here are a few recent examples:

• A fashion designer who worked on fair trade designs with a nonprofit empowering local women in Guatemala for 1 week.
• An accountant supported a medical college in Ghana to help it focus on sustainable social and economic development for 3 weeks.
• A retired Federal US Government employee supported a technology social enterprise working on improved child education in Tanzania.
• An architect supported a nonprofit in Panama to build a self-sustaining research facility for 4 months.
• A business strategy professional traveled around the world for a year supporting social enterprises with go-to-market and marketing plans.
• A business development professional supported a startup in Brazil for 18 months to help it create jobs in impoverished areas.

Regardless of the length of time, the common theme is that these projects are skills-based. We use the word “Experteering” to define skilled volunteering overseas.

Time is one of the most important factors in determining the type of project you’ll work on. Here is a table showing the most common types of projects you’ll find based on your availability, regardless of your skills:

3. How to Find Free Skills-Based Volunteering Projects Abroad

The proper match can have a catalytic impact on both parties.  Done incorrectly, it can actually cause more harm than good, as documented in the haunting story about the Cambodia Orphanage Business. Stories like this have fueled the “voluntourism” debate, which is when you pay to volunteer or teach. If you are going on a paid volunteering trip, please visit LearningService to plan appropriately. However, there are ways to find free volunteering opportunities if you use your skills and contribute real value. Here are 8 factors to consider when choosing a volunteering engagement, at home or abroad:

If you are going on a paid volunteering trip, please visit LearningService to plan appropriately. However, there are ways to find free volunteering opportunities if you use your skills and contribute real value. Here are 8 factors to consider when choosing a volunteering engagement, at home or abroad:

• Skills – Make sure there is a strong alignment of an organization’s needs with your skills.
• Timing – Find a start date, end date, and duration that is agreeable to all parties.
• Motivations – Be clear about what you are hoping to get out of the experience, and what the hosting organization is hoping to achieve.
• Sustainable Impact –  Focus your work on projects that have long-term potential, and where you can build the skills of people to sustain the projects after you leave.
• Communication – Ensure that you can clearly communicate with each other.
• Commitment – Both you and the host should invest time and resources in the engagement and agree to certain outcomes.
• Ethics – Make sure the project is locally led, doesn’t erode jobs and is in the best interest of the community.
• Partnership – Work hard to build a partnership that benefits both parties.

4. Planning for International Volunteering Work

“Helpful people also tend to be healthier and happier; helping others causes happiness. Be selfless, if only for selfish reasons.” – Gretchen Rubin

People are consistently surprised at how much time goes into planning a volunteering project, at home, or as part of an international trip. However, once people finish, we consistently hear people say they wish they had spent more time planning. In other words, tedious as it might be, plan, plan, and plan some more. To help you plan, we strongly urge volunteers to do the following:

1. Get Ready to Go

Enroll in training on International Volunteering Best Practices, like this one by MovingWorlds.org and this one by Serve Smart. In addition, review these 9 tips from LearningService on Being a Valuable Volunteer.

2. Plan in Partnership With your Host

Remember that the single most important thing during the planning process of your project is that everything – including planning – is done in partnership with the organization you are supporting. Use a collaborative planning process, like this open-sourced Experteering Planning Guide, to clearly set expectations between you and the hosting organization.

3. Make a List and Check it Thrice

Use a preparation and packing list to make sure you have the necessary visa, health checks, planning & safety documents in order. Use this Experteering Checklist as a starting block, and then work with your hosting organization to further customize it to make sure you have everything you need to be safe and successful.

4. Learn from Others

Take time to read about other people who have taken similar trips. Check out this free eBook, Adventures Less Ordinary and read this earlier article,  7 Things I Wish I Knew About Volunteering Overseas Before Spending a Year Doing It.

5. Being an Effective International Volunteer

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
-Albert Einstein

The best and most successful Experteering engagements all have one thing in common: clearly defined goals that are created in partnership with the hosting organization.

Most importantly, these goals are documented, and not only include project goals, but actually define success as it will look 1 year in the future. We have found the following rules help create positive impact for all parties:

• Support locally-initiated projects to ensure that the project will continue after you leave.
• Train local staff at the start of your project to be able to take over your work seamlessly.
• Spend more time teaching and less time doing so that the locals develop the skills necessary to keep growing after you leave.
• Do what’s necessary, not what’s interesting so that the most essential tasks are completed in your limited time.
• Embrace cultural differences and discuss with your host the differences you might have, and how you can use those to your advantage.
• Have consistent checkpoints to make sure you’re working together well and everyone is on the same page about project and timing expectations.
• Remember long-term thinking is critical, as it ensures that the program is locally-led, sustainable, and focussed on making an impact.

Depending on the length of time you are going for, the work you will do on a day-to-day basis will vary greatly. For more insight into what projects are best for what timeframe, read this article about How to Make a Real Impact by Volunteering Overseas.

To enhance this experience (and your impact), we suggest that you find a mentor, take along your favorite books, and identify ways you want to grow as a leader. We have found these resources will help anybody be a better changemaker at home, and abroad. If nothing else, watch this TED Talk: If You Want to Help Someone, Shutup and Listen.

6. Gear, Visas, and Travel Insurance while Volunteering Overseas

Gear, visa, and travel requirements vary greatly from country-to-country, so we recommend you do a lot of your own research. However, these few pointers help cover the essentials. For some of the items listed below, we get a small % of affiliate sales – just enough to help buy some coffee for the global team that puts these resources together and supports people volunteering around the world.

Travel insurance for International Volunteers

There is no BEST travel insurance. Depending on your age, location, and time away, use SquareMouth for finding the best and best-priced insurance for you and your unique trip. VolunteerCard – for students and for families and professionals – also offers insurance and a host of discounts.

Gear for volunteering overseas

The goal is to look like a local while volunteering, so you don’t need much gear. The most important thing is that you have a great journal for reflecting your experience and a good camera for documenting it. Because of the personal and close-up nature of a lot of work, we think GoPro’s are awesome because they can take time lapses and fit a lot of things into a single frame.

Visas for Volunteering

Every country has different requirements. To help you find answers, and even help with processing your visa, you can use VisaHQ. You can also use ask your hosting organization for help navigating the visa process, acquiring a letter (if needed), and learning about how other travelers handle the process.

7. Computers, Phones, Tablets, and Electronics while Volunteering Overseas

Before deciding what to buy, talk to your hosting organization and carefully plan the work you will actually be doing so you know if you need to bring specific resources, supplies, and electronic devices.

Chances are that if you’re going to go skills-based volunteering, you’ll likely need to bring a computer. At the same time, remember that you’re traveling so you don’t need all your normal electronics. Leave the tablet at home and stick to the basics – you’ll thank yourself for not being overly connected.

A small laptop that doubles as a tablet is both unassuming and useful for your travel and work – this one is a good example. If you want to take a phone with you, make sure it’s unlocked. Here is a list of the best selling unlocked smartphones on Amazon.

Of course, you’ll need the right power adapter. Talk to your hosting organization to make sure you know what types of plug-ins they have. If you need one, this is highly rated and flexible travel power adapter.

8. Books to Read While Volunteering Overseas

If you don’t have a Kindle, you should definitely buy one for your trip (we like the PaperWhite with a case), and then load these books on it:

1. Poor Economics
2. Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
3. Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
4. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
5. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way
6. The End of Poverty

9. Returning from Your Volunteer Travel Experience

Your field experience is just the start. Once you finish, make sure to keep in touch with your hosting organization to ensure the project lives on.  In one year, you should be able to track your impact. In fact, we like to say that “Success happens after you leave”.

In addition to making an impact, remember this is a personal growth experience for you, too. Make sure to reflect on your experience. Take a moment to read this article You’re Forgetting to do this One Essential Thing While Volunteering Overseas, and also watch this video from LearningService about what to do after you finish.

10. How to Fund Your International Volunteering Trip

If you volunteer your skills, you should be able to find a place with free accommodations. However, you might still need to pay for your airfare. A few other ways to pay for your trip include:

• Getting your boss to pay for it, here are tips.
• Do it on your paid sabbatical, here is how to ask for one.
• Travel and Volunteering grants, like Krista Foundation and Christianson Grant.
• Joining a Global Fellowship Program, here is a list.
• Hosting a crowdfunding campaign, like with VolunteerForever and Trevolta.
• Become a freelancer or work virtually part-time while volunteering overseas, tips from 4 Hour Work Week and the Tropical MBA can help you out.
• Choosing a fellowship or volunteering program that covers your costs (although these are almost always over a year in length.)

11. Organizations That Can Help You Find Free Volunteer Projects Abroad

There are a lot of organizations that can help you volunteer your skills overseas. Here is a brief listing of our organizations.
Important note, nobody on this list paid for placements, but the author does work for MovingWorlds.

Summary

Volunteering your skills overseas has the potential to create a massive impact for you, as well as the organization you support. But there is a right and a wrong way to volunteer your skills overseas, so take care to find, plan, and prepare for a high-impact volunteering engagement.

To jump back to any of the main sections, click on the link:

1. Why You Should Volunteer Your Skills Overseas
2. Types of Free International Volunteering Projects
3. How to Find Free Skills-Based Volunteering Projects Abroad
4. Planning for International Volunteering Work
5. Being an Effective International Volunteer
6. Gear, Visas, and Travel Insurance while Volunteering Overseas
7. Computers, Phones, Tablets, and Electronics while Volunteering Overseas
8. Books to Read While Volunteering Overseas
9. Returning from Your Volunteer Travel Experience
10. How to Fund Your International Volunteering Trip
11. Organizations That Can Help You Find Free Volunteer Projects Abroad

“A path is now appearing to show us how to have a positive impact on the world around us. This is a path of hopefulness, but also a path of fulfillment: typically, we start off by trying to empower others and end up empowering ourselves, too.”

– A Path Appears