Why pay to volunteer?

You are offering your time, skills and enthusiasm for free – so why do you have to pay to volunteer?

It is a question many volunteer sending agencies in the UK are asked time and time again. There is no hard and fast rule, and each potential volunteer should consider it their own responsibility to ask organisations questions such as: where their money goes, whether the organisation is profit or non-profit, whether the host organisation overseas is being charged and how much of the volunteer’s money is actually sent overseas. But in theory it is a relatively simple question to answer. If the volunteer themselves doesn’t pay, then who does?

Many volunteer-sending agencies are run as non-profit organisations, so volunteers can rest assured that money paid to these organisations is not lining anyone’s pocket. However the reality of the situation is this – it costs money to run any organisation and running costs must be covered by someone. Wages, office space, international phone calls, training courses, materials must all be paid for.

Although some organisations rely on external funding to cover such costs and therefore are able to charge a lower fee to an individual volunteer, increasingly organisations are recognising the sustainable benefit of running as a ‘social enterprise’. This means less reliance on funding and instead costs are covered by the organisation generating its own revenue.

So the UK volunteer-sending agency charges individuals a fee prior to a volunteer departing the UK. In return the agency provides volunteers with an organised and supported volunteering placement overseas. For any professional UK agency the service they provide will most probably cover training prior to departure, support throughout the placement as well as (in some cases) the provision of insurance, food and accommodation whilst overseas.

So its not all give, give, give for the volunteer. Although paying for a volunteering experience by no means ‘guarantees’ a successful placement overseas, there are many benefits of working through a UK volunteer-sending agency. You are given access to a wealth of advice, experience and support (both logistical and emotional) from those who work in and with the sending agency. Pre-departure preparation is generally an integral part of the service any professional volunteer-sending agency provides – covering important issues such as culture, language, your work environment, accommodation, what to pack, what to do if something goes wrong. Managing everyone’s expectations is also a key part of the service a good volunteer-sending agency provides.

Admittedly, there are a multitude of issues to consider when arranging an international volunteering experience and this article is by no means exhaustive; however do consider this before altogether disregarding a UK volunteer-sending agency and trying to go it alone. If you sit and actually work out how much it would cost you in time and money (and peace of mind!) to find an organisation overseas, communicate with them to co-ordinate a role for yourself, phone and email them to develop a strong relationship, set up accommodation, arrange specialist volunteer insurance cover, organise transfers from the airport when you arrive…the list goes on…you might actually be surprised by how little the difference is between travelling to a country on your own and the cost of participating in a programme through a UK volunteer-sending agency.

This article was written by Helen Tirebuck, Operations Manager, Challenges Worldwide.