Help is needed anywhere. So there are plenty of reasons for volunteering abroad. Once you start researching you quickly realize that there are hundreds of options reaching from environmental protection, teaching, helping on farms, to volunteering with animals. But how can you make sure that the opportunity you found is actually sustainable and ethical volunteering?

It can happen easily to fall into the voluntourism trap, so you should be smart when you select the project. In this article, I show you how you can make sure that your goodwill actually becomes an impactful experience.

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What is sustainable and ethical volunteering?

More and more people with good intentions are drawn abroad for volunteering. This way, they hope to do good and do their bit in tackling global issues like animal cruelty, pollution, or inequalities.

With the huge number of volunteering options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Especially, because not all organizations act ethically and sustainably. I don’t want to claim that they don’t have the right attitude and pursuit. However, in order to be a truly sustainable and ethical volunteering organization, one has to consider many aspects.

Sustainable and ethical volunteering is not simply about projects providing help with the aim to have a positive impact. It’s also about ensuring that the environment or community you volunteer in will be in a better situation than before. So an ethical volunteer project or organization works together with locals and local organizations. The key to sustainable volunteering is to help a community help themselves.

Sustainable volunteerism – Why is it important?

A community should never be dependent on an organization but should have the ability to sustain itself in the long run.
If a project or organization is not acting sustainably and ethically, a community will always depend on their help. There are even organizations taking advantage of this situation. This way, they always need more volunteers to come which creates profit.

To properly ensure a long-term improvement of the local situation, sustainable volunteerism is essential. This means, that the projects meet social and environmental standards and are run in a responsible, efficient, and sustainable way.

As an example, animal shelters can only be sustainable if they castrate strays to prevent further proliferating. Or an environmental organization makes sure to educate locals about the importance of protecting the environment instead of only picking up trash. These are ways to improve the situation in the long run.
It’s like tackling the actual disease instead of only fighting the symptoms.
Dogs in an ethical volunteering shelter

What are the benefits of ethical and sustainable volunteerism?

With truly sustainable and ethical volunteering, the community learns how to tackle their issues and sustain themselves. Thereby, the local situation will eventually improve over time. Thus, ideally, the organization won’t be needed anymore at some point in the future.

Besides, you as a volunteer will experience many benefits for yourself as well, such as:
  • increasing your social skills and becoming more connected to different people and cultures
  • gaining a global perspective
  • being more aware of environmental issues and how to tackle them by the root
  • gaining life experience

How to find the right sustainable and ethical volunteering project abroad?

So, now that we know the importance of sustainable and ethical volunteering, you may ask yourself: How do you find a purposeful project that actually makes a difference?

The good thing is that sustainable volunteerism isn’t a niche anymore, as it used to be ten years ago. There is not only a large number of organizations but also platforms to find them and compare reviews.

First, however, let’s take a look at the different kinds of volunteering projects.

Different kinds of ethical volunteering projects

There are numerous sustainable volunteering opportunities offered either by charities or by companies.
Charities may be government-funded or NGOs (non-governmental organizations). The advantage of government-funded organizations is that they’re usually strictly controlled. Therefore, they pretty much have to practice sustainably and ethically. However, you may have to apply early in advance and they don’t accept all volunteers.

Companies, on the other hand, have to fund themselves. So they offer programs like organized volunteering trips. Usually, these programs are quite expensive and chances to get accepted as a volunteer are higher. On the other hand, there’s often no quality control.
Also, you have to keep in mind that companies will probably have profit in mind while charities and non-profits are completely focused on the impact of their support.  So with companies, you have to dig deeper in order to find a project that actually operates ethically and sustainably.

However, as a study of the University of Leeds has found, a project by a charity doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than with a company.
The key is transparency about all details. The more transparent the information that an organization provides, the better. This applies to all aspects, e.g.
  • Where does your money go in case you have to pay to volunteer?
  • Is there any proof of what difference previous volunteers were able to make?
  • Is the local community involved?

Three pillars of sustainability in tourism | Drei Säulen der Nachhaltigkeit beim Reisen | Jill on journey

How to check whether the volunteering program is ethical and sustainable

To be honest, it’s not always easy and obvious to identify if an organization or provider is dubious. Needless to say, they don’t want you or anyone else to find out that they focus on profit instead of sustainability, or that they don’t properly know the projects they’re advertising.
That makes it even more important for you to dig deep.

Information provided

In terms of the information the organizations provide, you should pay attention to certain aspects when choosing an organization. This way, you can prevent falling for a rotten apple. Here are some aspects:
  • Range of projects
    In case you look at the offer of an organization or company with several projects, less is always better. The fewer the projects, the better they actually know them and can assure that they actually provide sustainable and ethical volunteering options.
  • Minimum duration of volunteering
    If you only spend a few days volunteering, how can you make a sustainable impact? Even more, if your stay is combined with sightseeing, it’s actually worse. In this case, we’re speaking of voluntourism – a kind of tourism that exploits people who want to combine a trip with volunteering.
  • Assistance on site
    Good projects and organizations make sure that there are always experts on site that can properly teach and accompany the volunteers.
  • Allocation of tasks
    Responsible and ethical volunteering organizations clearly allocate and split the tasks of volunteers and workers. Only trained experts or experienced volunteers who have been working on that project for a long time are allowed to conduct certain tasks.
  • Impact of the project
    It’s vital that the project actually has a sustainable impact in the area. That’s only possible if the project actually tackles the prevalent problem and improves it over time. Also, it should help people to help themselves. So stay away from projects where it seems like the community will be forever dependent on the volunteer organization.
  • Involvement of locals
    Only if locals are involved and trained, a project creates sustainable value. Besides, both volunteers and locals benefit from the intercultural exchange, as they get to know different perspectives. Above all, it’s really important that volunteers never take away job opportunities for locals.

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Ethical volunteering with animals

Moreover, if you’re interested in volunteering with animals, there are some more aspects to be aware of:
  • Rehabilitation
    Which goal is the animal shelter or sanctuary working towards? In rescue centers for dogs and cats you should spend lots of time with the animals in order to socialize them. With wild animals, however, the aim should be to release them into the wild.
  • Condition of the animals
    In what condition are the animals? Are they well fed and does their health improve over time? Also, do the living conditions meet the biological needs of the species?
  • Professionals on site
    Do trained professionals (e.g. vets or biologists) lead the project
  • Contact with animals
    In dog or cat shelters, direct contact with the animals is important to get used to humans in oder to find a home. When caring for wild animals, however, direct contact makes it impossible to release them into the wild. If you’re allowed to pet wild animals, that’s clearly an indicator that animal welfare is not the focal point.

Consider your own skills

There are so many areas where volunteers are needed:
  • environmental conservation
  • animal shelters
  • reconstruction
  • teaching
  • farming
  • and many, many more

Before applying to a specific project because you find it appealing, think about your own skillset for a second. Do you have a medical background, through which you could help in healthcare? Have you worked with or taken care of animals before so you can easily gain the trust of stray dogs to help socialize them? Have you worked on a farm before so you can help with harvesting?

Even if some projects may sound super interesting to you, if you have zero skills in that area, don’t apply. For example, you’ll be of no help in a teacher position in case you’ve never worked with children before and have no educational background.
A good sign for a truly ethical volunteering opportunity is also when they ask you for your experience and only allow certain skilled volunteers.

Check out some platforms to look for ethical volunteering

I’ve come across 4 different ways how you can apply to volunteer projects:

  1. Directly contacting an organization or project

    This way, chances are the highest, that you can directly stay in contact with people working on that actual project. So you can ask all your questions and get truthful insights and details about the project.

  2. Through a platform to find organizations

    Platforms are a great way to get in contact with individual organizations or projects. They usually provide reviews by former volunteers as well. So you can read of other volunteers’ experiences. Some great platforms are:
    • Workaway – a well-known platform and community for volunteering opportunities in 170 countries where you usually get accommodation and food and don’t have to pay for the projects (it’s only a small one-time registration fee).
    • Worldpackers – a platform with countless volunteer positions in more than 140 countries. Similar to Workaway you only have to pay a registration fee.
    • Volunteer World – a comparison platform with a very safe application process where organizations and local NGOs offer international volunteer programs.
    • Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) – a worldwide community where organic farmers offer sustainable and ethical volunteering opportunities in ecological farming.
    • Helpstay – another platform where hosts can offer volunteering opportunities. They also have a separate platform freevolunteering.net for free opportunities only.
    • Green Volunteers – a database for ethical volunteering projects in wildlife and nature conservation.
    • Volunteer Match – a portal where volunteers can connect with nonprofit organizations.
    • Volunteers Base – a completely free help exchange network without a registration fee.

  3. Using an independent organization connecting you with projects

    There are numerous organizations out there that are similar to a platform. However, many of them gain some profit from organizing placements. Here are a few trustworthy ones:
    • All Hands and Hearts – an organization committed to addressing the immediate and long-term needs of global communities impacted by disasters. It’s completely free.
    • Global Volunteers – a trustworthy organization that has been operating for almost 40 years, assigned with the special consultative status by the UN, and was featured in Oprah’s Angel Network.
    • GVI – an organization that has been very transparent with information about their work.

  4. Through a placement company

    As we’ve discussed before, a placement company has an interest in profit, which usually causes high prices for your volunteering opportunity. Of the price you pay, probably only a little amount will reach the actual project. That’s why I don’t recommend this way of finding a volunteering project.
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Research about your project and organization

Never blindly rely on the information that the organizations provide themselves. Do some research instead to get to know about the organization and project from other sources.

Here are some options how you can do research:
  • Look for and read former volunteers’ reviews o independent platforms.
  • Check for certificates and awards or public appreciations of their work.
  • Examine if they have any recognized partnerships (e.g. with the United Nations).
  • Investigate the years of experience.
  • If an organization or project seems shady, contact an animal rights group or humane society.

Do I have to pay for volunteering?

The answer to this clearly is: No, you don’t have to.
Actually, research by the University of Leeds about volunteering opportunities has detected that those companies “offering the most expensive experiences are likely to be the least responsible”. So, higher prices are definitely no sign of quality.
Oftentimes, when volunteers pay high prices, their money goes into administration or creates profit for the placement company instead of reaching where it’s most needed.

Some volunteers have reported cases where “for $3,000 volunteer fees, only $9 per volunteer per week was actually used for the project”. That’s honestly the worst that can happen.

So please stay away from organizations charging such huge sums.
There are many ways to find free or inexpensive ethical volunteering opportunities, e.g. by using the independent platforms that I’ve mentioned above.

Nevertheless, it’s okay to pay a small service charge when the organization provides free accommodation and food. This way, the organization can focus on their actual projects instead of money troubles to maintain volunteers.
In this case, you’ll notice that volunteering opportunities in poorer countries are cheaper than in developing countries.

Besides, you shouldn’t forget that your volunteering experience abroad can still come with other costs that you have to consider:
  • vaccinations required by a country or project
  • transportation
  • visa
  • insurance (e.g. health insurance)
  • travel expenses
  • international driving license

This can obviously vary according to the project and the kind of work you’ll do.

How to avoid the negative impacts of “voluntourism”

With the huge number of volunteering options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And that’s exactly what causes the problem. Among these many amazing organizations trying their best to tackle problematic issues, some black sheep have come up.
These have brought criticism of “voluntourism” – meaning when travelers combine volunteering with a vacation abroad.
In general, working at a local organization during a trip doesn’t have to be bad at all. The downside is rather that companies have found an opportunity to earn money from it and thus created an industry.

Indications for dodgy operations could be:
  • providers that offer volunteering opportunities without even knowing or controlling the offered projects
  • profit-oriented companies with overcrowded projects
  • situations in which volunteers replace local paid employments
  • shady organizations offering “orphanage tourism” – meaning working at fake orphanages
  • so-called “animal sanctuaries” where you can touch and get too close to wild animals (like patting tigers)

Avoid any organization where you find indications of one of these practices.
You should definitely stay away from any volunteering projects where you interact closely with wild animals or orphaned children.

That’s why proper research of a project is vital. Only this way, you can figure out whether the volunteering program is ethical and sustainable. So check out the above-mentioned aspects for proper research.

Also, try to avoid projects that combine volunteering with organized touristic activities (like sightseeing tours). That’s an indicator, that the organization tries to earn money with the volunteers instead of sustainably improving the local situation.
An organization’s focus should clearly lie on helping the community or environment instead of entertaining volunteers.
When you plan a sustainable holiday be aware of animal interactions, such as snorkeling trips.

Problematic volunteering with animals

Being close to rare wildlife may sound luring, especially if you want to volunteer in wildlife conservation e.g. by caring for endangered species.
To show you why volunteering projects where you can touch or be in direct contact with wild animals are not ethical, here are two examples:

  • Tigers and lions:
    In the wild, wild cats are clearly dangerous to humans. They are not only predators but their instinct tells them that humans can be a threat. So, when volunteers can touch and pet tiger babies in breeding stations, chances are low that they can actually be released into the wild again. They’re simply not able to survive, as they’ve become too used to humans and can’t trust their instincts which species are friends or prey. These breeding stations or farms only serve to earn money.
    Indeed there have been several cases, in which people even took baby lions from their mothers to allure more visitors in so-called “sanctuaries” or breeding stations. In these cases, the mother lions are only of value to the company as long as they produce more offspring. After that, they kill them.
  • Elephants:
    In many countries, especially in Asia and Africa, abusing elephants as working animals or tourist attractions is quite common. But in order to tame these wild animals, they’re captivated and hit until they’re brought to heel. Otherwise, humans would never be able to touch them. Thus, neither riding animals nor bathing or petting them is ethical. Even if so-called “sanctuaries” claim that they saved these elephants from captivity, the ongoing tourist streams keep demand high and supplies coming.

If you’re interested in ethical volunteering opportunities with animals, check out this article: Volunteering with animals!

Problematic volunteering with kids

  • Orphanages:
    You need to be extremely cautious in volunteering opportunities with kids, especially with orphans. They develop a really strong relationship with their caretakers. So imagine being an orphaned child, and after losing your parents the people taking care of you change every few weeks or months. Whenever these kids get attached to a person and trust them, they leave again. This will leave these kids with lifelong trauma and fear of loss.
    Also, there have been cases in which so-called “orphanages” paid poor parents to leave their children with them, just because the demand of (paying) volunteers was so high and some profit-greedy companies saw a chance to make money out of it.

How do I become a responsible and ethical volunteer?

Now you know the importance of taking enough time for proper research before you join an ethical volunteering project and avoiding organizations where some operations can be indicators for a back sheep.
Besides, it’s also important that you act ethically and sustainably while you’re working as a volunteer. So, let’s take a look into that.

How to volunteer abroad ethically?

When you’re in an organization to help, there are also some aspects to consider to be an ethical volunteer. Because we as volunteers have ethical obligations as well:
  • Be honest about your skills, so you can truly contribute
  • Act sustainably by avoiding litter, remove your trash
  • Treat animals and the environment responsibly and with care
  • Treat other people, cultures, and traditions respectfully
  • The priority lies on the community’s needs, not yours – so to help is more important than having fun (the fun comes automatically when you’re doing a great job)
  • Try to stay longer and avoid short-term voluntourism, especially when working with children
  • Continue doing good on your further travels and when you’re back home again

The focus of your ethical volunteering abroad should always be the help you’re able to provide. If you decide, to visit and see certain places on your days off, that’s of course fine.

Three pillars of sustainability in tourism | Drei Säulen der Nachhaltigkeit beim Reisen | Jill on journey

How to keep up the good work after ethical volunteering?

So what are all volunteering efforts worth if we go back home and end up back in our everyday hassle? You learn so much during ethical volunteering, so keep spreading the word and keep up the good work.
Here are some suggestions on how to continue doing good:
  • If you continue traveling, mind the way you travel and keep your sustainable and ethical mindset by following these 12 tips on sustainable travel in this article.
  • Always check for animal welfare organizations at your destinations – they may need help with walking their dogs or other tasks on a daily basis. No matter how much time you have available to give animals, every minute is important.
  • Don’t look away! If you see an animal suffering, call a vet or an animal rescue organization (you can easily find out by googling if there is an animal rescue organization or vet in the area).
  • Avoid animal interactions when you’re traveling: Don’t visit so-called “animal sanctuaries” where you can get too close to wild animals.
  • Sponsor an animal or a child in need for a small monthly amount, e.g. with ARA Portugal (for rescued dogs or cats) or with Creative Help for Paraguay for a kid to go to school in Paraguay.
  • Check what you can do at home continuously (e.g. volunteering a few hours a week in an animal shelter).

Ethical volunteering with cats

Do you have any experiences or tips on ethical volunteering? I’m curious to know more. So leave a comment below!

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