In this series:

1. How to Volunteer Abroad for Less
2. How to Save Thousands by Organizing your Volunteer Trip on your own
3. 6 Steps to Organizing your own Volunteer Trip

If you are interested in volunteering abroad, usually the first thing you do in researching the possibilities is to search the internet for “volunteer abroad” or “volunteering in country X”. However, if you do this, the majority of your results will be 3rd party booking companies that organize volunteer projects for travelers. Normally they do not actually run any of the volunteer programs, they simply work with various local institutions in a number of countries around the world to organize volunteer trips for their clients. The problem is that they charge a pretty hefty sum for this organizational service.

Let me shed a little light with an example from Ecuador, a country where I worked as a volunteer coordinator for 2 years. We regularly received volunteers through 3rd party organizations such as i-to-i and Outreach International, as well as individuals who simply contacted us on their own. The volunteers that came with 3rd party organizations had everything set up for them before they ever arrived, but in general paid around $2800 for 2 months of accommodation, food, and volunteer work. Volunteers who came on their own had to organize their accommodation and volunteer work on their own, but on average paid around $950 for 2 months of accommodation, food, and volunteer work. See the chart below comparing volunteer costs for 2 months of volunteer service, accommodation, and food.

With an international organization:

• All inclusive program fee: $2800
• Accommodation: included, homestay with an Ecuadorian family
• Food: 3 meals/day included with homestay
• Volunteer Work: registration is included in program fee
• Total (2 months): $2800

On your own:

• All inclusive program fee: N/A as everything was organized by the individual

• Accommodation: many options ranging from $70-$450/month. A comparable homestay with an Ecuadorian family runs around $450/month.
• Food: 3 meals/day included with homestay
• Volunteer Work: $50 one time fee
• Total (2 months): $950, this is including the homestay option (which is one of the most expensive accommodation options). If the volunteer chose a simple shared apartment, and cooked their own food, accommodation/food could drop to as low as $200/month, resulting in just $450 for 2 months.

Obviously, volunteer work organized by an 3rd party organization is significantly more expensive than one organized on your own. However, I wouldn’t necessarily say that setting up your volunteer project with an international organization is a waste of money. If you have the funds, it is definitely easier to just contract someone to organize everything for you so that you can get right to work the minute you step off the plane. Setting things up on your own, requires a lot of time spent researching and contacting different local organizations to figure out exactly what your options are. Additionally, you will likely have to spend at least a couple of days upon arrival sorting it all out, making sure everything is what you thought it was, etc. 3rd party organizations also provide you with a network of people in country to basically paid make sure you are happy, and that you stay happy with all aspects of their service. If you organize everything on your own, you don’t have this network of people working for you. If you arrive on your first day of volunteer work and find out that it’s not at all what you thought it was, it will be up to you to fix the situation. That said, if you would rather not blow thousands of dollars on what can be done with hundreds, and don’t mind organizing your trip by yourself, then setting up your volunteer trip on your own is probably the way to go. Continue on to part 3 of this series: 6 Steps to Organizing your own Volunteer Trip.

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