If you love to volunteer and bring your own contribution to the betterment of the society and world at large, then seeking the top 10 volunteer organizations to work with is what you need to do right now. Searching for volunteer opportunities that suit your schedule and interest is important.
Volunteering has a lot of benefits and advantages which are listed below:
1. Volunteering gives a volunteer employability benefits.
2. Volunteering makes one confident by presenting chances for the volunteer to experience new things and when they do well in these things, they feel fulfilled and accomplished.
3. Volunteering gives a volunteer an opportunity to touch lives positively and make a good mark on people and society at large through the good work they do through volunteering.
4. Volunteering helps volunteers meet new people and contact them. These contacts may turn out to become friends, potential love interests, business partners, employers, mentors, et cetera.
5. Volunteering gives an opportunity to be part of a community outside one’s blood relatives.
6. Volunteering presents a chance for a volunteer to learn new skills and get experience in several areas.
7. Volunteering is fun for some people, regardless of the kind of volunteering is done.
8. Volunteering helps your resume gain more credibility
9. It saves volunteer organizations resources that would have been used to pay employees
10. It touches lives in positive ways and gives a lot of people hope for living
11. Volunteering helps the health and general well-being of the volunteer
Below are places a volunteer can work and several ways they can render their volunteer services:
1. Animal shelters and animal rescue
2. Shelter for the homeless
3. Home construction organizations
4. Schools
5. Old people’s homes
6. Libraries
7. Teaching kids in developing countries
8. Events
9. Counselling
10. Community development
11. Wildlife conservation
The above list is just a few of several ways and places a volunteer can render help in society. Volunteering benefits the volunteer, the organization, and the society. And for volunteering to be successful and affect everyone the right way, the volunteer should work where matches his/her skills and interest.
Steps to Take to Become a Volunteer
- Choose Your Passion
- Go for Opportunities that Match your Skills and Abilities
- Have a Volunteer Resume
- Decision on Commitment
- Seek Volunteer Opportunities
- Know the Details of the Volunteer Position
- Submit an Application and Follow up After Applying
- Go Through and Complete any Required Training
- Treat your Position with Seriousness
1. Choose Your Passion
It is important to pick an area that interests you when looking out for where to volunteer. When you do this, you’ll enjoy your work better and do it with a passion that would bring about good results.
2. Go for Opportunities that Match your Skills and Abilities
Just like your passion, going for volunteer opportunities that match your skills will make the work progressive, although some organizations train volunteers to know the basics of a particular opportunity they’ve taken in which they have no prior knowledge or experience.
3. Have a Volunteer Resume
This makes it easier for volunteer organizations to find a suitable position for a willing volunteer because the volunteer’s skills, experiences, and interests are listed in the resume.
4. Decision on Commitment
Before applying to volunteer with a volunteer organization, it is important to decide on how committed you can be. Your commitment level would depend on your day-to-day schedule.
5. Seek Volunteer Opportunities
You can do this either by asking around or going through the internet to seek volunteer organizations and opportunities, just like we are providing the top 10 volunteer organizations for you to choose from.
6. Know the Details of the Volunteer Position
Before you apply, get to know every detail of the position that interests you. Know the level of commitment needed, if training is required.
7. Submit an Application and Follow up After Applying
There are volunteer positions that don’t require you to send an application to get them, but there are some that do. Even if this is not as professional as a real job where you would be paid, it should be treated seriously with correct spellings, punctuation, and grammar observed. And after sending out your application, follow it up if you don’t get a response from the organization after three.
8. Go Through and Complete any Required Training
If your application is successful, you’ll have to go through and complete any training required of you by the volunteer organization.
9. Treat your Position with Seriousness
Just as you would treat a paying, professional job, do the same while volunteering. Be early to work, be committed and dedicated as you go about your volunteer work. When you do all of these, the organization would progress and its vision would be actualized.
It can be an interesting and exciting adventure to volunteer abroad. Volunteering does not only give you the opportunity to travel, but you get to meet new people and give your own positive contribution to the world in your own way.
There is a vast list of volunteer organizations from all over the world, and it could get confusing choosing which to go for. In this article, you’ll get to see the top 10 volunteer organizations and their available programs.
Below are the Top 10 Volunteer Organizations:
1. Love Volunteers
Love Volunteers is a volunteer organization that is proud of its trustworthy and cost-effective volunteering opportunities. They offer volunteering opportunities across America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Programs and Focus: Childcare, animal welfare, environmental conservation, community development, healthcare, disabilities and special needs.
Application process:
i. Pick a destination
ii. Pick your area of interest
iii. Pay a registration fee if your application gets reviewed
Click here for more information.
2. Agape Volunteers
This is a non-profit charity volunteer organization based in the UK that offers opportunities to volunteer across Africa for humanitarian projects.
Focus: Teaching, wildlife conservation, coaching sports teams, medical support.
Agape Volunteers also give volunteers the opportunity to experience adventures like mountain climbing, city tours, and safaris. These adventures will give volunteers a beautiful volunteer experience in Africa.
Click here for more information.
3. Plan My Gap Year
Plan My Gap Year is a volunteer organization is one of the well-established volunteer organizations abroad that offer affordable volunteer programs. Their volunteer opportunities are available in 15 countries which are across four countries.
Program span: 1-40 weeks
Focus: English language teaching, health, childcare, community development, wildlife conservation, and mental health.
Application process:
i. Pick your location
ii. Select the project of interest
iii. Make available your details
4. MaximoNivel
This is an internationally accredited volunteer organization that provides study-abroad programs of high quality in Latin America. Their programs take place in three primary countries which are Peru, Guatemala, and Costa Rica although they equally have online opportunities for volunteers.
Focus: Eco-agriculture, marine life conservation, jungle conservation, teaching English, medical and healthcare, construction, indigenous communities.
Volunteers with MaximoNivel will also have the opportunity to access cooking classes, walking tours, salsa classes, et cetera. It is worthy of note that MaximoNivel offers academic credit and transcripts for their volunteer programs.
Click here for more information.
5. Projects Abroad
This volunteer organization is an award-winning organization that offers responsible volunteer travel, with over 25 years of experience and 120,000 volunteers so far.
They have put in efforts to make sure their programs are safe, and sustainable and have an impact by implementing their extensive monitoring and evaluating tools.
Programs: Building, sports, teaching, archaeology, animal conservation, medical work, law, and human rights work experience.
Click here for more information.
6. GoEco
This is an ecotourism company that provides affordable volunteer abroad programs in over forty countries. A volunteer with GoEco will have an opportunity and freedom to choose countries to volunteer in across 5 different continents.
Focus: Humanitarian aid in local destinations, wildlife rehabilitation, and ecological conservation within reserves and parks.
Click here for more information.
7. International Volunteer HQ
International Volunteer HQ is a volunteer organization that offers the world’s l range of fully hosted volunteering abroad programs, with over 300 projects happening in 50+ destinations.
International Volunteer HQ is a Certified B Corporation that is devoted to bringing about positive environmental and social impact and it boasts as the only volunteer travel organization which has this distinguished certification. It is aligned with the UN and its 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
Volunteers can choose from different projects and trips which include family volunteering vacations, solo traveling, and medical volunteering.
Click here for more information.
8. Fronteering
Fronteering is a volunteer organization that offers volunteers opportunities to partake in different activities outside their volunteering work like dog-sledding in Scotland, heli-diving in Belize, wildlife watching tours in Canada, et cetera.
Focus: Environment, wildlife, local communities, indigenous people, and sustainability across Asia, Africa, Europe, America, and Australia.
Click here for more information.
9. GVI
This volunteer organization’s sustainable development and experimental education are all aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They are spread across 12+ countries and 5 continents.
Focus: Wildlife conservation, climate change research, education, global public health, environmental conservation, women’s empowerment, and gender equality
Click here for more information.
10. Via Volunteers
This is a volunteer organization whose focus is to provide ethical volunteering experiences in South Africa. They have different opportunities, a volunteer can combine projects to stay for long, apply for short-term placement, or go for a full gap year. They also give volunteers the opportunity to incorporate their experience while volunteering.
Focus: Wildlife conservation, childcare, community projects, homeless feeding, education, big cat sanctuaries, reptile conservation, and caring for children with disabilities.
Click here for more information.
Where are Volunteers Needed?
Volunteers are needed in places like:
1. Local parks and recreation centers
2. Local faith organizations
3. Food banks and homeless shelters
4. Human and civil rights organizations
5. Adult education centers
6. Your local library
7. State and national parks
8. Local community centers
9. Animal shelters
10. Disaster relief organizations
11. Food banks and homeless shelters
12. Arts and cultural organizations
13. Retirement homes
14. Political organizations
What are the types of volunteerism?
Volunteering work falls under categories, and these categories are Animals, environmental, healthcare, and social volunteering.
Under animals volunteer work we have:
i. Animal rescue and care
ii. Wildlife conservation
Under environmental volunteer we have:
i. Conservation
ii. Farm work
iii. Climate change
Under healthcare volunteer work we have:
i.Work with the elderly
ii. Counseling
Under social volunteer work we have:
i. Teaching
ii. Working with children and youth
iii. Community development
iv. Local clubs
v. Sporting events
What are the most popular volunteering activities?
When it comes to volunteering, it is important to note that volunteering is about what you love. But below are the most popular volunteering activities.
1. Childcare
2. Environment
3. Teaching
4. Construction
5. Animal care
6. Elderly care
7. Sports
8. Medical and Healthcare
9. Arts and music
10. NGO support
11. Marine conservation
12. Special needs care
13. Refugee support
14. Women’s empowerment
15. Community development
Who can do volunteer work?
1. Families
2. Adults
3. College students
4. High school students
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References
-The 20 Best Organizations for Volunteering Abroad
-12 Different Types of Volunteering Work you can Try
-13 Good Places to Volunteer – Opportunities & Organizations
– Volunteer Activity Ideas
– Benefits of Volunteering