How to use this database.

Search the database to find organisations that meet the following criteria:

1. Which continent can I volunteer in?
2. What kind of activities can I get involved with?
3. What type of organisation can I volunteer with?
4. How long can I volunteer for?

We have attempted to include as much information as possible on the organisations with entries in this database.

Contact details: The contact details set out the organisations’ addresses, their phone and fax numbers, their website address and the best email address to use if you want to contact them with a volunteer query.

Organisational details: This sets out information on when the organisation was established, whether it is for-profit or not-for-profit, and the type of organisation it is (as discussed in “Making a Decision” [link to “Types of Organisations”]). The “stated mission” provides a very brief overview of the aims and ethos of the organisation: contact them directly if you have any further requests for information about this.

Volunteer placement details:  This information covers the countries in which the organisations arrange volunteer placements, the activities that volunteers can undertake, the duration of the placements, and age requirements, if any.

In general, most volunteer placing organisations cover a wide range of activities. In order to classify these, we have used the following 16 headings. The definition of these categories is very broad, in order to accommodate the range of possible activities within them.

• Administration/management: Covers organisations where volunteers may participate in programme/project administration and management. Examples include assisting with the day-to-day running of a programme, financial/strategic planning, and overall project management.
• Agriculture: Includes organisations where volunteers can be involved in agricultural activities that range from assistance with planting/harvesting of crops, to working with livestock, to working as an agronomist or vet.
• Business: Covers all aspects of developing, running and expanding businesses. This includes a large range of ventures, such as micro-finance initiatives, fair trade, eco-tourism, and sustainable income generating activities.
• Capacity building: Involves the transfer of required skills and knowledge to individuals and/or groups. Qualified/experienced personnel in general.
• Children/young people: Covers organisations who mention children/young people as a specific target group of their activities. Activities can include assisting with educational programmes, sport and arts activities, working in orphanages, etc.
• Community development: Covers organisations where activities are targeted at strengthening and enhancing supports for the local community. Activities range from assisting with the construction of community facilities to working on human-rights based projects.
• Conservation/environment: Ranges from non-skilled help with environmental conservation projects to undertaking specialised research.
• Construction: Ranges from provision of non-skilled labour to provision of highly skilled input into building projects.
• Disability/special needs: Working in a range of areas with people with disabilities and/or special needs.
• Education: Covers the informal and formal sectors; all areas from teaching English to training trainers.
• Health/medical: Covers all activities involving doctors, nurses, nutritionists and dentists. Also includes health education and awareness-raising programmes.
• Human rights: Any placements with a specific human-rights dimension.
• Internships: organisations that provide internships in developing countries
• Technical support: Provision of skilled support to projects, ranging from IT to accounting to assisting with funding applications
• Women: Covers organisations that mention women as a specific target group of their activities. Examples include working with women’s micro-finance groups, working on activities to promote women’s rights, women’s educational projects/
• Other: For organisations involved in activities not outlined above. See their websites for further details.

Disability access: this tends to depend on the facilities available for the placement, and people are asked to contact organisations to receive further details.

Language requirements: sets out whether volunteers are required to have specific language skills for participation in a project.

Educational/professional qualifications: provides informationabout the particular educational and/or professional qualifications that may be a prerequisite for participation. Other requirements: sets out whether there are any other requirements for participation, for example, having particular religious beliefs.
Application procedure: describes how to go about applying to an organisation if you are interested in volunteering with them, including whether references and an interview are required.

Programme Costs: contains details of any costs associated with the placement. Only programmes that have absolutely no costs, including travel expenses, will have “no” as a response to this heading. Otherwise, we have attempted to give an idea of the figure at which costs can start.

Benefits: refers to everything that is provided for volunteers as part of the programme. This can cover a wide range of things, including all travel costs, visas, accommodation, food, in-country training, donations to host community, insurance, and, in some cases, a small stipend for volunteers. It is important to note that both these categories will be subject to change, and that the most up-to-date information will be available directly from the organisation.

Work individually/in teams: gives some more information about the type of situation in which you will work in-country.

The final headings are pre-programme training, post-programme debriefing and contact with returned volunteers. The information contained under these headings aims to give potential volunteers more insight into the structures of the organisation and the supports it offers throughout the volunteering programme.