Overseas volunteering: where does your money go?

Location, location, location!

Given the current economic climate which has apparently made this year the worst time to graduate; and also because (aside from student debt), few students are restricted by financial obligations, taking a gap year to do some volunteering is an increasingly popular choice, and it’s easy to see why.

Not only does volunteering overseas make you more employable, but it’s also good to have some time out while you’re still thinking about career options.

Not only does volunteering overseas make you more employable, but it’s also good to have some time out while you’re still thinking about career options, and it’s likely to be a fantastic new experience. However, volunteering can be really expensive, and it sometimes may be unclear where exactly your money goes.

There are lots of companies out there to choose from, but it’s important to think carefully about what you want from your experience - do you want to go with a big company who organise everything for you (flights, visas, insurance etc), or do you want to organise it yourself? Do you want to make a direct contribution to the project that you are working with, or would you rather invest in a larger organisation who make a significant contribution to projects over a wider area of the globe?

Are you looking for a once in lifetime experience in a new or beautiful country, or is there a specific problem that needs tackling that you would like to help work towards? How important is the location to you? There are various benefits from each type of experience:

Frontier (frontier.ac.uk), established in 1989 is a not-for-profit conservation and development non-governmental organisation, which focuses on community development, economic growth and ecosystem protection in the world’s poorest countries.

Frontier advertises its projects as ‘encompassing some of the most exciting and dramatic landscapes on earth…from stunning coral reefs and other marine environments, fascinating rainforests, mangroves, mountain ranges and breathtaking savannah’; and ‘an important spring board to a career in one of the world’s most prestigious conservation and development organisations’.

Unfortunately it’s not cheap to volunteer overseas, and a project with Frontier will cost you from £495 for a four week, from £1,495 for a ten week and from £2,495 for a twenty-week project, although prices can soar high above these.

These prices include accommodation, living and travel costs and training, but you will have to pay for flights, insurance and vaccinations separately. Frontier offer two types of projects: Frontier Group Projects, which involve ‘living off the beaten track’ in a field camp conducting research and surveys; and Frontier Supported Projects which allow you to ‘immerse yourself in a different culture and live like a local’.

...a journalism project on a national newspaper in Kenya will set you back £1,595 for four weeks.

The latter might involve projects such as community work, sports coaching or journalism, but that’s not to say this will cost you any less – a journalism project on a national newspaper in Kenya will set you back £1,595 for four weeks. No specific cost breakdown is provided for these types of projects, but your contribution goes towards running the projects, researching and developing new projects, host families, food and in-country support.

High prices like these do raise the question of whether it is better to organise your trip yourself and part with less cash. It’s all about personal preference, and if you can find the money and are looking for a smooth-running and exciting experience, then an organisation like Frontier might be your best bet.

Projects Abroad (projects-abroad.co.uk) is another large overseas volunteering organisation, with project work including teaching, conservation and environment, and medicine and healthcare. They recommend that you book your flights through their organisation in order to ensure safe and reliable scheduled airlines, and sensible routes and layover times, although this is obviously not essential and does come at a price.

Unlike Frontier, however, Projects Abroad aren’t not-for-profit, which they justify in saying that it saves time by not having to run ideas past a board of directors, and they also argue that ‘most not-for-profit organisations cost the same as Projects abroad…but offer you no extra services. Our “profits” are ploughed back into project development, just as theirs are’.

Prices start from £995, and this includes food, accommodation, airport transfers, insurance and in-country support. Projects abroad also provide a breakdown of exactly how your money is distributed, which is interesting to examine.

Quite a high percentage (35%) of your money is spent on living costs and insurance, 21% accounts for in-country support, 19% goes on administration, 17% on worldwide recruitment, and 8% on new project development. It is interesting to discover that none of your money goes on the actual project that you are visiting, which is important to bear in mind if you visit a project lacking in basic provisions, which may well be the case given that Projects abroad works with some of the poorest countries in the world.

When asked why the volunteer’s contribution does not directly go towards their chosen project, Projects Abroad responded by saying:

"The way Projects Abroad helps is by sending volunteers who can help reduce their costs of hiring staff or help with under-staffing when there aren't sufficient funds to hire more staff. We regularly give donations to many of our projects, including providing an ambulance to one of the hospitals we have links with, building a classroom block for one of the schools and give regular donations to orphanages for clothes or books, for example".

This then raises the question of why a volunteer should have to contribute towards a project they are not involved in. Projects Abroad justify this with another question:

"Why should volunteers who choose to pass on their IT skills in our centre in Sri Lanka have to pay more than those people who choose to pass on their language skills?"

It is likely that many volunteers would want to do the same sorts of work, and naturally large organisations like Projects Abroad have an obligation to spread the money they receive as fairly as possible over a large area of the world.

An alternative to this problem of spreading the wealth is volunteering with a smaller organisation

An alternative to this problem of spreading the wealth is volunteering with a smaller organisation, working in fewer countries, such as Be More ([http://www.be-more.org be-more.org). Be More is a not-for-profit British and Dutch charity that promotes engagement in international development issues and supports small community-managed and developed organizations in Africa.

It is a small organisation with 7 projects in South Africa, working in schools, orphanages and hospices. Prices range from £610 to £904 per four weeks, which includes housing and accommodation, transport, training and a donation to the project (£60 in all instances).

Volunteering with a smaller organisation like this one does mean you can be sure of where exactly your money is going, and some people may appreciate knowing that some of their contribution goes directly towards their chosen project.

Projects with Be More like to remain independent and self-sufficient, which is why they have permanent staff, but rely on volunteers instead of having to employ extra staff. And with 4 or more volunteers staying and rotating every 4 weeks, that’s an additional £160 per month in donation costs which is no doubt a helpful source of income.

Unlike Frontier and Projects Abroad, Be More only support projects that were already established before they came in. So it might be worth considering if this difference between the organisations matters to you.

So there are lots of things to think about when choosing who to volunteer with, and it’s worth considering your requirements or preferences carefully before you spend your money. Although potentially challenging, organising a volunteering placement independently could allow you to cut down on costs and see for yourself where your money and help is needed, to make a more significant contribution on a smaller scale.

It is possible that individual volunteers may be denied entrance to schools, hospitals and orphanages, because they are strangers who haven’t been vetted by an organisation. So this is something to think about.

Gapyear.com is a useful website which can help you organise your trip. Here you can find a travel buddy, read travellers’ blogs and journals, get advice on sorting travel insurance, flights, hostels and inter-railing, and also find lots of information on a large range of countries.

There are also opportunities to book projects in community work, animal care and education through external companies. So if you’re still undecided about overseas volunteering, this might be a good starting point for you to gather all the necessary information before making any decisions.

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