How to choose a responsible volunteering company

We recommend all our volunteers research the organisation they are volunteering with to ensure there is a genuine need for their skills, that they are properly briefed and adequately supported for the duration of their placement. To help them do this, we have published 10 questions to ask before applying for a volunteer role. Consequently, we would request that any organisation promoting their volunteer placements through Responsible Travel is happy and prepared to answer the following questions from potential volunteers:

Volunteer organisations which have the best interests of their projects at heart will make sure the volunteers they recruit are suitable for the project.

All too often there are stories of volunteers turning up to find there is nothing worthwhile to do, with a frosty welcome from local people upset their real needs are being ignored, or because local teacher has been sacked to make room for a paying volunteer. Find out whether the project was suggested by a local community, where relevant, or a local organisation rather than a vacation company's marketing department. For a project to be sustainable and grow the drive needs to come from local people and address real local community or conservation needs, with local jobs protected and supported by the work of volunteers. Working jointly with local people where possible means skills you, the organisation and other volunteers bring to the project will be shared and will continue to make an impact after you leave.

Well run projects with clear goals and long-term plans will be able to explain in detail what work you will be doing, and how your role fits into the wider project as a whole.

This will help you understand project in more detail, get first-hand feedback on the organisation, and to get a clearer idea of the local impacts the project is having.

Monitoring is essential - to ensure that the volunteers' time and skills are needed, that they are being used in the correct places and that the project is having a genuinely positive impact upon the local community or environment. Any organisation that genuinely cares about their project will want to ensure they are improving things - and a report is a key way to prove this.

This increases your chances of having a positive impact on projects working in or near to local communities. Poorly prepared volunteers who impose their own agenda and cultural norms, and fail to include local people in decisions, can leave behind more problems than they solve, making life even tougher for people in developing nations. Cultural briefing - before departure or upon arrival - can include anything from the correct clothing or taboo subjects to appropriate gifts and interaction between men and women.

One important reason people choose to pay to volunteer with an organisation rather than travel alone is the vital support network it provides. You may be volunteering in a remote area far from emergency medical care, or in a large city with a risk of crime. Sickness and accidents can happen anywhere in the world - an in rare circumstances, there may be issues with the placement itself or within the local community. For this reason, the organisation must provide volunteers with in-country support, available by phone, as well as details of procedures if the volunteer needs to leave their placement or receive assistance.

Responsible organisations will be working hard to make all their activities are benefitting local people and local environments and will be able to show you how they do this. Any genuinely ethical organisation will welcome requests from volunteers to demonstrate their commitment to responsible tourism.

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Photo credits: [Healthcare volunteering - double: Moving Mountains Trust] [Orca research: NOAA Photo Library]