There are many, many organizations that recruit and place foreign people in developing countries and require those volunteers to pay the costs associated with the placement (see later on these page on where to find credible programs).

Why do many organizations charge people to volunteer for a few, or several, weeks? Because it is much more beneficial to local, poor or developing communities to use funds to hire local people to serve food, build houses, educate young people, provide medical care, etc., than to use those resources to bring in an outside volunteer. The priority is not you, the volunteer, and your desire to help for a few weeks. Instead, the priority is local people being employed and being in charge of their own community activities.

Volunteers from outside of a community are often needed to fill gaps in local skills and experience, but it's not cost-effective  to pay for a non-expert to come only for a few weeks or months. Therefore, if you want a short-term volunteering assignment (several weeks as opposed to a year), unless you have a critically-needed expertise, be prepared to pay for at least your travel and accommodations, and probably a hefty program fee as well (to pay for the people that will create the assignment for you, supervise you, etc.).

The expenses you will pay for include:

• Your travel within the country, and to and from the country as well
• Your housing during the trip (even if you stay with a local family, they are probably receiving payment from the organization to house you)
• Staff time to train, supervise and support you (translation, working with the local and national government, working with local people to create volunteering opportunities, etc.)
• Payment to local people to work with you (they may not be able to afford to donate their time)
• Security
• Government fees to allow you to work in the country
• Some or all of your meals
• Materials you will use in your volunteering

Someone has to pay these expenses. Would you prefer the organization pay these expenses, taking away local resources from local people - people who may not know where their next meal will come from, or who may be thinking of giving an underage girl to a family as a house keeper or "wife" in exchange for money?

In addition, you will need, on your own, to get travel and health insurance, to cover costs that you main incur if you are sick or injured, including going to or from a doctor.

An additional caution; most companies that recruit and place foreigners abroad in short-term assignments are voluntourism companies: they take all, or almost all, of the people who apply to be "volunteers" and can pay the fee - no evaluation of skills, no requirement that the volunteer have minimal skills, no requirements that the volunteer be an expert in any field, etc. They take everyone and never turn anyone away. Their focus is on giving the volunteer a feel-good experience, one that provides lots of photos and a feeling of doing good things - even though they often aren't doing good things. Supposed wildlife "sanctuaries" capture wildlife as babies, kill the parents, and claim the animals are orphans: you pay a hefty fee to "help" the animals, which are killed as soon as they are too big to be cute anymore. Or these "sanctuaries" keep grown animals in horrific conditions in order to give well-meaning foreigners with deep pockets a feel-good experience. Here's some chilling accounts from people who tried to volunteer this way and about these programs:

• Volunteers themselves speaking out about voluntourism
• The harm of orphanage voluntourism (& wildlife voluntourism as well)
• Medical Voluntourism Can Cause Serious Harm
• Vanity Volunteering: all about the volunteer
• In defense of skills over passion
• Isn’t my good heart & desire enough to help abroad?
• J.K. Rowling speaks out against orphan tourism
• More Than Me scandal in Liberia: a lesson to all who “just want to help”
• But I wanted to help POOR people…”
• Want to work internationally? Get involved locally.
• Is it really *impossible* to break into humanitarian work?
• Ideas for Creating Your Own Large-Scale Volunteering Activity

Quality pay-to-volunteer programs do not let just anyone go abroad, even if they have the money to go. Quality programs will also ask to see in your application and, perhaps, in an interview, that you have these qualities:

• Cooperation: The ability to work well with others, including people very different from yourself
• Sensitivity: An awareness and appreciation of other people's feelings, needs and perspectives
• Commitment to learning: You are there to learn from others, including the people of the community
• Adaptability: The ability to adjust to new situations, including those that are quite foreign to you

Depending on how persistent you are, it will take anywhere from a few months to a few YEARS to raise the funds you need for your DIY or short-term volunteering abroad/voluntourism experience.

1. Work full time and/or a series of jobs in the informal sector (walk dogs, pet sit, provide child care/baby sit, do yard work for neighbors and friends, etc.) and save as much money for your trip. You can be up front with neighbors, friends, family and other potential clients that you are working these jobs in order to be able to volunteer abroad; it may create more business for you. Raising some or most of your own funds may encourage others to support you with donations of their own.

2. Have a garage sale - or more than one. Ask friends, relatives, neighbors and others to donate items for your sale. Have large signs at the garage sale that say you are raising money for a volunteer-abroad experience, and have flyers with the URL of your web site where you will share information about your volunteering experience and the community you will assist.

3. Create a web site or blog about your quest to volunteer abroad. Note what program(s) you are pursuing, and what you hope to accomplish as a volunteer. Don't fundraise for your trip. Don't just say, "I really, really want to go!" You are raising funds for what the results of your trip could be for local people or the environment, and for how you will use the experience after you return. Talk about the country where you will serve, the people, the environment, the animals, etc. Show that you are already learning about the country where you will serve. Think about why YOU would give to someone trying to go abroad to volunteer: what message would make you want to give money to support such a trip? Update your web site or blog regularly as you fundraise, with information about the country where you hope to serve, with information about what you are doing to prepare yourself for the trip, etc. Commit on your web site or blog to sharing photos and blogs from your experience during or after your time abroad, so that everyone who supports you financially (your investors, if you will) can share in your experience. And include on that web site information on how people could donate money to your trip. The odds of total strangers donating to your cause are slim; if anyone chooses to donate online (and there won't be many), it will probably be your friends and family. Note on your web site or blog that you are also working in some way to raise your own money as well (showing that you aren't just asking for donations -- you are taking responsibility for at least some of your own trip expenses as well).

4. Create a savings account at the bank that is only for funds raised for your trip abroad. You can create a Paypal account and have funds deposited directly into this account.

5. Create a budget for your trip and post it to your web site or blog. Include all expenses and exact costs (or the best estimate): the program fee (and what that fee covers), additional travel costs (some program fees don't cover travel to and from the country), passport and visa costs, medical and travel insurance, special travel gear. Be clear about what you intend to pay for yourself (storage space for your things while you are away, international cellular phone, Internet access, vaccinations, etc.).

6. Send emails and postcards through the postal mail, as well as FaceBook updates to all your friends and family, announcing the URL of your web site or blog about volunteering abroad and your intention to go abroad with a particular program. When they visit the web site or blog, they will not only learn about your planned trip, they will also learn that you are raising money for the trip.

7. Make a presentation at your community of faith (church, temple, mosque, etc.) about your plans to volunteer abroad, your plans to share photos and narratives about your experience so anyone can virtually participate in your experience, what you hope to accomplish, etc., and then "pass the hat" for donations for your trip (you will need to ask permission from the community of faith in order to ask for donations after your presentation). Note that you are also working in some way to raise your own money as well (showing that you aren't just asking for donations -- you are taking responsibility for at least some of your own trip expenses as well).

8. Turn your birthday party into a fundraiser for your trip abroad. Invite friends to your house or to a restaurant, and ask in your invitation that, in lieu of gifts, people make donations to help make your trip abroad possible. Note that you are also working in some way to raise your own money as well (showing that you aren't just asking for donations -- you are taking responsibility for at least some of your own trip expenses as well).

9. Host a party, cookout or reception at your home, invite your friends (and encourage them to invite their friends), and show a film or documentary, and/or serve food, relating to the country where you will serve. The film or documentary could also be related to volunteering abroad, or it could simply be a movie you and your friends really love. In your invitation, note clearly that this is a fundraiser for your trip abroad and that you will be asking for donations; do NOT wait until the party, cookout or reception to tell invitees that you have invited them there in order to ask for donations. At the event, make a brief speech that you are raising money for a volunteer-abroad experience, and have flyers with the URL of your web site where you will share information about your volunteering experience.

10. Get permission from your city for a temporary hot dog stand or baked goods stand in a part of your city populated by bars and pubs - and heavily populated by patrons. You will have to buy or make the food yourself that you are going to sell and you will have to have a health department food servers/food prep certification. Have a big sign on your stand that says why you are selling this food, and have brochures or handouts that have information about the trip you will be making. You also have to stay safe; this is not an appropriate activity for anyone under 21, for anyone doing this alone, for an area that is not very well-lit, and in a neighborhood where it would be easy to victimize you.

11. Hold a fundraiser at a local bar, with the local bar's permission. Don't rent the facility; simply ask the bar if there is a slow day or night that you could use as a fundraiser for your cause. Ask a band or friends who sing to provide entertainment (with permission from the bar owner or manager), create a big wall display about what you are going to do as a volunteer abroad, have information to pass out about your web site and the experience you are trying to fund, and make a five-minute speech before and in the middle of the event saying what the event is about and how people can donate to help you make this trip happen. Note that you are also working in some way to raise your own money as well (showing that you aren't just asking for donations -- you are taking responsibility for at least some of your own trip expenses as well).

12. Ask your parents for a loan, and develop a re-payment plan, in writing, for when you return to pay them back in a timely manner.

Thinking of companies "sponsoring" your travel, in exchange for product placement? Again, I cannot emphasize enough how relatively rare this is. Yes, you've seen travelers that have this kind of support - but consider there is probably a thousand for every one of those that tried it and failed.

Your best bet if you want to travel and do good in short-term gigs is to work hard where you are, live frugally, save money, sell your stuff/downsize, have a financial goal, and when you reach that goal, take off.

Track EVERY Donation In Writing

Keep a notebook or a spreadsheet and write down the name of every person who donates, and how much they donate. Thank these people after their donation with a card or postcard, handed to them in-person or via postal mail. Keep them updated about your fundraising efforts and, if you get to go abroad, what happens during your experience. If you do not raise enough money for your trip, offer to return the gift to the person, or to donate the funds to a charity. Give the person the option of getting their money back if you don't get to go on your trip for whatever reason.

 
What About Scholarships, Fellowships and Financial Aid?

Scholarships and fellowships for experiences abroad have to be tied to a university experience - and even then, they are few and far between. If you aren't receiving college credit for this volunteering experience abroad, searching for a scholarship or fellowship is futile.

If this experience isn't in conjunction with your university and therefore isn't an official study abroad experience, but you want it to be, talk with the appropriate professors at your university. One of them may be willing to help you work with the university in order to get college credit for the program, which means it becomes an academic endeavor, something there are a few scholarships for.

Once you have official notification from your university that your volunteering abroad experience will be considered an official study abroad experience, make an appointment with your university financial aid office about finding scholarships, fellowships and financial aid that you might be eligible for. Also see:

The University of Minnesota's Learning Abroad Center's online Scholarship Database allows you to search for funding and scholarship opportunities to help pay for a volunteering abroad experience that has been approved by your university as study abroad experience.

See if your local library or university library has the books Financial Aid for Study and Training Abroad and Financial Aid for Research and Creative Activities Abroad. If they don't, they may be able to order them. You could buy them as well, if you can afford such.

The Peace Corps Fellows/USA program offers returned Peace Corps volunteers financial benefits such as scholarships, reduced tuition and university credit in advanced degree programs at 54 participating colleges and universities. Returned Volunteers who have satisfactorily completed their Peace Corps service have lifetime eligibility for Fellows/USA. Volunteers may choose to participate immediately following their Peace Corps service, or any time thereafter.

The Overland Expo Foundation is affiliated with the Overland Expo (trade shows). They are a nonprofit made up of group of seasoned professionals coming together with common values and goals to advance the overland community. For instance, the Foundation gave financial assistance to the Motorcycle Relief Project, an organization that promotes ADV motorcycling as a way to bring together struggling veterans and first responders. Here's an example of the projects they have supported. If you have a unique volunteering abroad project, one that is particularly worthwhile and, even better, sustainable after you leave, you might want to apply for funding.

 
What About Finding a Sponsor?

Corporations, small businesses and foundations are NOT interested in sponsoring volunteering abroad experiences of this kind. Most corporations and foundations are overwhelmed with such requests and have a blanket policy to always say no. There are thousands and thousands of people who are looking for funding for short-term volunteering abroad activities, and even if you stick with just asking businesses in your own city, know that competition for funds is fierce. Also, donations to fund your volunteering abroad experience are not tax-deductible; they are, rather, personal gifts to you. Therefore, most businesses or foundations aren't even going to call you back regarding your request, and if they do, they are going to say no.

Limit any business requests to small businesses that know you personally (you have worked there, or the owner knows you or your family very well). Approach them just as you would any of your friends and family. If you get even $100 towards your experiences, consider yourself VERY lucky.

 
What About A Big Fundraising Event?

Fundraising events are expensive. Even if you decide you will just have a cookout and invite friends and family to both attend and to donate to your trip, you will have to pay for all the food and drinks. If you want to have a event, keep it simple: just in your home or at a bar where you won't be charged to rent the facilities (which means the bar will be open to the general public, not just your invitees). Here is advice on Creating or Holding a Successful Fund Raising Event, but note just how expensive such an event can be, and how much work such an event requires, for very little return.

 
Where Do I Find Legitimate Fee-Based/Pay-Expenses-Yourself Volunteering Abroad Companies?

Before you pay to volunteer abroad, note that most of these pay-to-volunteer programs are not worthwhile and, in fact, harm local people -- especially those programs focused on orphans. Friends-International, with the backing of UNICEF, has launched this campaign to end what is known as orphanage tourism. For now, the campaign is focused on Cambodia, but don't be surprised if the campaign expands: an incendiary report by South African and British academics focuses on "orphan tourism" in southern Africa and reveals just how destructive these programs can be to local people, especially children. There is also this May 16, 2016 report from The Guardian that volunteers from the west are fueling the growth of orphanages in Uganda. And now there's this July 14 2017 article Charities and voluntourism fuelling 'orphanage crisis' in Haiti: at least 30,000 children live in privately-run orphanages in Haiti, but an estimated 80% of the children living in these facilities are not actually orphaned: they have one or more living parent, and almost all have other relatives, according to the Haitian government.

Research has suggested that voluntourism can often do more harm than good. Voluntourism has been linked to damaging local economies and commodifying vulnerable children. It also can perpetuate harmful stereotypes about the so-called “third world”, while also promoting neo-colonialistic attitudes. There's also this blog from a person who paid to volunteer in an orphanage, and realized just how unethical it was.

Medical volunteering / voluntourism isn't safe from unethical, even dangerous practices as well. Many medical voluntourism web sites invite volunteers with little or no medical training to do invasive procedures abroad, including providing vaccines, pulling teeth, providing male circumcisions, suturing and delivering babies. A researcher notes in this blog, "Most volunteers I’ve observed deliver at least one baby, despite being unlicensed to do so." Read more about the dangers of medical voluntourism here.

Unless a program is recruiting volunteers who have many years of experience working with children or engaged in medical procedures, certifications, references and criminal background checks, and unless the program places volunteers for several weeks (many months is better), stay away from the program.

Don't be Savior Barbie. Seriously, don't be Savior Barbie. Don't take photos of children and post them to the Internet without parent's permission - just like you wouldn't here in the USA. Do not engage in "poverty porn."

Also beware of programs meant to help animals. Unless the program is recruiting volunteers who have many years of experience working with exotic animals, experience running a program at a rescue organization or zoo, have certifications and references, and even an appropriate degree, the program is probably just a way for a nonprofit to make money - and that money is probably NOT going to help the animals. You might even be putting yourself in danger by paying to volunteer at such a place. If the program has photos of people cuddling exotic animals, like baby tigers, absolutely stay away: no responsible organization would allow animals to be handled by humans in this way. Same for if there are photos of people riding elephants - again, no responsible organization would allow animals to be handled by humans in this way. Here is more advice on volunteering with animals, both at home and abroad.

Ask yourself these two questions: (1) would you volunteer abroad if you had no cameras with you? (2) would you trust yourself enough, or be trusted by others, to do this work in your own country, as a volunteer or paid employee? If your answer is no to either of those questions, don't go.

There are some credible - or at least not-so-exploitative - fee-based/pay-expenses-yourself organizations, but they are very hard to find and don't take absolutely everyone who applies and have the money to pay. Here are directories of short-term volunteering organizations, online and in print, that can help you identify credible programs - these are somewhat curated databases (you have a better shot of finding credible volunteer sending orgs through these databases than others):

• Volunteers for Prosperity was a USAID government program through which its partner nonprofits, based in the USA, could recruit highly-skilled American professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, economists, computer specialists, financial sector professionals, business executives and others with specialized technical expertise and significant practical experience to volunteer abroad. The program is gone, but this is an archive of the partners, most of which still exist and welcome volunteers.

• Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) is a consortium of volunteer-sending, nonprofit organizations and is also affiliated with USAID. It helps to coordinate 68 programs in 56 countries and more than 47,000 "volunteer days." Volunteer applicants must be highly skilled and experienced.

• Idealist.org International Volunteerism Resource Center (IVRC) has both advice and links to programs.

• There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs.

• For people in the United Kingdom, there's the Year Out Group, an association of gap-year-abroad organizations that meet certain standards in order to be a member. The Year Out Group does not however organize or arrange year out programs, but it's a good place to find reputable programs.

• This outstanding list of health-related organizations working overseas by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). These organizations offer opportunities to doctors, nurses, and students currently enrolled to become doctors, nurses or other health-care professionals. 

• There is this web page of a massive number of links to organizations that place volunteers internationally; this is a mixture of organizations that do and don't charge volunteers for placements.

• The Learning Abroad Center Work, Intern, Volunteer (WIV) Database, hosted by the University of Minnesota, allows you to search work, internship and volunteering opportunities all over the globe. There are more than 500 programs to choose from, and you can search by keyword, region, type of program, etc.

• The Complete Guide to Finding a Job Overseas, from Transitions Abroad Publishing.

• Lonely Planet published the book Volunteer: A Traveler's Guide to Making a Difference Around the World. It lists and reviews more than 190 organizations that provide short-term volunteer-abroad experiences.

Here are a FEW endorsements of pay-to-volunteer programs that I will make, but only because I know the people involved in these organizations, these organizations have excellent reputations among professional aidworkers regarding the work they do, I know these programs do not take just anyone with the money to go (candidates must have at least some basic skills - and often much more), and I know what these organizations are focused primarily on having a positive impact on local people (not just how warm and fuzzy they make the participating volunteers feel):

Accounting for International Development. Recruits and places accountants from anywhere in the world in a broad range of non-profit organisations globally. "In an era of decreasing foreign aid and rising donor scepticism, the amount now being channelled through independent NGOs operating in developing countries is actually rising. With over 300,000 now operating across Africa and more than 1 million in India alone, the most important question in International Development today is how to improve the impact and accountability of these organisations whilst ensuring the long term sustainability of their worthwhile activities. Never has the demand for sound financial management support across the sector been greater." Volunteer assignments are between two weeks and 12 months. "It is not uncommon for our partners to spend many hours, sometimes days adding figures to complex and confusing Excel spreadsheets, with little working knowledge of the software. In a short time a volunteer could conceivably give back valuable time to front line staff by offering guidance, simplifying reporting methods and assisting with donor queries. In many ways the role of our volunteers is therefore often much more about consultation and mentoring rather than day to day accounting."

World Computer Exchange (WCE). Volunteers travel in teams of seven and assist local WCE partner organizations that have received WCE computers. Volunteers assist with troubleshooting, training and technical support. To be eligible, volunteers must be 21 years of age, have some prior tech skills, and a willingness to participate in technology-related tasks and education. For certain trips there are some language requirements. Trip participants also visit local families and enjoy a variety of opportunities to experience the local culture. Also, accepted volunteers must pay the costs for their trip (flight, etc.).

Unite For Sight and its partner eye clinics and communities work to create eye disease-free communities. "While helping the community, volunteers are in a position to witness and draw their own conclusions about the failures and inequities of global health systems. It broadens their view of what works, and what role they can have to insure a health system that works for everyone..." This program was featured on CNN International. Volunteers, both skilled and unskilled, are 18 years and older, and there is no upper age limit. It is obligatory for accepted volunteers to purchase insurance coverage through Unite for Sight's recommended provider, and volunteers are responsible for all travel arrangements, visa vaccine requirements, lodging, airfare, food, and any additional expenses.

Global Xchange, a program of VSO UK, is made up of two programs: Youth Xchange, which gives 18-25 year olds from the United Kingdom the chance to spend six months making a real difference to the lives of disadvantaged people; and Community Xchange, a six-week programme for community workers and practitioners to learn how to help young people become active global citizens, and how to get different cultures interacting with each other and exchanging ideas.

The Kiva Fellows Program requires a four-month commitment. It offers individuals from any country the opportunity to be officially associated with Kiva and to witness firsthand the impact and realities of microfinance, by working directly with a host microfinance institution (MFI). You do not pay a fee to Kiva, but you are required to undertake all travel and accommodation expenses yourself. A mandatory five-day training is provided (you must pay all expenses to attend). You must be at least 21 years old to apply. Here is the main page for the Kiva Fellows Program and here are the FAQS for the program.

GlobalGiving Foundation Field Visitor Internships. GlobalGiving connects organizations from all over the world with donors who can support their work. They are often looking for self-funded travelers who will be in a region for several months to act as representatives of the organization, conduct site visits of partner organizations and identifying organizations that would be a good match for the Global Giving fundraising site. Volunteers also organize informational workshops during these travels. Volunteers can weave these responsibilities into their tourism of a region. "You will work closely with GlobalGiving's DC staff in preparation for your trip, planning site visits, workshops, travel, and accommodations, while gaining skills in organization and cross-cultural understanding. Upon returning to the U.S., you will present your findings and experience to the GlobalGiving staff." This position is unpaid and program participants are expected to fund their entire trip including airfare, in-country travel and accommodations. GlobalGiving provides training, office support, travel medical insurance, a minimal stipend for communications costs and workshop funding.

Humanist Service Corps, part of Foundation Beyond Belief. Provides an avenue for humanists to engage in global cultural exchange while working to protect human rights and the environment. HSC partners with local organizations and individuals to encourage sustainable programs and practices in their communities. Beginning in the summer of 2015, the Humanist Service Corps will support Ghanaian human rights organizations working to restore dignity to women who have been accused of witchcraft and banished to "witch camps." Although the women are relatively safe from violence once they are in exile, the living conditions are deplorable. They do not have access to basic education and health care, and they are unaware of or are unable to exercise legal protections under Ghanaian and international laws. Humanist Service Corps volunteers will work alongside locals to design and implement projects with the short-term goal of improving the standard of living in the witch camps and the long-term goal of eliminating the dynamics that lead to death or forcible and violent exile of women from their communities. Applications for 2015 will be accepted through December 15, 2014.

World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) is a UNESCO (United Nations) initiative in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS). The WHV initiative mobilizes young people and youth organisations in World Heritage site preservation and promotion. Generally, participants are students between 18 and 30 years old, but the requirements can vary according to the country and the project. Volunteers acquire basic preservation and conservation skills, and to engage in intercultural exchanges with local communities. Many assignments are in remote locations, and volunteers are expected to respect local customs. To get involved in a project, click on the list of projects for the current or upcoming year on the WHV site, and then consult the brief descriptions of each of the WHV action camps for that year. When you find the one you want to participate in, contact the project organizer for that action camp (the email addresses are in the project profiles). To learn more about an action camp and the application requirements, you must contact the local organization in charge of that project (UNESCO does not accept applications). Note: YOU are responsible for funding your own trip! The cost of travel from your country to the site and insurance are YOUR responsibility. Food and lodging are usually provided by the host organization. 

Conservation Volunteers International Program - nonprofit organization that provides volunteering opportunities "for ordinary people to perform extraordinary volunteer services." Projects include maintaining and building trails, restoring archaeological sites, and protecting and restoring critical habitats. "Most of the administrative work of ConservationVIP is done by volunteers, and our trips are led by volunteers." In partnership with REI and various nonprofits.

Bpeace recruits business experts willing to volunteer their time - online/remotely, in-person in the USA or onsite for a week in a developing country - to mentor start ups and growing businesses in the developing countries where Bpeace works. Traveling Mentors are volunteers that work with business in El Salvador via email and the phone for about three months, and travel to El Salvador for about five days to help onsite; volunteers pay for their airfare and Bpeace pays for their 4-star hotel. Volunteer expertise needed: process improvement experts, sales strategy experts, call center experts, and experts regarding food processing, technology and manufacturing.

A WARNING: Several individuals and organizations have posted horror stories about volunteering through the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD), also affiliated with California Campus TG (CCTG). Both organizations are part of a Danish network known as "Tvind." Its volunteering program also operates under the name "Humana People-to-People". See Zehara Heckscher"s warning about this very shady organization for more details and links to other sources. IICD/CCTG/Tvind/People-to-People is not an organization I recommend.

Want to volunteer abroad and not pay? See this detailed resource on volunteering abroad, focused on how to become a skilled person that organizations like the PeaceCorps or UN Volunteers might be interested in. The process takes years, not weeks or months.

You might try PAYAway. "Through our sites we provide suggestions for staying away for longer by taking a gap year or career break, traveling around the world on a RTW ticket and information and job vacancies for finding temporary and seasonal work abroad." Many of these work-abroad jobs are not in support of nonprofit organizations - some are work in "tourism" or catering, such as house keeping jobs at resorts, drivers, and cleaners, some are to work in low-paying jobs on private farms, and live-in nursing and live-in domestic work. There are teaching & TEFL jobs as well. Sites for volunteering are also listed. It's focused on residents of the UK, but at least some of the programs it links to aren't limited to UK citizens. You can also see The Working Traveller, which focuses on travel and how to finance a trip or stay away for longer by working overseas. It's got a lot of information about both volunteering and working abroad.'

Are you getting ready for departure? Then see Packing Advice For First-Time Humanitarians & Aid Workers.

Also see:

Ideas for High Impact Virtual Volunteering Activities
This resource is for people seeking ideas for an online project that will mobilize online volunteers in activities that lead to a sustainable, lasting benefit to a community or cause, particularly for a community or audience that is at-risk or under-served. It was created especially for programs looking for ways to engage online volunteers in high-responsibility, high-impact tasks focused on communities in the developing world, because onsite volunteering abroad is not an option - which is the reality in 2020, and probably 2021, because of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). These ideas absolutely can be adapted for remote volunteering within the same country where the online volunteers live as well - "remote" could mean across town rather than around the world.

Also see:

• transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good."
  Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping. This may be a better, cheaper option for you if you want to have an international experience and make a difference in some way.

• 12 Reasons Not to Volunteer Abroad
  These are the most common reasons people say they want to volunteer abroad. And they are not good reasons. In fact, they often hurt people and animals in other countries, rather than helping.

• Vetting Organizations in Other Countries
  A resource that can help you evaluate volunteer-placement organizations that charge you for your placement as a volunteer, as well as for people interested in partnering or supporting an organization abroad but wanting to know it's a credible organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or an 'organization' of just one person.

• The realities of voluntourism: use with caution
  Voluntourism is really awful and really good. I'm totally against it and I support it. Confused yet? This opinion piece is my attempt to explain why voluntourism sometimes works and why, very often, it's dreadful.

• Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters
  Whenever a disaster strikes, hundreds -- even thousands -- of citizens in the USA start contacting various organizations in an effort to try to volunteer onsite at the disaster site. But what many of these people don't realize is that spontaneous volunteers with no training and no affiliation can actually cause more problems than they alleviate in a disaster situation, particularly regarding disaster locations far from their home. If you want to be a part of the mobilization for a future disaster, here are tips to help you get into "the system," get training, and be in a position to make a real difference.

• Tax credits for volunteering (for residents of the USA) - includes information on tax deductions for volunteering abroad

• 5 ideas erróneas que muchas personas tienen sobre lo que implica hacer un voluntariado internacional
  A lo mejor la imagen de voluntarios jugando fútbol con niños en África, construyendo una escuela, cocinando con las mujeres de una aldea o dando clases a una comunidad. Pareciera que la participación de una personas en un proyecto en que se lleva a cabo en países en vías de desarrollo, lograra grandes y duraderas transformaciones, pero no es así. Esta información es de Hacesfalta.

• Using the Internet to Share Your Adventure During Your Adventure
  Advice on blogging, photo-sharing, tweeting, etc. while you are traveling.

• Hosting International Volunteers
  More and more local organizations in developing countries are turning to local expertise, rather than international volunteers, to support their efforts. However, the need for international volunteers remains, and will for many, many years to come. This resource provides tips for local organization in a developing countries interested in gaining to international volunteers.

• Packing Advice For First-Time Humanitarians & Aid Workers
  What you should pack before you head out on your first mission trip.

Also see

How to Make a Difference Internationally/Globally/in Another Country Without Going Abroad

Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters.

Volunteering with organizations that help animals and wildlife.

Volunteering on Public Lands in the USA (national parks, national forests, state parks, wetlands, etc.)

How to Find Volunteering Opportunities, a resource for adults who want to volunteer

Finding Community Service and Volunteering for Teens

Advice for Volunteer Groups / Group Volunteering.

More than you ever wanted to know about Creating or Holding a Successful Fund Raising Event.

Crowdfunding for a Personal Cause: A Sick Family Member, Someone in Dire Financial Crisis, Etc.

Volunteering with Seniors.

Details on how to quickly fill a community service obligation from a court or school.

How to complain about your volunteering experience.

How to Get a Job with the United Nations or Other International Humanitarian or Development Organization

Advice for family volunteering - volunteering by families with children and, related, advice for teaching children compassion & understanding instead of pity with regard to poverty.

Hoping to Help: The Promises and Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work)  

 
How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas

Lonely Planet Volunteer: A Traveller's Guide to Making a Difference Around

Alternatives to the Peace Corps: A Guide to Global Volunteer Opportunities, 12th Edition

 
Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others

 
The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life

 
Volunteer: A Traveler's Guide to Making a Difference Around the World (Lonely Planet)

 
Frommer's 500 Places Where You Can Make a Difference

 
The Insider's Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go