Volunteering Abroad

[Lou09]

Hey,

Does anyone know of any companies and employees who may be interested in Volunteering abroad due to job losses, cuts etc. where would be the best place to leave information do you think? hair saloons, schools, cafes etc? anyone with any suggestions would greatly appreciate it?

[Stargal]

Moved to the Volunteerism thread - seemed more appropriate.

So OP, you're basically offering the opportunity to people to volunteer abroad? Can you give more details? Colleges would be a good place to advertise; it's probably difficult to get in touch with large groups of people who have been laid off.

[WeeBushy]

Bar leaving flyers at the dole offices maybe?

[Lou09]

Yeh going to try colleges as volunteering seems to be very popular with them, we do alot of advertising with colleges already as alot of courses do an internship and you can opt to volunteer either, but unfortunately have to wait until september for that.
Yeh it is hard to get in touch with large groups of people.
Maybe even companies that have been slowly laying people off, and that people might keep us in mind for the future that maybe always wanted to do something to help people and never got the chance due to work commitments.

the volunteer programmes come at a cost a program fee, as you have a choice on what kind of volunteering you would like to do , where you want to do and we organise airport pick up transfers, food accommodation and a donation to the community, etc. but it is a for profit organisation(even though it is very little that we actually make) its alot more organised than some volunteer programmes that are charities, as you pay a little bit more for the extras.

Im not so sure about the dole offices as people mite not have disposable income to volunteer abroad and are more then likely concerned more about themselves (understandbly)

Thanks for the answers though, really really appreciate it.

[dory]

So, you want to make money out of people's goodwill?
I think i-to-i beat you to it with that scheme. Any decent charity I know does not buy into this.

[WeeBushy]

Originally Posted by dory

So, you want to make money out of people's goodwill?
I think i-to-i beat you to it with that scheme. Any decent charity I know does not buy into this.

I wouldn't be quite so quick to say this. Two for-profit organisations worked closely with two separate charities that I have been closely involved in, and when I first arrived I was very sceptical to their worth however they both donated large sums of money to projects which were at the time extremely urgent, and through their contacts were able to provide extra man power as well. They also put a lot of their time and professional help into promoting these charities. While they are for-profit, they were both not just in it to make money out of charities, they had their interests in mind as well. Unfortunately, however, these kind of set ups are not a given.

I don't know the OP, or their charity, so don't know what kind of operation they run. If it were purely for-profit I would find that morally reprehensible to the extreme.

OP, can you shed some light on this?
If I were you I would also be very careful in making sure the people who do express an interest in you know exactly where their money is going, how much makes it directly to the charity in question and also what extra work you do with the profits, if any.

[Lou09]

Basically it's not a purely for profit organisation. It was set up with the best interest of poorer less fortunate countries in mind, but as the volunteering became more popular the over head costs also increased(as they needed more staff etc.) the organization really do have these less fortunate countries in mind when sending people abroad, they do everything in their power to find the best volunteers to send , through vetting, garda certificates and so on. The company would not send anyone to these countries if they did not think that it would benefit the community they are going to. So its not like a money making scam.

To be honest when I began working in the organisation I was very sceptical about the whole thing and really thought that it was a big scam to make profits, but through working there and talking to the volunteers that went and the organizations that host the volunteers in the countries I have really began to see that they are making a difference, so much of the cost of the programmes go back into trying to get more people to volunteer (like big marketing strategies...stuff that I would have never thought of) and to the actual communities, i guess you could kind of say that the costs are constantly getting recycled in a way, and funnily enough any profits are still going towards marketing to encourage more people to go. In the beginning if I was ever to go volunteering abroad I would certainly not have gone with a company that was for profit, but now that Ive seen how its works I think I would definitely do it.

To answer your other question the volunteers are certainly made aware of where their money is going and we are very forward in telling them that we are not a charity, and we do make a profit from these programmes. When they go to the countries (depending on which country) they are volunteering many of them stay with local families, and see the benefits of their programme fee that the familiy have recieved. Loads of the volunteers also choose to raise sponsorship when going on these programmes and are able to give the money directly to the communities themselves.

I hope I have shed enough light