Ethical Volunteering for Travel

Discovering Ethical Volunteering Work

Volunteer work is one of the best ways to see the world.  But not all volunteer agencies are good, honest or even very helpful.  Elephant sanctuaries in Thailand and tiger preserves in China are dreadfully infamous for poor practices.  In both cases, people are allowed near-constant physical interaction with the animals. This drives up stress, makes creatures vulnerable to diseases and creates a tidy profit to encourage continued exploitation.  

However, there are programs that operate in reverse.  Some animal sanctuaries put wildlife first. Volunteers are required to keep away from physical interactions, much of the work is rooted in food preparation and habitat management.  These are truly splendid volunteer opportunities that genuinely help.

Discerning the difference between honest volunteer work and scams is a tricky. There are a few easy steps a person can take to ensure your actions are an asset to the world.  

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Check the Organization Website for Testimonies

The easiest and swiftest way to find legitimate organizations is by visiting their websites and secondary sources, such as Google or ethical volunteering watchdog programs.  The website should state clear goals, as well as a walkthrough on how these are achieved.  Secondary sources should have various reviews regarding the experience with extremely few (if any) negative reviews.  

Though this method isn’t foolproof, it does a good job of weeding out the truly horrendous organizations.

Make sure the company’s mission statement and goals remain consistent across their website and other sources.  Often, scams tend to lack cohesion in messages, since different people add to the website at different times.  If there isn’t a real organization, these concepts become conflicting since they’re not rooted in reality.

For example, a website that says “We’re dedicated to replanting the deforested area around the national park” while Google states “This organization prevents poachers from killing animals in our national park” is suspicious.

However, if a website says “We’re bringing education opportunities to impoverished countryside villages,” while a secondary source states “We hope to provide a more well-rounded education to villages with limited education access” is a far more comforting parallel. 

Preventing Money Grabs

Sometimes, volunteer organizations require money, even if a person is volunteering their time as well.  This is a valid business model, but it also promotes scams.  Not all governments in the world are entirely capable of weeding out these scams, so they thrive in more secluded parts of the world.  

If money can only be sent in advance digitally and the amount is substantial, be cautious.  If a volunteer organization has multiple methods for sending money (including bringing cash in hand) plus receipts of payment, then there is a higher chance of legitimacy. 

Furthermore, if an organization does ask that volunteers donate money alongside time, be sure to carefully track where the cash is going.  In theory, some should be used to provide food and lodging for the volunteer, some should go into products for the cause and some should be used to help the organization full-time employees maintain their lifestyle.

Verify Online Resources

Anyone can write a positive testimony.  Only third party verification organizations can attest to the accuracy.  Look at websites like Glassdoor to ensure testimonies and organization reviews are legitimate.  Organizations which provide ethical volunteering will have on-site testimonies with third-party sources matching them.

Beware Social Media Snipers

A Social Media Sniper is a person who individually targets “marks” for money or scams.  

When a person is researching something, it is common to join social media groups to ask for information.  A Social Media Sniper will then reach out independently and offer insights, services and guarantees after forging a false relationship.

Social Media Snipers in the travel-volunteer sphere have several pitches to be avoided.

Watch Out for Dependency Projects – This is a task that can only be finished by completing a different task.  For example, only being able to volunteer after completing a survey or going to a location first

Avoid Money Grab Projects – Projects that ask for payment or donations up front

Be Wary of Placement Logistic Volunteers – This is a volunteer organization scam which has a person work “on probation” with a promise of a full-time volunteer position if they do well

Avoid Disconnected Asset Volunteer Work – Ensure volunteer work is actually applicable to the community.  For example, teaching English as a Second Language for free in a highly affluent, bilingual area is not legitimate volunteer work

Generally, keep information on public forums.  If Social Media Snipers ask for direct messages on a social media platform, it’s wise to avoid that message or request entirely. If links are added, don’t open them.

Independent Volunteer Jobs

While living at home, independent volunteer work is fine.  If Old Man Jenkins picks up garbage on the beach every Sunday and six kids from school join him for their community service hours, great. 

But if you’re about to fly to an entirely new country for the sake of a volunteer job, it must be a vetted organization.  Any independent volunteer, no matter how well-intentioned, may not have the resources to ensure a safe or comfortable living situation. Part of ethical volunteering involves personal care while trying to help others.

Placement Companies

Placement companies are basically just temp agencies under a different name.  They’re designed to funnel eager volunteering visitors into secondary organizations.  Placement companies typically don’t offer ethical volunteering oppertunities.

Always ensure you’re working directly for the volunteer organization you’ve applied for.

Voluntours VS Eco-Tourism

A Voluntour is the idea that people can breeze through an area and impart some form of public good in a short period of time.  A voluntour might be a program driving through an impoverished portion Brazil, stopping at various locations for a combination of tourism and dropping off donated goods.

Generally, these are not ethical.  Volunteer work is hard.  It takes a lot of effort, coordination and planning to ensure it is done properly and has a positive impact.  The idea that people can breeze through an area, drop off some goods or money and leave the area substantially better is unlikely.  I’m sure there are a few decent organizations out there who have carefully calibrated this model, but I’ve not seen one in my lifetime.  

However, there is also a form of Tourism called Ecotourism which is perfectly legitimate. Ecotourism focuses more on the tourism side of things.  Organizers understand that people are arriving for a vacation and they work hard to match this expectation.  During an ecotour, the focus is primarily on education, minimizing ecological impact and ensuring that money spent goes towards good causes (local community, environmental preservation, etc.)

When looking for ethical volunteer work, avoid just breezing through an area.  But if you are traveling for vacation rather than volunteer work, finding an ecotourism organization is excellent. 

Conclusion

Overall, volunteer work remains one of the most wholesome and beneficial ways to explore the world.  It allows a traveler to become immersed in the culture while providing real improvements to the lives of local people.  There are nearly unlimited wonderful and profound volunteer opportunities around the world.

However, for the few scams that are out there, a fair amount of vetting is warranted.  Always makes sure efforts are ethically sound and a profound help to the community, rather than a few individuals. 

Visit the Leftfade Trails Blog Site to read about firsthand experience volunteering ethically abroad

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