Why Pay for Volunteering Abroad?

One of the most popular sectors in the travel market is volunteer travel. For people who are planning a trip abroad and want to contribute to social development, one question is common: why pay for volunteering?

1. Hosting a volunteer is not free for local NGOs

The place or project chosen for volunteering needs to facilitate your work, provide resources and one of the reasons why some NGOs never have volunteers is because they don’t have funds for that. Facilitation of work, training, orientation require human resources (usually those who are paid). When an NGO doesn’t have such a resource they prefer not to have an “unmanaged and not supervised volunteer”. SBB, instead, supports local NGOs in the facilitation process and this is a cost involved.

2. Basic expenses are not small funds for NGOs

No matter whether you are volunteering within your country or abroad, you need food, shelter, travel, coordination. To fulfill all these necessities, many organizations can’t provide resources. Yes, there are international NGOs with huge funding so they can allocate volunteer expenses in their budget, but the reality is, that the small NGOs are the ones that truly require support and assistance. Volunteers in many developing countries are encouraged to cover their own financial expenses to secure an uninterrupted volunteering flow.

3. If you volunteer, you should select a real and trusted NGO

Volunteering is a unique way to get real insights and experience of a country and benefit the society, but for this, one needs to do very thorough research and not to be looted in the huge number of NGOs all across the developing world. SBB has a dedicated team that conducts vetting of each project we work with and we always monitor the work to ensure the sustainability of it.

4. In a nutshell, you get a hassle-free experience

• Don’t spend hours searching NGOs, get placed directly in a vetted project.
• Get the full orientation of the program and coordination support.
• If you fear solo traveling then it is best as it involves groups or support staff locally.
• Forget the worries of accommodation and food, be safe and secure with SBB team.

Hard work and motivation can’t only ensure the smooth running of an organization as funding contributes to the ultimate impact of projects. Thus, paying for volunteering makes the use of your money for a vital cause- to ensure that your program is sustainable and meaningful!  Hurry to apply for our volunteer projects in Nepal and Armenia-both the countries are open now!