Volunteers typically share common characteristics such as flexibility, compassion, a sense of adventure, and most importantly, the desire to work with and learn from local people in the host community. Volunteers are drawn from throughout the world, mainly from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Approximately 60 percent of our volunteers are women. An increasing number of families are volunteering together.

Repeat Volunteers Enrich Service Programs
More than 30 percent of our volunteers join future teams... either within the same host community, or on a different service program. Some 40 percent of volunteers have served on three teams or more; and more than 20 percent have joined more than five teams. These "encore" volunteers enrich service programs with their experience as team members, and their practical understanding of Global Volunteers' Philosophy of Service. "Encore" volunteers are the backbone of our consistent and high-level service to host communities worldwide. Further, they are excellent resources for new volunteers on most service programs.

Satisfaction Rate Demonstrates Service Value
One of the most reliable indicators of a stable, useful service program is volunteer satisfaction rate. Global Volunteers works diligently to measure and report, and then act on, volunteers' assessments of their assistance to our host communities and the insight they've gained in the process. On-site staff and host partners use this data to make corrections where needed, and to build on program components that produce the most reliable and mutually beneficial outcomes. Since 1984, our volunteer satisfaction rate has grown steadily, to an overall 96 percent of all volunteers rating their service experience above 3.5 on a 5-point scale. More than 35 percent of our new volunteers were referred to Global Volunteers by a former volunteer. Word-of-mouth recommendations have been foundational to our continued program success.