Group Volunteering Opportunities

Be “go-givers!” Enable your group to make a genuine difference. Our group volunteer abroad programs connect you to fascinating people and important service projects worldwide. Teaching conversational English, nutrition and health care; nurturing vulnerable children; supporting pregnant women and mothers; serving at a health clinic; or improving classrooms and community centers can be so many times more enriching and meaningful than a traditional “tour” experience. On-site, you’ll learn about your group members in a non-traditional way, and they’ll know that their unique skills advance the futures of those they serve. In just one to three weeks, you obtain “real life” understanding working directly with youth and families on our long-standing service programs. Change lives – yours and those you serve.

Groups of all sizes and compositions have served with Global Volunteers on six continents since 1984. We strive to meet your service and budget goals through group program discounts and online fundraising. Winter holidays, spring break, J-term, and summer vacation are choice times for meaningful group volunteering abroad or in the USA. Contact us to discuss your particular schedule and needs. Student group coordinators/faculty are eligible to serve at no cost. LGBT groups: contact us about custom programming.

No one has more experience engaging volunteer groups! For over three decades, we’ve excelled in volunteer safety, management and appropriate assignments. Nothing can replace the experience of volunteering together and enjoying the unique local culture each day. Most important, we employ your skills, knowledge and talents to the greatest benefit of the community on development projects with long-term, measurable outcomes. Relaxing together at the end of the day, you compare notes about local people’s needs and struggles; their culture, history, language, and opportunities. You know you’ve been engaged in the world for good. Join with colleagues, friends, classmates, faculty and alumni in a true adventure in service! This is Travel that Feeds the Soul!®

To Understand the World, you Must Engage the World.

To gain an informed perspective of the world – and your place in it – requires reaching beyond your personal boundaries. Extending your hand to others is an act of faith as much as compassion. With Global Volunteers, your group contributes to optimally structured development projects and shares important, life-affirming insights into the real lives of the people you serve.

We support and prepare your volunteer group

Professional in-country staff and partners
On-site orientation and team-building sessions
24-hour emergency phone contact
Emergency medical evacuation insurance

Volunteer fundraising assistance
Professional skills and work project interest questionnaire
Program summary materials and reading lists
Conversational English Teaching Guide

Global Volunteering Manual
Essential Services Prospectus
Language and cultural introductions
Hotel lodging in most partner communities

College and High School Students and Faculty

College and university groups apply their academic training to projects that help parents and local organizations deliver essential services to children. Provide nutrition education and health care interventions; teach hygiene and disease prevention; offer conversational English lessons; tutor math and science; model effective classroom strategies; plant gardens and construct chicken coops; nurture vulnerable babies and toddlers; paint and repair community facilities, and contribute to positive sustainable change. Community project leaders draw on every undergraduate and graduate students’ discipline to advance community development goals.

High school groups can participate in Global Volunteers’ “Students as Teachers” (SAT) program, where they learn what it might be like to be a teacher by teaching conversational English to younger local students who need to improve their language skills. Help with pronunciation, idioms, and syntax through conversations, games, songs, skits, and formal lessons. Our Conversational English Teaching Guide is filled with lesson plans and exercises – so students can “teach like a pro.” Or, they can help paint a classrooms, play with babies, read to pre-schoolers, or tutor math.

What’s more, we integrate educational and cultural learning activities into your student volunteer program to optimize “real-life” service-learning.

Professionals, Community Leaders, Alumni

Corporate, faith-based, professional and alumni groups expect – and rely on – our development expertise to truly make a difference.

For instance, The Prouty Project’s “Stretch Expeditions” on our Ecuador, Vietnam and India Service Programs enabled executives and their family members to discover together their capabilities outside their comfort zones, and the limitations, opportunities and realities of the developing country. Caring for at-risk children, and helping build a new preschool, they significantly advanced local mothers’ ability to provide for their families. Meanwhile, inVentiv Health Clinical staff has worked with Global Volunteers in India, Poland, Romania, Montana and West Virginia to engage in team-building while they applied their skills on important community service projects – and got to know each other through service. Together, we’ve laid the foundation for long-lasting positive change facilitated by their annual service contributions.

Inside classrooms, daycare centers, clinics, libraries, and offices, volunteer groups gain a rare, “insider” perspective of daily life in a developing partner community.

Group Service Program Contribution and Discounts

Details: We take care of everything from the time you arrive at the designated airport until you depart for home. All meals, lodging, ground transportation, orientation to the community, community work project assignments, and safety and security measures are managed by our staff.

Discounts: Talk to us about group discounts for professional associations, faith-based organizations, student groups and corporate groups of 10 or more.

Dates: Reserve a regularly scheduled program, or propose custom dates that fit your schedule. Depending upon your group’s size, you can serve as an exclusive group or join with other volunteers.

“I knew not to expect a traditional vacation, but I do want to express how impressed I was with Global Volunteers’ management of our trip. I try not to have too many expectations prior to a volunteer trip, but those I did have were not just fulfilled, but exceeded. I would recommend your program to anyone and especially to those new to this type of service program.”

Sandy Edwards, BSN, CCRAinVentiv Health

“We would be so excited for an expanded and continued relationship with Global Volunteers, and I’m already planning on pushing for another week next March in Cuba with the organization. The work projects were personal and meaningful for every group member. I heard countless times how pleased they were with the itinerary, the group activities, the service projects, and the chances for exploring freely the sights and sounds of Havana. It was a lot of hard work on everyone’s part, but having you on our side has been tremendous. I was so impressed each day with every aspect of the opportunity!”

Michael TormeyNortheastern University Resident Assistant

“I have given talks on the experience of volunteering in Tanzania throughout the world, highlighting the positive contributions Global Volunteers makes. I’m currently sharing my wonderful experience in Pommern with my 33 students, as I have shared with students at our University for nine years.”

Professor John AlsupBlack Hills State University

“We experienced more than I ever thought we could in one week. This is a great way for a group to get to know another culture. I have visited a number of reservations over the years and have worked with people on a number of them. These have been among the most meaningful and beneficial experiences in my life.”

Gary SandefurProfessor of Sociology, UW Madison Member, Chickasaw Nation

“The more I see of Cuba, the more fascinated I am by it’s people, and their culture and way of life. This program has been more than I could have hoped for! I could not be more grateful to Global Volunteers.”

Sydney PastoreCuba Student Volunteer

“I absolutely fell in love with Tanzania. I felt so at home in the community. Never had I ever experienced such love and warmth from a community. It was during my service that I truly felt I found my path in life, my passion, my purpose, the place I know I will return to again.”

Morgan CormierEndicott College Volunteer

“Life is a learning experience, only if you learn. This service trip in Ecuador, working in the orphanage with the little children, has taught me more than I imagined it would – pure love, compassion and humility – it was a life-changing volunteer experience.”

Micah AugusmaUniversity of Iowa Volunteer

Refelctions on Group Volunteer Abroad Programs

Group volunteers share their experiences:

Group Volunteering Opportunities