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  • Best Volunteer Abroad Programs for All Ages

Volunteer Worldwide:  Push beyond your boundaries and see what a difference you make! Help children and families thrive on the best volunteer abroad programs available. Build, teach, and provide care on stimulating and cohesive service programs. These are measurable and meaningful projects that truly change lives! What’s more, you’ll work with boomers, seniors, gen-x’ers and millennials who all share a common vision of global possibility. Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community are welcome individually and in groups. Chances are good you’ll find kindred spirits on any of our volunteer abroad programs!

You can be certain your help is needed and wanted worldwide, because we always work under the direction and at the invitation of local partners. Each service program engages you in important community development projects, such as teaching English, planting and maintaining community gardens, repairing clinics and classrooms, caring for at-risk children – and so much more.

Our volunteer coordinators are available by email, phone and chat to describe our volunteer programs abroad and in the USA.  We’ll help you decide on projects that best suit your interests and skills. On site, our proprietary orientation, team-building sessions and educational presentations give you a superior perspective on the host community and your service opportunities. Our community partners offer tips on how to volunteer overseas respectfully and effectively. All enable you to give back in a fun and meaningful way. Extend the value of your knowledge many times over!

The Best Volunteer Abroad Programs Transform Lives

You enrich your life when you help others. Our knowledgeable and engaged community leaders enable us to offer the best volunteer abroad programs to serve local people. More than three decades of sustained community development assistance uniquely qualifies us to prepare you to volunteer overseas. Our long-term relationships, exceptional volunteer management and comprehensive community service enable you to make a real difference.  That’s why our alumni recommend us many times over to their friends and family members.

Our practice of always working hand-in-hand with local people meet and exceed the highest international standards for volunteer programs abroad. You can contribute in ways that suit you the best: Use your professional skills in exciting, unfamiliar settings. Or, pursue a new skill. Serve with new friends and teammates. Pursue a deeper understanding of the promise of the world’s youth. Joining like-minded, motivated and compassionate people from all over the world on volunteer abroad programs can be one of the most significant experiences of your life.

We support and prepare you to volunteer overseas and in the USA

  • Professional in-country staff and partners

  • On-site orientation and team-building sessions

  • 24-hour emergency phone contact

  • Emergency medical evacuation insurance

  • Language and cultural introductions

  • Professional skills and work project interest questionnaire

  • Program summary materials and reading lists

  • Conversational English Teaching Guide

  • Global Volunteering Manual

  • Essential Services Prospectus

  • Volunteering fundraising assistance

  • Hotel lodging in most partner communities

Depending on your appetite for challenge and adventure, you can choose from programs close to home, or volunteer programs abroad in a community unseen by conventional tourists. And, you can choose between rugged, physically-challenging environments or the familiarity of a classroom and comfortable hotel in a small town or urban area. Each service opportunity has its unique appeal, while the comfort and familiarity of our program logistics are standard from program to program.

Because of the unique needs in our partner communities the world over, you can find new volunteer abroad programs to fulfill your goals year after year, confident that our standards and procedures are the same in every country. Each volunteer program overseas deepens your perspective of the world and your place in it.

“I always feel safe and well taken care of when serving with Global Volunteers.”

“We fell in love with the people and the area of Pommern. The community, teachers, and students were so warm and welcoming to us, that we quickly felt a strong connection to them. We wanted to continue our work by helping in a project that would be long-term and sustainable. It became our main focus.”

“It’s kind of a cliché, but I just gain so much more than I give. Volunteering in this ways gives you insight into the culture in a way you could never get as a tourist. You live with the people, you go to their homes and mingle with teachers. You realize you have something in common with the people you’re working with. It really is waging peace through justice worldwide.”

“Each time (I serve), I receive the positive feelings that are felt for Global Volunteers. There’re few places in life that I have received the confirmation of the importance of my role in such an obvious manner.”

“It’s very difficult to explain that this was not just a trip. It was a life-altering experience for both of us. We touched as many people as we could and made a difference in their lives. Sometimes we got so excited and charged up about our work, we couldn’t sleep at night.”

“I thank everyone for their dedicated work, that allows for those in need to be touched by well-organized out-reach programs filled with love. It is a privilege to be a part of Global Volunteers, and I treasure each of my 5 trips.”

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Learn from Others About Volunteer Programs Abroad

Our worldwide volunteers themselves describe their experiences the best. Learn more from them here:

Fill the form below for more volunteer abroad information, or call: (800) 487-1074


Please take a moment to answer these questions so that we can best help you.


We will immediately direct your inquiry to our Group Coordinator, who will contact you shortly. In addition, please answer the following:



Great! We will direct your question to your volunteer coordinator. Click Next Page button below to continue.

Global Volunteers is a U.S. based NGO in the central time zone (UTC -6). Because tax-deductibility, visa requirements, and language proficiencies vary, please choose the country you’re inquiring from to enable us to provide you the most appropriate information.



Thank you for your interest in a development partnership with Global Volunteers. We're unable to expand our programs at this time. As our website portrays, our current service programs center around providing the 12 Essential Services for our Reaching Children's Potential Program. But for future reference, please send any information to: partnershiprequest@globalvolunteers.org


As a private, non-profit organization independent from government and religious funding, Global Volunteers’ programs are financed almost entirely by volunteer contributions. This is important because our community partners cannot afford the “open market” costs of the services and materials we provide. Your tax-deductible service program contribution pays your expenses in the partner community. These include your food, lodging, work site transportation, program materials, team leadership, emergency evacuation insurance, and administrative costs. In addition, we provide supplemental financing to help meet our host’s many, on-going and special needs.


While English fluency does not disqualify you from participating on any of our programs, Global Volunteers is a U.S based NGO with your teammates, training materials and other communications being conduced primarily in English.

We’re unable to provide any assistance in obtaining your passport or visa. You'll need a passport to travel abroad and for some countries, you’ll need a visa.  Please keep this in mind when planning your travel schedule. If you live outside the U.S., you may have additional restrictions for participating on U.S. programs.

To provide you with information to match your specific interests, please tell us a little about you:




Many employers help cover part of the service program contribution. Providing this information can help us determine if this is available to you.



Our volunteer coordinators are available from 8:30AM to 4:30PM Central Time and will email you during that time on the next business day. If you prefer, you may chat now, or call 651-407-6100 if you’re inquiring during office hours.

Please choose up to 4 program locations and projects that interest you.
















By providing my phone number to Global Volunteers, I agree and acknowledge that Global Volunteers may send text messages to my wireless phone number for any purpose. Message and data rates may apply. We will only send one SMS as a reply to you, and you will be able to opt-out by replying "STOP". For more information on how your data will be handled please visit https://support.8x8.com/business-phone/voice/work-sms/SMS_Campaign_Registration%3A_SMS_Usage_and_Content_Policies. No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
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Global Volunteers
375 East Little Canada Road
St. Paul, MN 55117-1628 USA
(800) 487-1074 | toll-free
(651) 482-0915 | fax
globalvolunteers.org
email@globalvolunteers.org
Federal EIN: 36-3352680

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