Costs to consider before volunteering

Have you been thinking about volunteering with animals? In this post I have listed several costs to consider when deciding where to volunteer. Choose a reputable charity that has the animals best interest in mind. Your time and hard-earned money must go into the right hands to ensure the animals and local communities are receiving the benefits. Choose a place that’s right for you, your goals and that you feel comfortable and confident to support.

Registration Fee

The volunteering industry is divided into two sectors. Independent volunteering where you organise your own travel and communicate directly with the charity. Or there is an option to use an external company, which helps place and manage volunteers to a charity. These companies can charge high fees for their service, in some cases the majority of the funds paid unfortunately do not make it to the charity.

Which ever option you decide to chose, make sure you ask for a breakdown of where your fees are going within the charity. Every charity charges a volunteer fee, this usually covers your accommodation, food and training. Sometimes food is not included and sometimes you may be asked to fund-raise a donation fee dependent on your length of stay.

If food is not included in your volunteer fee, you need to keep this in mind when planning your budget. Similarly if you need to fund-raise a donation, you often need to spend money to make money. In this post I have given helpful tips to fund your volunteer trip.

Your volunteer fee is relevant to the charities running costs, so they will differ considerably from one place to another, from one country to another.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a breakdown of where your money is being used. If they are not transparent, do not support them. Find a place that you feel comfortable supporting.

Flights

Flight costs will be dependent on where you decide to volunteer in relation to where you live in the world. Being from Australia, traveling and volunteering around Australia, New Zealand and Asia would be the cheapest option for me. Whereas if you live in Europe, it will likely be Europe and Africa. If you are from the United states, there are many charities within your own country, otherwise Central/South America might be your cheaper overseas options.

Once you know you have been accepted into a volunteer program, book your flight. Flights are often cheaper in advance, so plan ahead if possible, to avoid paying an increased amount.

Visas

This is dependent on your nationality and the requirement of the country you are entering. To avoid this cost, choose a country where you don’t require a visa.

If you are needing a visa, be sure to factor this into your budget. All countries charge differently for visa applications. Keep in the mind the postage that may be required to send your passport to the consulate if it’s not in your state.

To ensure you receive the visa, ask the charity to write a letter to support your visa application, as this can make the process faster.

Insurance

You will need to cover yourself for traveling abroad and/or working with animals. When researching travel insurance check the fine print regarding what they cover. If you cant find what your looking for on their inclusions page, email the insurance company to avoid paying for something that doesn’t cover you!

Some animals have a higher risk than others. Be honest with the insurance company, to ensure they will cover you, should you need to claim.

Most charities will have their own insurance to cover volunteer workers, but their level of cover is not known. It is beneficial to have you own, specially on your days off or when you are traveling away from the charity before/after your placement.

Vaccinations

To work with animals, you will need to vaccinate yourself to ensure immunity to several different diseases. The vaccinations required will depend on the animals you work with and the country you travel to. This is not only for your safety but for the animals safety too.

The charity will often ask for proof of different vaccines given, before commencing your placement. Some countries will not allow you to enter without being vaccinated against certain diseases.

The vaccinations I needed to have to work in Asia were very different to what I needed in Africa, so be sure you are covered correctly!

Police check/Working with Children Check

If you will be working with children or conducting educational presentations to children, a working with children check may be requested. A fee will be associated for this document, check with your country of residence for up-to-date fees.

Some charities also request you to obtain a police check before being accepted. This is for everyone’s safety. It shouldn’t cost too much, if at all. Either way, it’s a small amount of work to do, for a greater sense of safety.

Spendings

Lastly you will need some spare cash for your days off and for different activities/travel you may want to do before, during and after your volunteer stay.

Some countries have a cheaper living and travel cost than others, so consider that when planning your journey.

There can be a lot of costs to consider before you even reach your destination. Don’t let it put you off having one of the greatest experiences of your life!

If you need ideas on how to fundraise the money to volunteer overseas and make your dream a reality, be sure to read my tips to fund your trip here!

Thanks for reading!

Please leave a comment about anything you read, or if need any advice. I would love to hear from you.

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