Groups & Families

Volunteer Opportunities for Groups & Families

Group volunteer abroad is the ideal opportunity to contribute to a meaningful cause together. Whether you’re a youth organization, colleagues, close friends, or family, group volunteering offers a unique experience to invest your time in wildlife conservation, environmental support, or community development. Are you ready to show the world what you can achieve with some teamwork? Grab this opportunity to not only learn more about your new environment but also get to know each other in a completely new way. Come back stronger after your group volunteering experience abroad knowing you’ve done something meaningful and ready to tackle future challenges together.

The more the merrier is definitely a phrase that applies to volunteering. There are countless volunteer organizations out there in need of enthusiastic volunteers who want to support projects abroad. Whatever group of people you belong to, your group can make a huge social or environmental impact by dedicating your unique group spirit, vibe or energy to a volunteer program.

What is Group Volunteer?

Volunteering means dedicating your time to a project focused on improving the circumstances of a community by providing education, humanitarian, or medical support. Volunteering can also include conservation efforts in favor of the environment or wildlife. Doing this as a group allows you to volunteer together and contribute to one of the countless volunteer projects available worldwide.

A group of friends, a team of co-workers, a sports team or a family, whatever group you belong can make an impact. Explore some of the most exotic locations in the world, together. Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, and Oceania are all waiting for your help.

What are the Pros and Cons of Group Volunteering?

If you’re determined to make a difference in the world and would love to share the unique volunteer experience with your group, you’ve come to the right place. Before you book your first group volunteer trip, let’s take a closer look at the potential pros and cons:

Pros

• The opportunity for groups to volunteer abroad and contribute to a meaningful cause.
• Connect with the locals together with your group. It is a great opportunity for cultural interchange and experiencing your group dynamic in a different setting.
• Benefit from the positive aspects of volunteering while becoming a stronger group.
• Meet and connect with other like-minded individuals.

Cons

• Not everyone in the group may be as enthusiastic about dedicating their time to volunteering.
• It may be tricky to decide on a volunteer program that everyone in the group is excited about.
• Volunteering abroad can have a powerful effect on people. Some people may have strong reactions which can affect the group.

Why Should You Volunteer as a Group?

Deciding to volunteer as a group will allow you to gain valuable practical experience, contribute to wildlife conservation, protect the environment or make a social impact by supporting education, childcare, or other humanitarian services. You will not only learn a great deal about the challenges different parts of the world are facing but you will also get to know each other a lot better.

Will you be making a difference?
Volunteer organizations realize that creating programs where volunteers can contribute as a group will increase the chances of helping hands. The most important aspect of a group volunteering program is the cultural interchange and the social contact between the group and the locals. Gaining awareness about the volunteer destination will change the way your group views the world and may lead to more volunteering in the future.

Whether you’re volunteering for wildlife conservation, education, community development, or environmental support, make sure you know how the volunteer organization works and how the project is structured. Once you’re confident about this, you can rest assured that your efforts will impact the world and make a meaningful difference. Volunteering has a huge impact on the volunteers and changes their perspective on the world.

What Type of Group Volunteering Projects are There?

There are several group volunteer abroad programs with different focus areas to choose from and your skills and preferences as a group will determine which area you will be volunteering in. Here are some of the different options you can choose from:

• Work at an animal conservation center or sanctuary
• Wildlife conservation
• Agricultural or farm work
• Cultural immersion programs
• Humanitarian work
• Community development
• Environmental conservation
• Education
• Teaching
• Childcare
• Food redistribution

It’s important to know that groups will be of great service to the organization, the local people and the environment.

How Do I Choose the Right Group Volunteering Program?

The most important part of choosing a great program is that you do enough research on the different volunteer organizations. The following questions may be helpful to decide:

• What does the organization stand for?
• What is their objective and how are they trying to achieve it?
• How are the funds they receive spent?
• How do you think you will contribute?
• What do you think the effect of your volunteer work will be?

Read about the organization, read reviews and ask previous volunteers about their past experience on the project. Also, contact the volunteer program and ask questions. There are wonderful organizations that are doing very responsible work. Pick one where your group can make the greatest impact.

Be especially careful when you volunteer with children. Do your research prior to signing up. There are organizations that exploit families to take advantage of the volunteer industry. Definitely keep an eye out for this on projects with children in Africa or Asia. Choose wisely and you will be in for an incredible experience while supporting a meaningful cause.

What are the Best Places to Volunteer Abroad with a Group?

Are you ready for an exciting group trip where you make a great impact? Take this opportunity to explore the world together with your group and give back to less fortunate communities.

If you’re an adventurous bunch and passionate about wildlife, you may want to take care of elephants in Thailand. If you prefer to engage in humanitarian support in Africa, there are several group volunteer opportunities abroad. The jungles of South America have plenty of conservation initiatives and the wildlife protection projects in South Africa will leave you in awe. Volunteers who are afraid of a culture shock or don’t want to travel too far can also apply for group volunteer opportunities closer to home. Get your group together and get ready to roll up your sleeves.

5 Benefits of Volunteering Abroad with a Group

If you’ve volunteered on your own before and experienced the benefits, try volunteering with a group! Volunteering brings great new experiences and opens new opportunities. Join one of the group volunteering projects and help the communities of your travel destination as you embark on an unforgettable group adventure. Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits:

1. Valuable Learning Opportunities

You will learn about the country and culture and interact with the local community together with the members of your group. This will enable a deeper understanding of the people and their situation as well as your group dynamic. Learn some new skills and what international volunteering is all about.

1. Meet new people

You will meet other volunteers who share similar interests. This will also be a wonderful opportunity to build meaningful relationships and allow cultural interchange to take place.

1. New Experiences

This is a completely new experience for your group and will definitely impact the group dynamic. Learn to work together and notice the effects of this unique experience. Issues that seemed huge problems before, may seem trivial after you volunteer. This is an opportunity for your group to grow and evolve.

1. Health Improvements

Become a healthy group by volunteering and experiencing the happiness-inducing benefits that contribution and travel have. There’s research to back this up so definitely put it to the test!

1. Travel

Contribute to a meaningful cause abroad and travel to some of the most exotic locations abroad with your group. Combine the best of both worlds and share the experience with your people.

How Do I Volunteer Abroad in Group?

If you’re convinced your group wants to do a volunteer project together but you’re not quite sure where to start, you’ve come to the right place. First of all, have a look at the different programs and pick a few that have caught your attention. Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, or even Europe are just a mouse click away. The biggest challenge that lies ahead is deciding on a project together with all members of your group.

Once you’ve decided on a project abroad, let’s take a look at the first 3 steps which will send you on your way to volunteering abroad with your group:

1. Check whether there’s a match between your group and the project by looking at their requirements.
2. Take a look at the location of the project and decide whether it would be a place your group is excited to go to.
3. Get in touch with the organization abroad and see whether your expectations and schedules match up.

Once this is sorted. Let’s take a look at the practical steps:

Insurance (Health & travel)

We recommend getting both health and travel insurance. This is a requirement for all volunteer programs abroad. Get in touch with your program contact person to find out if an insurance plan is already in place for volunteers.

Visa, Passport, and Documentation

Once you know your destination, take the following 3 steps before setting off on your life-changing group adventure!

1. Look into the visa requirements for the country your group will volunteer in
2. Make sure everyone has valid passports considering the requirements of the host country
3. Make sure you prepare the correct documents to fulfill the visa application