Go Voluntouring!

Aaron Smith Founder of GoVoluntouring

Image source: Yourtravelchoice.org

You may not know it to look at me but I’m a pretty disorganized person. I manage to keep track of bills and work but when it comes to the less immediately critical things like where my clothes are, what I’m making for dinner, getting cat food, or remembering birthdays, I’m hopeless. I do my best—I keep lists, have about eighteen date books, and try desperately to integrate electronic calendars into my routine—but at the end of the day I always find myself sorting through random papers wondering why life is so darn complicated! This is why I love it so much when other people do the organizing for me. One day, when I’m rich, I’ll hire a devilishly organized personal assistant to ferry me from place to place, put the ingredients for chicken vindaloo in my hands at dinner time, and color code my closets. Until then, I’ll savor the free organizational services of projects like Go Voluntouring.

Global Volunteer Network

Global Volunteer Network Volunteer in Kenya with Children

Image source: Globalvolunteernetwork.org

It’s a wonderful thing when entrepreneurs discover an important niche, especially when that niche serves the greater public good. Over the past few weeks I’ve explored several volunteer networks: sites that connect volunteers with projects that need their help. I don’t think we can ever have enough of these networks. With so many volunteer/voluntour opportunities out there, no single site can serve them all. These sites are critical for the industry. As we’ve explored before, they work like filters, sorting the good from the bad. And they also give volunteers a voice, allowing them to share their experiences and to continue giving back to the organizations they support. One of the volunteer organizations I found while researching one of these sites (GoOverseas.com) was Global Volunteer Network (GVN), a company that places volunteers worldwide. They have placed over 15,500 volunteers over the past 10 years.

Go Overseas with GoOverseas.com

Home Page and Navigation for GoOverseas.org

Image source: Yourtravelchoice.org

One thing is certain: like the belly of the marbled hatchetfish, or like the original universe for that matter, the volunteer/voluntour universe is expanding! I keep coming back to this point because I think it’s important: the Internet is a wonderful resource for finding opportunities, but it can also be overwhelming, especially for the new, inexperienced volunteer. That is why I’ve been so excited about social network-like sites for volunteers and volunteer organizations. Each site I find has its own style of promoting opportunities. VolunteerMatch.org, for example, has a great search function, so volunteers and organizations can find the people they’re looking for, but they don’t offer a lot of social content. GoOverseas.com, the subject of today’s article, has a less robust search function, but they make up for it with reviews, blog posts, articles and well-organized program listings.