Fund volunteer work with donor community

A very popular and at the same time successful method of financing the Volunteering abroad is the establishment of a circle of donors. Of course, this requires a certain amount of preparation and commitment. If you make it possible for yourself to go abroad on your own, it is of course an overwhelming feeling. You can be rightly proud of yourself for having achieved something. We now want to give you a small but helpful guide on how to set up a donor group.

1. Use group dynamics and multiple channels

If you are still at school, attend a club or are affiliated with other groups, it is always an advantage if you make group dynamics your own. Present your project and let your personal charm play. You can also share your goals via social media or direct mail and thus make your fundraising successful. RGV uses this model also repeated.

2. Create a handout or a short presentation

Create visual incentives so that your project can also be made tangible for donors. Use photos of your upcoming project and describe your work.

Eg “I will go to South Africa for 3 months to get involved in a children's center there. There I will be responsible for up to 5 children for 30 days a week.” Use facts and figures that are as specific as possible. In doing so, you convey a certain competence and determination to the donors. The better prepared you are and able to report on your project, the better your chances of being listened to. Please ask us beforehand if you would like to use our images.

3. Micro donations - small cattle make crap too

Of course, it is easier for donors to give you small amounts promote than pulling out a 100 euro bill. Try to win donors for a longer period of time and convince them, for example, to place a standing order for a certain period of time. If, for example, 5 euros can be donated every week over a period of 3 months, you have already reached a first milestone.

4. The greatest successes you will have in your social environment

Without a doubt, donations are collected most successfully in your social network. This doesn't just mean friends and acquaintances on the first level of your social network. Rather, people from the second level, or from your more distant circle of acquaintances. This includes, for example, the baker or your hairdresser. In other words, all the people who know you remotely and with whom you can quickly find access and contact.

5. Appreciation and return

Think of a cost-effective model that you can also use to offer something to your donors when you return. In any case, we recommend that you create an activity report in which you can then tell the donors what activities you were responsible for. Or to what extent your work in Africa, Asia, Latin America or Europe has helped the local people. Announce this activity report when looking for donations.

Bring a small thank you gift to the donors from your destination country. The gift does not necessarily have to be expensive, but should rather be understood as a symbol of gratitude and appreciation. For example, you can get nice fabrics, jewelery or similar souvenirs from your country of assignment. Of course, it would be ideal if you also supported the local people directly by buying the souvenirs. In Africa, for example, children build cars or robots out of old tin cans. This is artistically really valuable and, above all, very authentic and suitable for your volunteer work.

We hope that we were able to give you valuable tips with our instructions. If you have any other ideas or interesting comments to our blog post on the topic Volunteer Funding have, we and certainly other volunteers are very grateful to you.