<p>I looked at this volunteer abroad opportunity and it costs something like $600 for 2 weeks (not including the plane ticket). They say its non profit so I was wondering is this standard procedure to charge money for you to come volunteer there? </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Standard procedure? Probably, as a non profit volunteer agency isn't going to have the money to send a bunch of kids abroad. Worth it? For me, not in a million years. Why on earth somebody would pay a huge amount of money to volunteer is beyond me.</p>
<p>apayton, so volunteering isn't your thing.
but how do you think non-profits afford their operating costs? $300/week is actually on the <em>low</em> end for a volunteer program fee. you generally have to pay for airfare, and the volunteer program uses your program fee to a) feed, house, and transport you and b) buy materials for the volunteer project (be it text books, writing utensils, and school upkeep for school kids or plywood, nails, and tools for a rainforest wildlife rehabilitation center, or whatever.<br>
if you question the authenticity of an organization's non-profit status, you can look for it here: [url=<a href="http://welcome.bbb.org/%5DStart">http://welcome.bbb.org/]Start</a> With Trust -- Start With BBB<a href="if%20it's%20based%20in%20the%20USA">/url</a> or email the organization with further questions. if they're legit, they'll be happy to answer them.</p>
<p>volunteering can be a really enriching and enjoyable experience that could change your life, as well as an opportunity to immerse yourself in and learn from a completely new culture (especially if you're volunteering abroad). i'd been looking into volunteering in south america for over a year now and finally found a grassroots sort of organization that i am comfortable with.</p>
<p>are you looking into a certain program? mind telling us which one it is?</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>Yep. Standard procedure and actually really cheap for that sort of "volunteer vacation."</p>
<p>yup... my spring break service trip (domestic) cost us $400 per person... most of it was the plane flight though.</p>
<p>what length are you looking for? You can volunteer domestically with Americorps and get paid (a little bit).</p>