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If you’re thinking about volunteering abroad, you’re not alone. As the economic situation in the U.S. and other Western nations continues to falter, and jobs are either lost or hard to land, more and more people are considering a volunteer stint overseas. It’s actually a great investment in one’s future. People who would like a career change, or to gain more leadership skills in their field, find that volunteering overseas gives them valuable experience that they simply can’t get at home. Volunteering abroad gives a person international experience and a chance to improve or learn a foreign language, all of which greatly appeal to businesses looking to hire well-rounded people in a global market.

Choosing Your Program

With so many volunteer programs out there, it can be overwhelming to pick the one that’s right for you. Start by making a short list of priorities – the elements of a volunteer experience that are the most important to you. Don’t make too many priorities, to avoid limiting yourself. If you have your heart set on one particular country, you may find that there are few volunteer possibilities there, and you may have to pick and choose from what’s available. If you have your heart set on one particular field or placement – for instance, working with orphans or on home-building projects – you may find a great placement in a country you may not have considered before. Pick one or two MAIN priorities and stick with them.

Then, make a list of secondary priorities – things you’d like in an ideal volunteer placement. Here you can consider things like: what type of projects appeal to you; what type of countries or geographies you would like the most; what you enjoy doing in your free time (since volunteer projects aren’t all about the work!).

Third, set a budget for yourself – how much money you will have available for travel, living expenses and other fees. We’ll talk more about money in a second.

After you’ve set your primary and secondary lists, it’s time to start looking around for a volunteer placement. There are so many volunteer programs abroad, your best bet is to start with a large database such as www.GoAbroad.com or www.VolunteerAbroad.com. Using those sites, you can search by country, by type of placement, by duration of time, or other parameters. This will help you limit your search to the type of placements that you’ve outlined on your Priorities lists.

Volunteer Fees

You may be surprised to find that most, if not all, volunteer abroad programs will charge you a fee. To most people at first glance, this doesn’t make much sense – why should I pay to volunteer? But, these fees often fund many aspects of your trip that would end up costing you out-of-pocket. Many times, they will pay for your room and meals in a living situation (with a home stay or in volunteer living quarters) that has been screened in advance, giving you a certain degree of security, comfort and convenience.

The fees also cover other extras such as in-country, 24-hour support; airport pickups and drop-offs; or guided cultural excursions. The fees often help fund the placement that you’re working in, providing the program with a valuable source of income that helps keep it afloat. When browsing through volunteer placements, it’s important for you to determine what the volunteer fees are, and exactly what they cover. Volunteer fees don’t usually cover travel expenses, and often you will have to arrange your own flight to that country. Even so, Western currency can stretch so far in developing countries that a plane flight and several weeks or even months living there, can cost less than it would to remain in your home country.

Avoiding Scams

You should know that as many organizations have wonderful intentions and place volunteers in amazing situations, there are some scam artists who take advantage of well-meaning people. Some are phony organizations that list themselves as non-profits, while others will take the name, logo and information of an existing legitimate organization and try to pass themselves off. So how do you know if the program you’re interested in is a legitimate entity, or a scam?

* Do an initial check for validity. If you’re browsing www.GoAbroad.com or www.VolunteerAbroad.com, you will notice that next to some organizations is a check mark, check plus, or check double-plus, with the word “Verified.” This means the organization’s basic info has been checked out and it has been determined to be a legitimate business organization. If an organization has one or two “pluses,” that means it’s passed further scrutiny; for instance, it belongs to professional associations. If you stick to the “Verified” organizations, you have a basic level of assurance that they are not scams.

* Contact the organization to ask for the phone numbers and emails of previous volunteers. Most legitimate organizations are happy to give you the contact information for their former volunteers, and you get the best and most honest information from these alumni. If an organization is reluctant to put you in touch with former volunteers, it’s a red flag that they either have no former volunteers – or they do, but those people don’t have very nice things to say.

* Use Internet search engines such as Google to perform searches about the organizations you’re interested in. Check blogs, forums, news articles and other sources to find outside information about them. Go to their Web site from Google (as opposed to the link provided in emails to you) to make sure you are dealing with the legitimate organization and not a scam artist posing as that entity.

* Legitimate organizations don’t ask for fees right away. They are happy to answer any questions you have about the placements, and they don’t pressure you – they want a successful placement, too, and won’t ever urge you to sign up or send money if you’re not ready. If you are feeling pressured to send a fee, or if the contact person asks you to make donations above and beyond the stated volunteer fees, it’s a red flag that this may be a scam.

Ready to Go!

Once you’ve chosen your placement, the volunteer organization will usually give you the information you need regarding such topics as: whether you will need a visa and how to obtain one; whether certain vaccinations are recommended or required; and a checklist of things you should bring. Do a bit of research on your own – contact former volunteers, or check out travel forums or blogs on such sites as Lonely Planet’s forum site: www.thorntree.LonelyPlanet.com or the GoAbroad Network: www.GoAbroad.net. Find out the cultural norms in the area where you will be staying: will certain attire that’s fine in Western cultures (such as shorts or tank tops) be considered inappropriate where you’re going? Will your dietary restrictions (vegetarian, non-dairy, etc.) be easy or difficult for you to follow? Are there customs or traditions that you should be aware of before you enter the country? A bit of research from other travelers is invaluable to your preparedness.

Work Within the Culture

Lastly, it’s important for you to remain open and not set your expectations on any fixed outcome. Too often, volunteers arrive in a developing country armed with information and tons of motivation to teach people “better” ways of doing things. Motivation is great, but remember that making any sort of positive change often takes baby steps in a foreign country. Sometimes a seemingly logical Western solution goes against the culture or traditions of a community, and they won’t warm up to your ideas nearly as much as you’d like them to. The best way you can teach others is to lead by example, stay patient, and try to find solutions within the culture that advance your project toward a greater goal. You may not achieve that end goal during your volunteer stint – in fact, it’s likely you won’t. But if you keep your eyes, mind, and heart open, you will make a huge positive impact on the people you’re working with, and you will enrich your own character more than you’d ever imagined.

Eileen Loh is the Director of Communications for GoAbroad.com, and has both professional and personal experience volunteering abroad.

She is also a frequent guest writer for the ExplorerPod.com Network