You may be surprised to be asked to pay to volunteer. You will find that the vast majority of programs, such as Village Volunteers, charge a fee to volunteer. The communities we work with have limited resources and are unable to support your costs for food, shelter, transportation and supervision.

Your fee not only pays for the obvious needs of a volunteer but is also used to help create economic sustainability and community development. This can take many different forms, such as providing skills, tools, knowledge, and funding to create various health, educational and development projects that will work towards improving the quality of life for all in the community.

Village Volunteers is committed to the long-term self-sufficiency of each of our partner organizations. By working with local non-governmental groups, your fees directly contribute to the goals and needs of each community you work in.

Some of the many services Village Volunteers provides, in addition to placing and preparing volunteers, are:

»	Program development to raise funds and awareness for the programs and goals which each community has chosen as necessary.
»	Grant writing and support to further expand local projects in each village.
»	Fundraising to contribute to micro-credit projects.
»	Access to a distinguished advisory board offering expertise and guidance in a variety of fields.
»	Advocating for appropriate technology by providing expertise and funding for specific projects such as organic agriculture, bio-mass briquetting, locally-produced water filters, and use of solar energy.
»	Research and shared expertise for participating village organizations offered through our Sustainable Village Library. Sustainable Village Library
»	Provision of donations to assist with the creation and implementation required for community-based projects.

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