Editorial Policy
We treat volunteer abroad planning as a serious decision. This page explains how we research, write and review the information you read on Volunteer World Guide, and what our content is — and is not — designed to do.
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Our purpose
Volunteer World Guide is an editorial planning resource for people researching ethical volunteer programs abroad. We help readers compare destinations, estimate costs, identify red flags and prepare for a volunteer trip. We are not a tour operator. Bookings happen with third-party providers under their own terms.
How we produce content
- Source material: We use a combination of public government travel advisories, official tourism and immigration sites, established NGO research (UNICEF, Lumos, Save the Children, ReThink Orphanages, WTO, UNWTO), peer-reviewed publications, published volunteer-sector reporting, and structured local data we maintain in this repository.
- Original research: Cost ranges, packing guidance and program-type summaries are compiled from publicly available program listings and editorial judgement, then reviewed for plausibility against multiple sources.
- Editorial judgement: Where we cannot verify a fact (live pricing, live visa cost, live travel-advisory level), we say so clearly and link to the authoritative source.
What we will and will not say
- We will state when something is general guidance, not legal, medical or visa advice.
- We will recommend that readers verify visa, safety, health and price information with the official source before booking.
- We will not invent live numbers, claim to have inspected programs we have not, or fabricate quotes.
- We will not promote orphanage volunteering or other practices flagged by international child-protection bodies.
- We will flag medical, child-facing, refugee-facing and wildlife programs with the relevant ethical and safety considerations.
Independence and conflicts of interest
Some links on this site point to third-party volunteer organizations and tools. Where a relationship is commercial in nature (such as an affiliate referral), we disclose it on our affiliate disclosure page. Editorial decisions about what we cover, what we warn about and what we recommend are made independently of any commercial relationship.
Reviewing and updating content
Each page displays a “last updated” date. We aim to review high-traffic pages — destination guides, safety and ethics pages, tools — at least once per year, and sooner if we become aware of a material change (such as a coup, a visa rule change, or new safeguarding guidance).
Reporting an issue
If you spot something inaccurate, out of date, or ethically questionable, please tell us via our contact page. We follow a documented corrections process for material errors.