Supporting a sending organisation
Back from voluntary service and bursting with ideas? Once you’ve returned, you can continue to actively support weltwärts by getting directly involved in a sending organisation. Supporting the organisation that sent you on assignment is an obvious option, of course, but it’s certainly not the only one. Read on to find out more about some of the numerous possibilities.
A number of organisations offer returnees the opportunity to use their experiences as a volunteer to inform seminar work. For example, you can help in the education and mentoring work done in the preparation or follow-up activities for the new generation of volunteers or you can integrate specific topics and experiences into the seminars. Many organisations run courses where you can learn the necessary skills and how to run a seminar yourself.
You can help prospective volunteers by allowing them to contact you to ask about your experiences. There’s hardly any effort involved on your part but the benefits for others are great. For instance, you can provide important information for candidates interested in applying to work on your old project or give them tips about the place where your assignment took place. All you have to do is give the sending organisation your contact data and consent.
Can you remember what it was like when you were applying for voluntary service? There are lots of organisations where you can get involved in the selection of the next volunteer cohort and bring your valuable perspective to the process.
Sharing your experiences of voluntary service is the best way to promote the programme. Presentations at schools, vocational colleges, community centres, etc. are a good means of raising awareness of weltwärts, specific places of assignment and organisations. Many organisations present their activities at fairs and other events and would be happy to have you join them to tell your story to prospective volunteers.
By doing an internship at a sending organisation, you’ll find out more about the work involved in running weltwärts as well as playing an active part in the organisation of the volunteer service.
Most of the organisations are active on several social media channels. You can support them by following them, sharing and liking posts or creating your own content.
Good to know!
As you’d expect, the weltwärts programme has a social media presence too.
We share returnees’ weltwärts stories on Instagram or Facebook.
Send us your weltwärts content (text, photos and/or videos) and we’ll post it on our weltwärts accounts!
Handing out flyers and hanging up posters might sound a little old school but it’s still effective! Support sending organisations by distributing their advertising materials and/or hanging up posters where they’ll be seen.
By writing an article for publication on websites, volunteer service portals or newspapers, you offer first-hand insight into what voluntary service is like. This gives people a chance to find out about weltwärts and the wonderful experiences that voluntary service creates.
Many sending organisations are non-profit organisations that you can join and actively support. You do usually have to pay a membership fee to join but it’s normally not very much and it’s a way of supporting the organisation’s valuable work. Direct donations to organisations are also possible in many cases.
Have you got an idea for a project, e.g. on a specific SDG, that you could carry out with a weltwärts organisation? All you have to do is contact a suitable sending organisation and perhaps you’ll soon find yourself working with them to develop the idea further.
Working at a weltwärts organisation is a great way of combining action for social change and earning a living. Returned volunteers often work for a weltwärts organisation during their training or studies or join the organisation’s permanent staff afterwards.
