What is voluntourism?

It is a trip presented as humanitarian, where the volunteers’ presence mainly benefits the organiser, sometimes at the expense of the people or animals the project claims to help. The best-known forms are volunteering in orphanages and activities involving contact with wild animals. Our article Voluntourism: how to spot it and how to avoid it details the warning signs.

Do you always have to pay to volunteer abroad?

No. Some public schemes exist, such as the European Solidarity Corps, each with its own conditions of age, length and selection. An organisation like Freepackers charges a fee because the price funds local logistics, supervision, a donation to the project and support. In every case, ask for a breakdown of what you are paying for.

How can I tell whether a project is really useful?

Ask which local need it meets, who expressed that need, which organisation runs it all year round and what volunteers do every day. A useful project exists without you: volunteers strengthen a local team, they do not replace it.

Is a certified B Corp organisation always ethical?

B Corp certification assesses all of a company’s social and environmental practices, through an independent body. It does not check each project one by one. It is a good sign, but you should still ask the eight questions in this guide about the programme you are interested in.

Can you volunteer with children without going to an orphanage?

Yes. At Freepackers, programmes with children are teaching programmes in schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods or in day centres, where children live with their families.

What should I do if the project does not match what was promised?

Tell the organisation straight away, in writing, so that it can act with the local partner. At Freepackers, you can also use our Complaints and reporting page.

Choosing a volunteering organisation: 8 criteria

Volunteering abroad means trusting an organisation with your time, your money and part of your safety. There is no single official label in this sector: two organisations using the same words (“ethical”, “sustainable”, “responsible”) can work in very different ways. The only way to tell them apart is to ask precise questions and check the answers.

This guide sets out eight criteria, each with the question to ask. We are an organisation ourselves, so for each criterion we explain what Freepackers does and link to the page where it is written, so that you can check it. Apply the same checklist to every organisation you compare, including us.

Why the choice of organisation matters so much

We talk about voluntourism when a trip is sold as humanitarian while the volunteers’ presence mainly benefits the organiser, at the expense of the people or animals the project claims to help. Two problems are particularly well documented: volunteering in orphanages, and activities where you touch, feed or take photos with wild animals.

A well-built project, on the other hand, meets a need expressed locally, relies on a local organisation that works all year round, and welcomes volunteers whose role is clear. The sector remains lightly regulated: in 2016-2017, Freepackers took part in the AFNOR WD12 working group, set up to draft a standard for responsible tourism and humanitarian travel. It left us with one conviction: transparency is something you can check, not something you declare.

The eight criteria to check

1. The organisation’s status and transparency

The question to ask: who are you legally, who checks your practices, and where are your commitments published?

Charity, company, travel agency: no status is better in itself. What matters is what can be checked from the outside: an assessment by an independent body, a published code of conduct, named contacts, an address.

What Freepackers does: Freepackers Travels has been a certified B Corp since March 2024, is accredited by ICEF and is a member of the WYSE Travel Confederation, the EAIE and the Travel4Impact Network (our certifications). Our code of conduct is published, with its approval date and the name of the person responsible for it.

2. Where the price goes

The question to ask: of what I pay, how much goes to the project, how much to local logistics, and how much to the organisation?

A serious organisation can answer in euros, with a real example. “Participation fees” with no breakdown at all are a warning sign.

What Freepackers does: we publish a real case, a two-week programme at an animal shelter in Argentina, at €2,100. €500 funds Freepackers’ operations (project audit, preparation, support). €1,600 is transferred to the local partner, which receives €1,450 after €150 of bank fees: €1,100 as a direct donation to the project, and about €350 for the volunteer’s logistics on site. As of our 2026 accounts, we have passed on €1.95 million to our partner NGOs, without receiving any public funding (cost breakdown).

3. Project visits and follow-up

The question to ask: who in your team visited this project, when, and how often do you follow it up?

A catalogue of projects nobody has been to see protects neither volunteers nor communities. What counts is a visit before the first departure, then regular follow-up.

What Freepackers does: every project is visited before it welcomes its first volunteer, and we carry out audits in five to eight countries each year. Among other criteria, our partners must employ more than 50% local staff, co-manage the project with local communities, manage funds transparently, involve professionals, and have a competent local team to supervise volunteers and keep them safe (our role, our code of conduct).

4. The volunteers’ role in the project

The question to ask: what will I actually do every day, and am I taking the place of a local employee?

A volunteer should strengthen a local team, not replace it. Be wary of programmes that give untrained volunteers tasks that require a qualification, or that present themselves as emergency aid.

What Freepackers does: it is a written rule for us: volunteers never replace local teams, they support them and work alongside them. We offer learning and exchange projects, never emergency aid. Each volunteer is placed after a call and an application (CV and cover letter), so that their skills match the needs expressed by the partner (volunteer selection).

5. Orphanages and contact with children

The question to ask: does the project take place in an orphanage, and what rules govern contact with children?

Child protection organisations such as Rethink Orphanages and Better Care Network advise against volunteering in orphanages: a succession of volunteers weakens children’s attachment, and the demand for volunteers and donations can keep children in institutions.

What Freepackers does: we have never sent volunteers to an orphanage, and our project selection charter rules it out: projects with children take place in schools, nurseries or educational centres that look after them for part of the day only; the children live with their families or in independent facilities, never in our partner centres. Taking part in a project with vulnerable people always requires an application with a criminal record certificate, a CV and a cover letter (our article on orphanages).

6. Animals

The question to ask: does the project involve touching, feeding, walking or taking photos with wild animals, and where do these animals come from?

Animal welfare organisations such as World Animal Protection warn against activities that depend on captivity and training: elephant rides, cubs to stroke, photos with wild animals. In a serious conservation project, contact with animals is limited to what care requires, and it is carried out by trained staff.

What Freepackers does: our programme pages state these rules where they apply. For example, on our educational project in a South African wildlife reserve, there is no interaction with lion cubs and no automatic contact with other baby animals, to avoid any link with breeding for hunting. Our selection charter for animal projects sets the rules: interactions with animals are not systematic and are limited to care and feeding, always supervised by professionals; animals are never used for entertainment or tourism (shows, selfies, petting, walks on a lead, elephant rides); partner shelters do not breed animals for profit, return animals to their natural habitat whenever possible and know where each animal comes from.

7. Supervision, safety and insurance

The question to ask: who supervises me on site, who can I reach if something goes wrong, and what insurance is required?

A good organisation can tell you who meets you on arrival, who can be reached at night, and what your insurance must cover. If no insurance is required, that is a warning sign.

What Freepackers does: on every project, the host organisation supervises volunteers and runs an emergency line that can be reached 24 hours a day; for minors, supervisors are present on site at all times. Our team can be reached by email, WhatsApp or phone, by someone who knows your file. Travel and repatriation insurance is compulsory for all our programmes; at a minimum, it must cover accidents, illness, repatriation and third-party liability, as required by our terms and conditions (article 4.3); cancellation insurance is recommended (preparing your trip).

8. Verifiable reviews and support

The question to ask: where can I read reviews you do not control, and what happens before departure, during the programme and after I come back?

Reviews published on an independent platform, dated and sometimes critical, are more reliable than selected testimonials. Ask what the support includes too: an organisation that disappears once it has been paid will leave you on your own if something goes wrong.

What Freepackers does: we are rated 4.7/5 on GoAbroad, from 31 reviews, and we publish our volunteers’ reviews. Our support covers administrative preparation, visa advice, regular check-ins during the programme and a debrief when you return. Our team has four full-time and two part-time members, with no call centre.

Warning signs

A price with no breakdown of what it pays for.
An organisation that cannot say who visited the project, or when.
A placement in an orphanage, or contact with children without rules.
Contact with wild animals presented as the highlight of the trip.
A booking with no conversation about your profile or your skills.
Medical or technical tasks given to unqualified volunteers.
No insurance required.
An obligation to buy your flight or visa through the organisation.
No advice on visas and entry requirements.
Work with children with no background check.
Reviews visible only on the organisation’s own website.

The checklist to take with you

Copy these eight questions and ask them to every organisation you compare.

Status and transparency: who checks your practices, and where are your commitments published?
Price: how much goes to the project, to local logistics, and to the organisation?
Visits and follow-up: who visited this project, when, and how is it followed up?
The volunteer’s role: what will I do every day, and am I replacing a local employee?
Children: does the project take place in an orphanage, and what rules govern contact?
Animals: is there contact with wild animals, and why?
Safety: who supervises me, who can I reach at night, what insurance is required?
Reviews and support: where can I read independent reviews, and what happens before, during and after?

Our position

We do not claim to eradicate poverty, injustice or inequality. We want to help make the world a better place through targeted, local action, at our own level. A well-chosen volunteering programme is an exchange: you bring time and skills to a team that needs them, and you leave with a truer understanding of the reality on the ground. If an organisation, whichever it is, cannot answer these eight questions clearly, take the time to look for another one.