The prospect of finding the funds for a volunteer assignment abroad can seem daunting. However, fundraising can also be a fun and rewarding experience! This step marks the beginning of your learning. You will also be surprised how many people are willing to support your project!

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I. Budget your project

 

Calculate the amount you need to finance your stay.

A) Remember to list your expenses:

 Direct costs and fixed costs (participation fees)

 Variable costs: this is the investment you will make to carry out your project, such as equipment (torchlight, medication, sleeping bag, etc.), round-trip plane ticket (take your transport tickets one in advance to make considerable savings), on-site transport (if any) from accommodation to your internship location, any communication costs (Internet, telephone), any laundry costs, additional nights if you choose to extend your stay. For some destinations, please note that the costs of laundry, internet and transport from accommodation to your place of mission are included in the participation costs, see terms and conditions according to the programs.

 Additional costs related to insurance,

 Any visa fees,

 Recommended vaccines

 Other personal expenses (souvenirs, pocket money, excursions/visits).

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B) Try to reduce costs as much as possible:

 Save on current and unnecessary expenses. You're off for the experience of a lifetime, so cutting back on everyday pleasures like nights out in the pub around the corner doesn't have to be a priority anymore. Choose free activities, take a walk in a park instead of taking a ride on the Ferris wheel. If you smoke, stop smoking, in addition to the benefits for your health, it will save you money.

 Save money by borrowing what you need. You will need to equip yourself for your international volunteer assignment. Contact your entourage to see if they can lend you equipment (in good condition), otherwise ask them if they know a friend of a friend who could help you. You can also snoop on the Internet in search of the right deal, today many participatory sites linking individuals to individuals have emerged on the web. You can also wait until the sales period to get discounts on the products you need.

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Here are some tips before you get started:

• Establish an action plan. How much can you save per month? Will you approach organizations to sponsor you?

• Once you have been accepted on your project, you can share the link with anyone wishing to donate.

• Set realistic goals and track your progress.

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II. Prepare a speech for you and your project

 

Write promotional text about yourself that promotes the project you are undertaking. Most of the people you approach will ask you what the money raised will really be used for, whyfinancer vous et pas un autre etc ? Ces questions vous seront surtout posées par les organismes et les différentes structures que vous contacterez.

 

A) Topics to address in your project

This speech is held rather in the form of an argument: talk about your motivations and your expectations, what the project will bring you , why you are committing yourself and what is the interest for a structure to finance your project.

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B) Adapt your speech to different donors

Your ability to adapt is essential in this kind of situation. You must explain to each patron what interest he has in subsidizing your project, and what profit he can derive from this collaboration. You will need to use a different tone if you are addressing a social organization or a large corporation. Be creative, offer to advertise them, communicate about them during your stay abroad on your blog, for example "Carrefour gives pencils for a Maasai tribe" or a whole host of other things .

 

When presenting your project, be direct and to the point.

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You must be able to explain in broad terms what you will achieve there and present the country in which you are going for a volunteer mission or for a language stay. Do not hesitate to contact Globalong to obtain testimonials from former participants, to get in touch with them or simply to ask us a few questions. In order to support your presentation, do not hesitate to present your quote, you will look more serious and your interlocutors will have greater confidence in you. Also invite them to visit our website. Be smiling, motivated, enthusiastic and prepare your file seriously.

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III. Where to ask and who to ask?

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A) In the private sector

 

Now that you have all the keys to crafting the perfect speech, do some in-depth research and pitch your case.

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1) Talk to your family, friends or acquaintances

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It is clear that the project you are undertaking is one of the things you will most want to talk about and share with those close to you. Your loved ones are generally the people best able to help you by paying you money if possible, by equipping you if their financial means do not allow it, by helping you during the process of creating an event allowing the financing of your project or simply by talking about it with their network.

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It is the gesture that counts and not the sum. Your friends will also be able to support this project if you communicate on social networks such as Facebook,...

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2) Talk about it in the city or town where you live/study

 

Get your community to step up to support your project. Whether it's in the city you live in or where you go to school, don't hesitate, there are thousands of ways to support your cause. As a first step, try to establish a partnership with local merchants. For example, you can offer a restaurant or a bar to give you a small percentage of the profits they have made on a certain day (do as much communication and advertising as possible so that the restaurant is crowded that day).

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You can also talk to local institutions, go to retirement homes where you can talk about your project, talk to local organizations that may be able to help you financially, or you can also ask them to provide you with the equipment you will need during your stay abroad. Offer your help to certain merchants (grocery stores, laundries, small stores), generally they have good networks as well as good leads, take advantage of it!

 

An idea that you can do more: create flyers, and drop them in the stores of your city on which you can put different links: your blog, link to your social networks or to your online kitty. You can also ask churches, schools, Lion's Club or Rotary Club who may be able to contribute to the financing of your stay abroad thanks to their network.

 

3) Contact companies

 As a student: You have many options for leaving. First, if you are not working, ask your parents to contact their Works Council so that they may be able to finance part of your project. As far as companies are concerned, send them requests for sponsorship and financial aid.

 

The hardest part of this process is to succeed in contacting the right person, to follow up constantly and above all: to persevere! As soon as you contact the company, consider giving information about your project and putting the benefits into perspective. Be clear, because requests of this type, patrons receive them every day.

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As explained above, take advantage of this contact to gain their trust by attaching official files (a quote, an invoice, etc.). Contact them again! This is what will eventually convince them! Prepare your best arguments, they will only give you very little time.

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You are probably wondering why they would help you? This is when you need to make a solid pitch. Offer to give them free communication, play on the sensitive chord, make them fall in love with your project. Offer to keep in touch if there has been an agreement by giving them access to your social networks so that they can communicate about the donations they haveand that they are proud to have participated in it. Example of companies with whom you could perhaps collaborate: o Local supermarkets may be able to sponsor you or organize a fundraiser to support your project. Take advantage of it because these structures reach a very wide audience! o Sports equipment stores: If you are going on an international volunteer mission, it is very interesting to have contact with this type of business. If they do not fund your project, they may be able to provide you with equipment or help you out.

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4) Contact banks You can also contact banks, compare them and apply for a loan from the one that will offer you the best rate. From now on, contact your banker!

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5) Use the influence of local & regional media

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Submit an article promoting an event you are organizing or inviting readers to fundraise. They can publish the message to convey in a magazine, a newspaper or on your city's website. Instead of writing an article you can also ask for an appointment and have a discussion around your project and a potential fundraiser so that they, journalists, write an article in the local newspaper. Newspapers are not the only media you can contact. Local radio stations are also ideal for appealing for donations. Try to build a partnership so that the broadcasting is free or simply to participate in a radio program and thus promote your project.

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B) In the public sector

 

Generally, if you intervene with the public sector, it will be more in the form of requesting subsidies through the creation of files. Most of the time, it is the public authorities who grant and participate in the financing of certain projects with the aim of encouraging or congratulating the person who commits.

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If you are a student or are under 25, you can put together a funding request file where you will make a presentation supporting your project, explaining your approach, and the usefulness of obtaining funding. 

 

All these procedures take a long time and can be refused, so do not rely on this opportunity alone. Your educational structure may have a service or an office in charge of internships or international relations, and these people may be able to help you in the process of finding scholarships or sources of funding.

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1) Contact the town hall of your city
The youth or international solidarity services of your town hall or of different towns are likely to grant a grant to people who wish to carry out their project, such as that of going abroad.

2) Contact your department
Contact your departmental council. He will surely be able to inform you about the aid and scholarships available depending on the project you wish to carry out.

Some examples:
 Contact the Directorate of Education and Youth
 The International Relations Service
 The DDJS (Departmental Directorate of Youth and Sports) or the DDCS (Departmental Directorate of Social Cohesion) which both grant, aids.

3) Get in touch with your region
The regional council also offers aid which varies according to each region. The region will be able to help you according to the budget allocated to it but it is likely that it will support you if you have chosen to do an internship abroad or solidarity actions. Propose a return to public institutions. They are often very open to an exchange of process : a grant for a photo exhibition or an intervention in schools, etc.

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4) Aid at the national level
The Ministry of Youth and Active Solidarity has launched a program called “desire to act” which supports and promotes the entrepreneurial capacity of young people aged 11 to 30. They can provide you with technical, educational and financial assistance.
Several other ministries such as culture, economy or foreign affairs also offer aid.
Some examples of scholarships:
 The “desire to act” scholarship from the Ministry of Youth

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5) Other types of aid

Also note that Europe can help you because monetary funds are reserved for young people. Find out more to put the odds on your side. The CROUS can also grant aid to scholarship students and thus enable them to go abroad by covering part of the costs. Contact the CNOUS (national branch of the CROUS).

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IV. How to raise funds alone?

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A) Find a job!

From the age of 18, it is very easy to find a small job. Whether you're finishing high school, going to college, or taking a gap year to go on language study trips and/or volunteering with Globalong, you have time to find extra work. Indeed, you will spend less time with your friends or your family, but you who have made the choice to go abroad, isn't that a blessing in disguise? In addition, depending on the length of your stay, you will find your entourage quite quickly. Try to find babysitters to do right and left, ask at fast food restaurants or restaurants near you, apply to temp agencies or apply at the local supermarket. You can work and apply for funding at the same time, this will allow you to make the most of the excursions during your stay abroad, but it is also a security, in case your applications for funding do not go through as planned. Many sites are available to help you find a job, here are some examples:

 Student website

 Studyrama website

 Website: Jobrapido

 The website: Clicandtour

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B) Make sales

Nowadays, and thanks to the modernization of technological tools as well as good old methods, you have the possibility of being present everywhere!

 Find individual to individual sales sites (Le bon coin, eBay etc.)

 Participate in flea markets / garage sales / flea markets, you can at the same time get rid of your obsolete objects

 Create and sell (bake sale in your school, Christmas cards, door-to-door croissant sale, car wash, coffee distribution, etc.)

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C) Organize a raffle

If the small traders in your town/village cannot subsidize you, offer them a partnership (they offer you vouchers, gifts etc.) or buy items yourself and sell raffle tickets. The winners will thus receive the gifts collected from the partners. In exchange, if the merchants collaborate, you can offer them to do communication on their shops/stores, by associating them with a solidarity approach.

 

D) Create an event

The creation of an event is planned in advance, and you have to think carefully about its realization. To create, you have to know how to adapt:

 What message to convey?

 What type of people are affected by this cause?

 Is the environment conducive to holding such an event?

 Pay attention to the competition (some associations will attract more people because they are known, so if you organize an event on the same date, there may be competition and make your project a complete flop).

 

On this subject, do not hesitate to consult free guides available on the Internet which explain the stages of creating an event. Some examples of feasible events (of course you will have to ask for a financial contribution):

 A sporting event (petanque competition, running in the city in the form of a relay)

 A cultural event (concert, show, musical quiz evening, bingo, dance evening)

 Other: BBQ…

 

E) Create an online kitty

In order to finance part of your project or all of it, it is also possible to create an online kitty. An online kitty allows you to raise funds on the Internet by inviting remote people who can pay you money using a secure online payment system. Discover all our partners who can help you create your kitty. Thanks to this kitty, everyone around you can help you finance your project. Many volunteers have already succeeded in making their dreams come true thanks to these pots. Challenge your parents, if they can, offer them to double the amount of funds raised.

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V. That's it, the goal has been achieved, what do I have to do?

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Once the funds have been collected, the reservation made and the deposit paid, you can touch your dream with your fingertips, the one that for months has required you time, perseverance, motivation and above all organization. Congratulation ! But we still recommend that you follow these last tips.

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A) Thank those who helped you!

Acknowledgments are imperative! The people who helped you took time to receive you, to listen to you and you must therefore give them back their own coin.

 With regard to your loved ones: Organize a little party for them, an aperitif, just to thank them for the support they have given you . As soon as you are at your place of stay, take the time to write them an email, a letter or even send them photos or a postcard!

 Regarding the patrons: As soon as you return home, you can visit them or even bring them a souvenir of the country in which you have been. If you haven't had time to give them something or visit them, you can write them a thank-you letter with some pictures attached. Don't forget that they showed up when you needed them, don't turn your back on them as soon as your goal is reached.

 

B) Keep everyone informed!

Many people surely envy you. While you are living an incredible experience, others are at work, or in class, make them dream in turn. Keep them informed of the adventures that happen to you, publish as many photos as possible on your Facebook page and share all your excursions, your moments and your feelings on your blog. Tell us your stories, it all sounds so great!

 

Through a travelogue, you can share what you have experienced with your loved ones. Don't forget to thank on your social networks all the people who have helped you and at the same time to give them some publicity.

 

C) Some actions to do as soon as you return

You who had received financial support from your school or from various private or public structures, offer them a counterpart. Give an interview to the media who have granted you time, organize a photo exhibition, offer a conference to your director where you will explain everything you have learned / done and possibly organize a meal as soon as you return where everyone will be invited!

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CONCLUSION

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The Action dans le Monde team really hopes that this page helps and helps youto finance your project if you need it. Whether it's for a volunteer mission or an internship abroad, don't forget that you are leaving for an incredible experience, and that you will discover a new way of traveling. Don't worry, all of these tips aren't that hard to do. Even if it seems like a long and methodical job, your motivation and your perseverance will be your strengths during all this research. Many of our volunteers have already taken such actions to make their dreams come true and all of them have succeeded, either by themselves or with the help of others. Are you ready to go? From now on, travel differently to live differently! Contact us!