From Flickr user Adamina via Creative Commons

From Paul Nauert, an intern in our Portland office, originally posted on the Idealist.org homepage blog.

Have you volunteered abroad? Do you have thoughts on where to find funding or how to decide between going with a program or going solo? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Since the start of this decade, more and more people have been going abroad to volunteer, getting involved in an ever-expanding and more diverse range of places, types of work, and social and environmental causes. Lately at Idealist we’ve been delving into several projects to better understand what is going on in the burgeoning world of international volunteerism and how we can help provide more resources for folks interested in becoming part of it.

Towards this, last week we launched a short web survey for those who have volunteered abroad to provide feedback to us on their experiences. So whether you spent a week in Ecuador last spring break in a rural public health clinic, a few years teaching English in Nepal, or anything in-between, we’d appreciate if you could share a little bit about it.

To get started, please click here to view the survey.

You can also take a look at our International Volunteerism Resource Center and discussion forums on volunteering abroad to learn more about the experiences of others and your options for international service. Thanks for your participation and best of luck in all your endeavors!