Voluntourism

Just what exactly is "voluntourism?" We find ourselves explaining this word often. Almost no one we know has ever even heard of the word. We explain it by pointing out the obvious, "It's a combination of the words 'volunteer' and 'tourism'." To anyone who actually KNOWS about voluntourism, it's so much more, of course. However, at least this simple explanation gets people thinking about the topic.

Volunteerism industry observers are fond of saying that voluntourism is the "next big thing." Some wide-eyed commentators say there will be a tsunami of voluntourism. So far, we sure haven't seen it and we wonder if this buzzword is just a passing fancy or a mini-fad.

There are ample resources out there to help assess voluntourism on your own. Most voluntourism opportunities are typically associated with the genre of "volunteer vacations." These types of volunteerism involve an individual, couple or family booking their total vacation around a specific volunteer activity, typically overseas in some exotic location.

Another segment of voluntourism involves spending only a portion of one's vacation time volunteering. As an example, the Jane Doe Family might be motoring West to see the usual sights such as Yellowstone, etc. They might stop off at a pre-arranged location to spend a day or more in a short duration volunteer opportunity.

Some opportunities being billed as voluntourism opportunities are really long-term, multi-month positions that require a length commitment from participants. Most of the voluntourism opportunities on the Take Pride in America website fall into this category. Yes, they are technically voluntourism opportunities but, no, they aren't short duration and you can't squeeze them into your summer vacation.

So, as we approach the 2009 summer vacation season, it's worth pondering the comparative realities of voluntourism. How can a non-profit or governmental agency truly benefit from voluntourism? The first step is to attempt to identify if you actually HAVE something that could qualify as a voluntourism opportunity. Can you describe it? Does it sound appealing and fun? Can you manage the opportunity easily? Will the volunteer's contribution(s) actually make a difference? Then, how are you going to promote your opportunity?

Interestingly and luckily, we think Idaho has the best approach to voluntourism. Idaho tourism officials have crafted a superb strategy to harvesting the energies of potential voluntourists. The official Idaho tourism website has a tab for voluntourism. This tab takes you to a link to a Twitter account that's always updated in real time for the latest opportunities. The management of this strategy is inspired genius! We that Idaho is in the national forefront of voluntourism and we are very proud that they have chosen to highlight some of the current East Idaho RSVP opportunities! You will find a lot of resources on voluntourism there.

Now, the "rest of the story" of voluntourism is up to all of us in this exciting industry. Let's give it some effort and see what we can do and what kind of results we can create. Whether history judges voluntourism as a passing fancy or a major milestone in volunteer opportunity development is going to be determined by how well we meet this challenge.