Funding Resources for International Service

Locating funding for international service can be a challenge, but this should not prevent you from traveling and volunteering abroad. The Haas Center awards three summer fellowships that fund international service: The African Service, Haas Summer, and Pride Fellowships comprise the total extent of funding that Haas reserves for international volunteer work. Because we do not have a pool of unrestricted funds to support students volunteering abroad, and because we acknowledge and value the tremendous student interest in serving international communities, we have developed this resource to help you locate potential sources of funding  and think creatively about funding your experience abroad.

Personal Fundraising
Many students successfully solicit donations from family, friends, co-workers, and other acquaintances. This type of personal fundraising relies upon clearly articulated goals; carefully consider how to express the value of your service experience to potential donors. Think of these donors as your partners in service; rather than soliciting their support as a purely monetary gift, approach them as sponsors who will have a vested interest and ongoing involvement with your experience abroad. Additionally, consider how you will appropriately steward those who support your service; consider writing stewardship letters to your donors, sharing photos, or keeping an online journal or blog to update donors about your experiences. If done effectively, these practices contribute to your own service learning as well. Some ideas for personal fundraising include:

• letter writing
• bike ride/run/hike with mile-to-dollar matching
• event planning (concert, speaker, party)

Fundraising Ideas from WorldTeach

• Hike-a-Thon: Leigh Cohen, WorldTeach, Ecuador 
  Leigh planned a hike-a-thon to fundraise the cost of her program in Ecuador andspent the month of July on Vermont's 275-mile Long Trail. She knew it would sound crazy to potential donors, and hoped that it would catch their attention. Leigh successfully completedher hike and fundraised most of her program fee!
• Bike Ride from Chicago to St Louis: Andy Cramer, WorldTeach, Ecuador
  Andy recently completed a 318 mile bike ride from Illinois to Missouri to raise money for his service in Ecuador. He set up the event by having his supporters either pledge a certain amount of money per mile of the ride, or just donate a lump sum. He sent out packets explaining the rules of the game to everyone he knew who might be interested, and tried to do as much networking as possible to expand his donor base.
• Benefit Concert in New York City: Elisa Mandell, WorldTeach, Namibia
  Elisa organized a benefit concert on Pier 63 in New York City to help support her service in Namibia. She planned this fun evening on the water with live musical entertainment by a new band, west eight five. Her goal was to raise $10,000. She surpassed this goal in part thanks to a generous matching gift by a private foundation.

On-Campus Resources
Identify relevant resources on campus. By speaking with knowledgeable faculty and staff through academic departments or campus centers you may gain valuable ideas about potential resources and opportunities, whether or not you are able to locate sources of funding. By visiting the Alumni Center or Career Development Center, you may find alumni abroad who will be able to support you; although will probably not fund your volunteer work, resources like housing or transportation will prove tremendously helpful to you and could ease your living expenses significantly. Some campus resources to consider include:

• the Stanford Global Gateway
• relevant academic departments and faculty
• Bechtel International Center
• Alumni Center or Career Development Center (i.e. to locate alumni working in your country of destination)

Religious Organizations
Religious organizations sometimes fund service projects. Consider approaching leaders in your church, synagogue, mosque or other religious institution. Much like personal fundraising, fundraising from religious organizations should be followed up with appropriate stewardship, whether in the form of thank you letters or some other way of sharing your experiences with those who helped fund them.

Civic Organizations
There are many civic groups/organizations that may fund international service projects. Conduct appropriate research on possible groups to fund your service experience, being careful to consider what sorts of service they traditionally fund, who they will fund, and what procedures they require of those requesting funding. Be sure to approach your own local branch of a civic organization, as these people tend to support young people from their communities. Possible groups/organizations include:

• Rotary International
• Lions Clubs International
• Kiwanis International
• Optimist International
• Jaycees
• Junior League

Summer Employment
Keep in mind that the Stanford summer break is approximately 14 weeks long and that you could therefore work fulltime in a paid position for a portion of the summer and go abroad for the remainder, using your earnings. For instance, if you live and work at home (and presumably have low expenses while there), you could earn in the vicinity of $2,000 in seven weeks, then use that money to work internationally for a month or more. Consider Community Service Work-Study as an option, for example. Particularly if you supplement summer earnings with school-year savings (plan ahead!) this can amount to a significant source of funding.

Foundations
External foundations may fund international service projects, though it is rare for them to fund individual student projects. It is still worth investigating, however, and you can conduct thorough foundation research at The Foundation Center (TFC).

Web Resources
There are many websites designed to help guide you through the process of locating funding sources. Sometimes a simple Google search can go a long way. To help you, though, here are some sites to visit:

• Transitions Abroad  
• American Medical Student Association Travel Funding  
• World Teach

Alternative Forms of Service
If funding an entire summer of volunteer work abroad proves difficult to the point of being impossible, do not be discouraged. Instead, consider alternative and creative ways that you can serve communities beyond your own through travel, work, or study. Some ideas to consider include:

• Use the summer to prepare for future international service. For example, work for an organization that will allow you to learn about the region you hope to visit or the issue you hope to address. In so doing, earn money you can save for future travels.
• Travel for a shorter period of time to the region where you might like to volunteer in the future. (This will cost money but will be less expensive than spending an entire summer there.) Travel abroad brings money into a region and thus supports the tourism industry, which is a service to the area. Travel also allows you to make connections and build relationships in a region, both with people and institutions; if you ever return to volunteer, these connections will prove invaluable.
• Learn a new language! Being multi-lingual is important in an increasingly global world and critical to international wok. Consider learning the language of a country or region where you want to volunteer in the future, as this will enable you to more effectively engage with the people and the work going on there.
• Seek travel, work, or study opportunities that challenge you and expose you to new ideas. Rest and rejuvenate. Reflect on issues that matter to you. These are services in themselves, as they will make you a more able and considerate public servant.

Virtual Volunteering
Consider helping an international organization from home! Virtual volunteering, sometimes called online volunteering, allows you to serve organizations and communities abroad in alternative ways. Though you are not actually on-site, many of the ways you can support organizations through virtual volunteering are equally important and practical as the ways you would serve them by being there. These ways include, but are not limited to:

• translating documents
• writing articles
• designing and maintaining websites
• researching and data collecting
• logo or resource material design etc.

Hopefully some of these ideas and resources will prove helpful to you. If you are able to locate funding for your international service program or project, congratulations! If you are not, we encourage you to think broadly and creatively about how you can still serve communities abroad.

For more information, please contact Jon McConnell.