Contact

We are CO2-compensated

Do you have any questions?

We receive many requests from volunteers, non-profit organisations and other interested parties every day, which we are happy to answer. However, due to the volume, delays may occasionally occur. That is why we have summarised the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) here so that you can quickly find an answer.

Questions from volunteers

At vostel.de, we bring together a large selection of volunteering opportunities from our social partner organisations. To find a suitable volunteering opportunity, you can filter all offers by location, language skills, time budget, topics and much more. Click on the projects that interest you to find out more information about the activity. If you are interested in a project, you can contact the person responsible directly or register for an assignment. You should create a profile on vostel.de beforehand.

At vostel.de, we bring together a large selection of volunteering opportunities from our social partner organisations. To find a suitable volunteering opportunity, you can filter all offers by location, language skills, time budget, topics and much more. Click on the projects that interest you to find out more information about the activity. If you are interested in a project, you can contact the person responsible directly or register for an assignment. You should create a profile on vostel.de beforehand.

Unfortunately not. Neither our partner organisations nor we can assist with visa applications or provide food and accommodation.

We from vostel.de are not the sponsors or organisers of the volunteering opportunities listed on our platform, but merely intermediaries between volunteers and non-profit organisations. If you have any project-specific questions, we are generally not able to answer them or cannot answer them as well as the project organisers themselves. It is always best to get in touch with the relevant contact person directly by using the message function on vostel.de. You must be registered on vostel.de to do this. If you have already registered for an assignment and have questions about the project (e.g. "Can I come an hour later?"), you will find the contact details of your contact person in your briefing email, which you will receive from us after registering for the project.

We at vostel.de do not need any donations in kind ourselves, but we can act as an intermediary for donations if necessary. Please note that we only accept intact donations in kind.

If you have donations in kind*, we offer two options:

  1. As a registered user, you can use our donations in kind tool to view various donations in kind required by our social partner organisations. If your donation in kind matches a search query, you can use the tool to get in touch with the respective organisation and clarify further steps.
  2. If your donation is not actively being sought, you can send us an email with a list of your items. We will then endeavour to find a charitable organisation from our network that needs your donation.

Please note: We do not mediate clothing donations (larger batches of available rejects from companies are excluded), as the donations offered (often women's fashion) usually do not match the requests for donations in kind from the recipient organisation (usually: men's clothing). For clothing donations, you can contact clothing banks, e.g. from the German Red Cross, the social welfare organisation Diakonie or the station mission in your city.

All volunteer questions

Frequently asked questions from non-profit organisations

The use of our website and our services are completely free of charge for non-profit organisations and initiatives as well as for private volunteers. We cover most of our costs (mainly personnel and the development of the platform) by planning, organising and implementing corporate volunteering programmes for companies and by offering our own workshops.

On vostel.de, any initiative or organisation can look for support from volunteers whose work has recognisable charitable added value. The non-profit status does not necessarily have to be stipulated in the legal form, but it should be clear in the ideas and work of the organisation. We check this individually for each organisation and follow specific guidelines for our decision. You can find these here in our FAQ.

We are delighted that you are interested in a workshop with and from us. Here you can find an overview of all the workshops we currently offer. Feel free to contact us by e-mail if you have any questions or would like to book a workshop. We will get in touch with you to discuss everything else.

All non-profit questions

Other questions

We at vostel.de place volunteers in non-profit organisations and are neither the sponsor of nor the contact person for the respective organisations listed on vostel.de.

If you have a question for an organisation registered on vostel.de that is not related to volunteering, please contact the organisation directly. For data protection reasons we are not allowed to give out contact information. We ask for your understanding.

We frequently receive enquiries from visitor groups and unfortunately do not currently have the space or time to organise visits and company presentations. We occasionally arrange digital meetings to get to know each other. Please feel free to send us an e-mail with your request.

Unfortunately, we are currently unable to fulfil the many requests for interviews. If you are researching young volunteering, you are welcome to take a look at our studies from 2020 on the topic of "Engagierte 2.0 - wie tickt die neue Freiwilligen-Generation" (in German). We wish you every success with your research and hope that you can find other valuable sources for your work.

We think it's a great idea to get pupils interested in social activities at an early age. We do not organise group activities for school students ourselves, but we recommend that you contact the organisations listed on vostel.de directly. Some of the organisations may offer special programmes or opportunities for (school) groups and would certainly welcome your interest. Please note that in most organisations the minimum age for volunteering is 14 years, in some even 18 years.

Ruben Stern Community & qualification management

Your question has not been answered here?

Then take a look at our detailed FAQ. If your question remains unanswered, please send us an e-mail or contact us by phone.