Take the First Steps in European Voluntary Service - Erasmus+

For a volunteer

The first step for a prospective volunteer is to find and contact a sending organisation and together with them think about:

1. What do I want to do during my European Voluntary Service (EVS)?
2. Why do I want to go on EVS?
3. Which field do I want to volunteer in?
4. What do I have to offer the place I will be going to?
5. Ideas on a region or country

Based on these answers, they can together go and consult the database of approved hosting organisations.

For a sending organisation

Reflect on:

• Why do we want to send young people on EVS?
• How does sending people fit into our other work, objectives, schedule?
• Do we have the competences, capacity and staff to prepare our young people to go on EVS?
• How will we follow the volunteer throughout all stages of the project?
• What do we want to do with EVS volunteers who come back, how will we give value to their experience, use their new competences and give opportunities to these young people?

Once you have answers to these questions, and still feel it’s the right thing for your organisation, you need to contact your National Agency (Links to an external site.). They will assist or guide you through the next steps which are:

• Filling in the application form
• Understanding the process of accreditation
• Doing the accreditation
• Giving a positive answer or helping you improve it.
•  You are good to go :)

For a hosting organisation

You need to collectively reflect on:

• Why do we want to host European Voluntary Service?
• What do we have to offer the volunteers?
• What will a volunteer concretely do here? Is this interesting and challenging for a volunteer?
• What profile of person do we want to host?  Any? Experienced? Set limits?
• Where will this person live? What does he or she eat?
• Who will deal with her or him? You need a job tutor AND a mentor.
• How can we make this person feel good here? Is there something to do in their free time, are there other young people around?
• Can we give the volunteer room to use their initiative in the work he or she does?
• Would you like to do the EVS you are proposing?

Once you have answers to these questions and still feel it’s the right thing for your organisation, you need to contact your National Agency. They will help you with the next steps which are:

1. Filling in the application form
2. Explaining the process of accreditation
3. Doing the accreditation
4. Giving a positive answer or helping you improve it.
5.  

Financial aspects;

1. The volunteer's international travel covers reasonable travel costs from the volunteer's home to the hosting organisation.
2. The contribution to the sending organisation’s activities like recruitment, preparation, contact, assessment and follow-up, is a lump sum payment, dependent upon the length of the project, and it is determined by country.
3. Exceptional volunteer costs related to the special needs of the volunteer, for example, medical attendance, additional preparation, etc... are paid in full, provided they are reasonable and justifiable.
4. The volunteer's allowance is fixed per host country and is paid in full to the host organisation and given to the volunteer weekly or monthly.

Accreditation process

Before an organisation can send or host EVS, they need to be approved by their National Agency (Links to an external site.) or SALTO South East Europe (Links to an external site.) or SALTO Eastern Europe & Caucasus (Links to an external site.), for partner and neighbouring countries. This process is to ensure you have the competences and facilities to send or host volunteers in the best possible conditions.
More information can be found at European Voluntary Service Accreditation Guidelines (Links to an external site.).

Source:

Erasmus+ Programme Guide by European Commission