Disclaimer and method
How we assess and who we are
Volunteer Aware wants to help volunteers make a conscious choice when volunteering or doing an internship abroad. On this page you can read how our assessments are made, who is behind them and what you can do if you disagree with something.
About Volunteer Aware
Volunteer Aware assesses organisations for volunteering and internships abroad on quality and transparency. Organisations do not pay for an assessment and cannot buy a higher score.
How we assess
Every organisation is assessed with the same fixed criteria: twenty for quality and twenty for transparency. Each criterion comes with a short explanation of why an organisation received that score. We consider a few practices so harmful that the quality score is then capped at 40%. This applies to volunteering in children’s homes, contact with wild animals as an attraction and medical work by people without training. The pages Quality index, Transparency index and Knock-outs explain exactly how this works.
What the assessment is based on
We assess on the basis of the information an organisation makes public itself, mainly on its own website. That is why every assessment shows the date on which it was made. An organisation may have made changes after that date that we have not yet taken into account. An assessment is a substantiated judgement of what an organisation shows. It is not a statement about the people who work there and no guarantee for the experience of an individual volunteer.
Our connection with De Kracht van Sport and Doingoood
Volunteer Aware was set up by the people behind De Kracht van Sport and Doingoood. Both organisations send volunteers and interns to projects abroad themselves. They are therefore also listed on this site and have been assessed with the same criteria as every other organisation. We think it is important that you know this, so you can weigh our assessments yourself.
Independently assessed
The criteria are not based on the way De Kracht van Sport or Doingoood work, but on what international organisations say about responsible volunteering, such as Better Care Network, ReThink Orphanages, Keeping Children Safe and World Animal Protection.
The assessments themselves are made with artificial intelligence (AI). The AI reads the public website of each organisation and applies the same criteria to it, in the same way for every organisation. This also applies to De Kracht van Sport and Doingoood. The people behind Volunteer Aware do not adjust scores themselves. An AI can make mistakes too. If you spot an error, let us know and we will look at it again.
Responding or requesting a new assessment
Do you work for an organisation and is something not correct, or have you made improvements? On the page Request a review you can respond, report a mistake or ask for a new assessment. We look at every request and update the assessment when there is reason to. You can also email info@volunteeraware.nl.
Logos and quotes
We only use logos and short quotes from websites to make clear which organisation is meant and what our judgement is based on. This does not mean that an organisation works with Volunteer Aware or supports us. Would you like us to remove a logo? Let us know and we will.
Liability
We do our best to keep all information accurate and up to date, but mistakes can never be ruled out entirely. Choosing an organisation remains your own choice. Volunteer Aware is not liable for any damage resulting from the use of the information on this site. So always do your own research as well, ask the organisation questions and, if possible, talk to former volunteers.