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Best Sites for Finding Volunteer Work Opportunities in the World

Find Volunteer Work Opportunities
Find Match Volunteer work opportunities

What is Volunteering?

Volunteering has becoming more popular in the last 10-20 years. Volunteer is a free act/action because it is based on the volunteer’s own choices. The volunteer is someone who renders a service, in response to a community need with the motivation of his own, without waiting in return for monetary compensation. This person can be an adult, a teenager, or a youth (12 years old or younger) accompanied by a parent. Volunteering has many benefits, but one of the key things it does is allow voluntary and community sector organizations to deliver their services on very small budgets. There are many VCS groups, projects and charities who simply wouldn’t be able to help the community without the generosity of people who are willing to give up their time to help others. With less and less funding available, volunteers are absolutely essential to the success and survival of the local VCS.

How to find Volunteer Work Opportunities?

There are many ways to find volunteer work opportunities.

  • You can find a charity or nonprofits organization that you are interested in, and contact them directly. In Canada, you can look for high impact charitable organizations.
  • You can visit a charity/nonprofit conference and reach out to the representatives directly.
  • You can use one of the volunteers matching sites or platforms online.

Best Volunteer Work Opportunities sites or posting boards

There are hundreds of sites that provide services for charities, nonprofits, or for-profit organizations to post volunteer work opportunities. Some are more generic sites like Indeed, or Monsters. Some job boards are focused on nonprofit and charitable sectors, while some focus only on volunteer postings. In this guide, we will review the top volunteer sites around the world, including English speaking countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the USA.


VolunteerMatch – where Volunteering begins ( Volunteering in United States)

VolunteerMatch is one of the larger volunteer sites in the United States. Started in 2008, VolunteerMatch is about people. We are a community that believes in the power of volunteering to enrich our lives and the world around us. We believe that in order to be strong, a community must be constantly evolving, increasingly active and evermore diverse. We are proud to be supporting a community that grew to over six million users in 2008.

VolunteerMatch helps volunteer recruiting for 501(c) Nonprofits 501(c) Organizations: Tax-Exempt Status Pending Organizations Schools Public and Private K-12 Public and Private Universities Non-US NGO Non-Governmental Organizations (Non-US) Other Organizations Government Organizations Hospices & Hospitals State-Level Tax Exempt Organizations.

Cost: $995 PER MONTH / $99 PER YEAR


Points of Light (Volunteering in the United States)

Points of Light has hundreds of thousands of volunteer opportunities, just waiting for the right volunteer to step up. Start where you are, when you can, and turn your passion into action.


Charity Village (Volunteering in Canada)

Since 1995, Canada’s charities and nonprofits have trusted us to help recruit for over 160,000 staff openings and RFPs. Approximately 300,000 unique visitors come to CharityVillage each month in search of new opportunities.

Cost: Free for Volunteer postings


Volunteering Matters (Volunteering in the United Kingdom)

Volunteering Matters develops and delivers high impact volunteer-led solutions across the UK in response to some of the most difficult challenges facing individuals and their communities today. With over 20,000 volunteers supporting over 85,000 people in over 100 community programmes, we’re leading the UK in volunteering practice, policy and partnerships.


Volunteer Now (Volunteering in the UK)

Volunteer Now provides vital links for promoting, facilitating, supporting and connecting volunteers and Volunteering Involving Organisations throughout our region.

Our digital volunteer management system helps connect the people in our community with volunteer opportunities and enables our VIOs to schedule, communicate with and manage their volunteers.


Volunteer Scotland (Volunteering in Scotland)

Volunteer Scotland receives funded support from the Scottish Government and others to:

  • research, demonstrate and measure the impact made by volunteers
  • develop skills through training and useful volunteer development tools, policies and guides
  • offer a one stop digital gateway to anyone looking for volunteer opportunities
  • support organisations to advertise volunteer opportunities and events online
  • provide an expert disclosure service for voluntary organisations
  • promote and grow volunteering through partners, funders, Government, and policy makers
  • work with others to support projects, innovation and creativity in volunteering

SEEK Volunteer (Volunteering in Australia)

SEEK Volunteer has been connecting Australian’s to volunteer opportunities since 2000. We help strengthen communities by enabling individuals and businesses to volunteer. SEEK Volunteer is Australia’s largest free online source of volunteer opportunities and is the preferred destination for those who want to volunteer. We are for people who seek to do more. We make it easy for people to connect to the right opportunity, for a cause they care about, in a location that is convenient to them.

GO Volunteer (Find Volunteer opportunities in Australia)

GO Volunteer is another site focusing on Australian Volunteer work opportunities. More than 6 million Australians make a difference by volunteering each year, doing a wide range of tasks for a wide range of volunteer-involving organizations. People volunteer for many reasons and in many different ways. Some use volunteering as a way to gain new skills or add to their CV. Others use it as a way to meet new people, make new friends or try something new. Making a difference to the community and having a sense of purpose are also popular reasons for volunteering. Whatever your own personal reason is for volunteering, rest assured it is a two-way exchange – you give but you also gain.


Circle Acts – High Impact Volunteering

We at Circle Acts also provide services to post volunteering opportunities. We serve donors through online channels and focus on impact, transparency, and convenience.

Circle Acts is passionate about having an impact around the world and know that together we can make a difference. We believe that organizations that are set up for the singular purpose of improving the world in a small way need support from others, whether that be monetary in the form of a donation or your time in the form of volunteering or fundraising. Each organization has a unique value and work hard to achieve their purpose, and the purpose of Circle Acts is to bring together the information in ways that support charities and give each charity an equal share of voice.


Volunteering New Zealand

Volunteering New Zealand is an association of volunteer centres, and national and regional organisations with a commitment to volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand.Volunteering is valued as part of who we are as a nation. We thrive and are enriched by the goodwill of volunteers in every community and their contribution and impact is recognised and supported.A large and diverse membership and our strong partnerships with government, iwi/Māori, communities and business enable us to transform volunteering in Aotearoa New Zealand.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Volunteer Work Opportunities.

What is the best place to find Volunteer Work Opportunities in the United States?

  • Volunteer Match
  • points of light

What is the best place to find Volunteer Work opportunities in Canada?

  • Charity Village

Best sites to find Volunteer Work opportunities in the UK and Ireland, Scotland, Wales?

  • Volunteer Now
  • Volunteer Scotland
  • Volunteer Wales
  • Volunteering Matters

What is the Best place to find volunteer work opportunities in Australia and New Zealand?

  • Volunteer New Zealand
  • GO Volunteer
  • SEEK Volunteer

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About the author

Circle Acts Team

United by a shared passion to make a difference, we're on a joyful mission: to spotlight the wonderful world of nonprofits, charities, and the incredible causes they champion.

Every article we craft is a labor of love, bursting with positivity and hope. We're firm believers in the magic of service and are constantly inspired by the countless unsung heroes working tirelessly for change. By donating our time and energy, we aspire to create ripples of awareness and inspire action. So, every time you read one of our articles, know it's penned with heaps of passion, a dash of joy, and a sprinkle of hope.

Cheers to making the world a brighter place, one story at a time!