Volunteerism is fast becoming a national past time. People are vying to be involved in volunteer work, some out of a spirit of charity, others out of a sense of responsibility, and still others as the thing to do.

Volunteerism’s growing popularity draws its share of cynicism…

Guest post from Carolyn Lane on her journey from voluntourist to founding a non-profit using photography to connect and impact communities around the world.

In 1995, I used a small inheritance from my grandparents to take my first ever “volunteer vacation” with EarthWatch to Lombok, Indonesia. There I experienced being an “invited guest” in another country, as opposed to being strictly a tourist…

How does one get involve with travel philanthropy? There are so many opportunities to exercise philanthropy for a destination. Some will involve travel. Others simply can be done from wherever you are, yet impact destinations far away. In Part III of our three-part series (see Part I and Part II) on travel philanthropy, we look at 10 great sources for philanthropic travel and connecting with community projects.

What does travel philanthropy and microfinance have in common?
Both can impact almost all areas of development — poverty, women’s empowerment, children, education, literacy, environment, health, etc.
As we mentioned in Part I, travel philanthropy is simply connecting people to places that’s done in a way that supports and empowers local destinations and communities. Microfinance serves as a powerful tool of travel philanthropy. Microfinance ties the giving to a destination to provide systemic change in a locale. With a little help, people are able to feed, educate, and care for their …

MASSIVEGOOD is a new fund-raising initiative aimed at raising funds for global health causes by allowing travelers to make “micro-contributions” when they book a plane, hotel, or car. MASSIVEGOOD uses the power of social media to help stop the millions of preventable diseases and deaths in the developing world. Travelers can make their trip really meaningful and connect with fellow contributors on the website, a social network for those committed to building a healthier world.
MASSIVEGOOD will go live this Thursday. This hassle-free, easy-to-give model will work like this: a traveler …

Want to build a personal portfolio of favorite charitable causes to give to? With so many organizations to choose from, is the donating process overwhelming? Are you looking for a new model of convenient giving?
Texas-based non-profit Givv.org has made setting up a personal giving portfolio simpler. It organizes all your charitable giving to your favorite organizations from one location and with a single monthly payment.
With three easy steps, your personal giving portfolio is ready to do some good! You complete a free registration, set up your monthly giving budget and …

This is a guest post from Daniela Papi of PEPY:

Our trips during our first few years at PEPY were all about service. We were enthusiastic about offering travelers a chance to give back to the places they visited, otherwise known as voluntourism. Tour participants taught classes at local schools, visited orphanages, and repaired educational buildings. Often times, the needs the travelers were filling were not the biggest needs for the projects we were partnering with but were instead the things they were able to physically contribute to. When our guests …