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 …

The growing popularity of “slum tours” has prompted media coverage and debates.  We did a post, “Poverty Tours: Good or Bad?” exploring some of the questions last July.
Topics about the poor or disadvantaged in relations to the wealthy and advantaged often trigger heated opinions. Debate is good because it brings issues to the forefront and is productive if the underlying desire is for betterment rather than being right.
Critics of slum tours have long argued that tourists visiting the slums exploit and violate the dignity of slum dwellers. While supporters of …

Travelers are all too familiar with leaving behind half-used hotel shampoos and soaps after a hotel stay. Ever wonder “what happens to the reduced bar of soap and unused portion of shampoo at a hotel when a guest is done using it?” Do they go anywhere beside the trash? Could some good come from the leftover hotel soaps?
Clean the World (CTW), a non-profit, charitable organization founded in March 2009, has come up with a savvy social responsibility solution to left-over hotel toiletries. Its operating model is all about sustainability and …

With news of the Haiti earthquake and devastation, many socially-minded globe-trotters wanted to jump on the next plane to help out with relief efforts in Haiti. The Matador Travel community mobilized a strong social media campaign to get volunteers and material donations into Haiti for a short-term relief stint. They had over 150 volunteers signed up ready to go. The energy, enthusiasm, and altruism were high, but was that good enough for disaster relief volunteering efforts?
Our desire to help our fellow human beings harmed by natural disaster in far away …

The Red Cross has estimated that up to 3 million people may have been affected by Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti. Many of us are looking for ways to help after hearing about the devastation. There is an immediate need for doctors and nurses. Otherwise, the consensus from most organizations is that money is needed most in relief efforts. They are not looking for clothes, food or volunteers right now.
Want to help immediately? Simply text ‘HAITI’ to ’90999′ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross …

With our world filled with needs and increasing social activism, philanthropy is no longer primarily defined by wealth. You become one based on your values and finding the cause that you care enough to dedicate your money, time, and talents to. The initial desire to engage, to give, comes simply from the head and the heart.
That said, you don’t just give, you’ll want give with some impact. People don’t naturally know how to give effectively. Philanthropy is something that is learned. It is intentional. It takes some planning and there …

Safe drinking water, so essential for life and yet unavailable in many parts of the world. Each day, more than 4,000 children die in developing countries simply because they don’t have clean drinking water — a global crisis.
Cosmetic company Cover Girl kicked off the relaunch of their Clean Makeup line with the launch of the Cover Girl Clean Makeup for Clean Water campaign. Partnering with Children’s Safe Drinking Water to alleviate this global crisis, Cover Girl has donated $500,000 to CSDW which will provide 50 million liters of clean water …