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 …

Do you desire a deeper connection with the destination you visit? Travel is appealing to so many of us because we desire connections with people… and people in far away places fascinates us. They are distant and distinct not only in locale but culture, ethnicity, socio-economic circumstances, and life perspectives. Travel provides us connections to people that we would not ordinarily meet and solidifies these connections through “face-to-face” encounters that open the door for change.
Travel philanthropy is simply connecting people to places. It’s done in an active and engaging way …

We conducted an informal poll on our website to find out our readers’ interest, preference, and experience with philanthropic/volunteer travel. Here are the results…

We want to hear from you! Give us your thoughts on philanthropic and volunteer travel.

Would you like volunteering to be part of trip or entire trip?
Where would you like to travel to?
Have you taken a philanthropic or volunteer trip?

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 …

Volunteer tourism or “voluntourism”, which has been increasingly popular among leisure travelers, is extending its reach into the workplace. Some folks are taking sabbaticals from their jobs to be philanthropic volunteers. Some companies not only permit employees to take sabbaticals, they are putting programs in place to encourage employees to be involved in charity travel.  Both companies and employees see charity travel as a win win situation.
Multinational companies, such as India’s Infosys Technologies and global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, view charity travel as an opportunity to give employees work experience in …