Information for hosting institutions

Thanks to the close cooperation with international institutions 7,000 volunteers in over 400 institutions and in more than 50 countries have done a voluntary service with the Friends of Waldorf Education since 1993. We are glad that you too are interested in working with us and wish to give committed volunteers an opportunity to become acquainted with your work, country and culture. This page provides you with all the information you need to learn about working with us in the area of voluntary services throughout the world.

Prerequisites for Cooperation in the Area of Volunteer Service

Please check if your institution meets the following prerequisites for a partnership with Friends of Waldorf Education:

  • Your institution should be guided by anthroposophic/Waldorf education principles
  • Your institution should have a status as a charitable organisation or an organisation established for the public good (proof required)
  • Most if not all of the volunteers' tasks should lie in the social area
  • For the period in which you employ volunteers (usually 12 consecutive months), you will have to provide them with room and board. If your institution is not in a position to offer suitable accommodations, volunteers can live with a host family provided by you
  • You must provide volunteers with a mentor during their entire stay; this mentor will support them, guide them and be available for questions at all times
  • Volunteers from the Foreign Year Abroad (FYA) program receive monthly pocket money paid by your institution; however, if your institution is not in a position to do this, please get in touch with us so we can find a solution together
  • Please also note that we request an administrative fee of 1.000 Euros per volunteer from each institution that accepts volunteers from the Foreign Year Abroad (FYA) program; however, if your institution is not in a position to pay this fee, please inform us accordingly, as all decisions are taken independently of whether this lump sum fee is paid or not

During the voluntary service period, all volunteers supplied by the Friends of Waldorf Education are covered by world-wide medical, accident and public liability insurance.

Application as a Hosting Institution

If your institution meets the above prerequisites and you are interested in acquiring volunteers through the Friends of Waldorf Education for a period that normally lasts 12 months for each volunteer, then please complete the application form for volunteer services and send it to: Mrs. Susanna Rech-Bigot, s.rech-bigot@freunde-waldorf.de.

In addition, please send us a flyer or other informational material about your institution and give us the address of your website if you have one. Many thanks in advance!

Application procedure: How to successfully
accept volunteers into your institution

If your institution would like to acquire volunteers through the Friends of Waldorf Education for a standard period of 12 months, please note that the application procedure between volunteers and your institution would look as follows:

  1. Interested volunteers first apply through the website of the Friends of Waldorf Education (FWE).
  2. Each application is first evaluated by FWE. If suitable, it is released for the online application portal, where the applicant can select institutions to which he or she wishes to apply.
  3. You, as our partner, will then also have access to this online portal, where you can see active applications for your institution and either reject or approve them.
  4. After approving an application, you shall fill in a binding contract online (PPA − Partner Project Agreement) and have it offered to the applicant.
  5. If the applicant accepts, the binding contract is evaluated by FWE and released if it is found to be satisfactory. If changes to the contract are be necessary, the partner organisation will be notified by FWE.

Still Confusing? We get that it can be a bit much to procees at once. Our team is readily available for any questions:

Mrs. Susanna Rech-Bigot 
s.rech-bigot@freunde-waldorf.de
+49 (0)721 20111-145

 

Programs

The Friends of Waldorf Education dispatch volunteers through the German International Youth Volunteer Service (IJFD) and weltwärts, the volunteer service program by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The Incoming program is for volunteers from outside Germany who would like to serve as a volunteer in Germany for a period of 12 months.

  • International Youth Volunteer Service​​​​​​​ (IJFD): The IJFD program is open to men and women aged 18 or older (no upper limit) who wish to work outside Germany in Australia, New Zealand, Europe (with a few exceptions), Japan, South Korea, USA or in some countries in the global south.
  • European Solidarity Corps (ESK): The ESK is a EU (European Union) program. It promotes cross-border as well as local activities that benefit the community.
  • weltwärts: This volunteer service was established by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2008. Young men and women from 18 to 28 can serve as a volunteer in  countries of the global south. This service is subsidized by the German state. This means, among other things, that institutions outside Germany can receive financial support for room and board provdided for the volunteers.
  • Incoming: Through this program, people from all over the world are invited to apply for a voluntary service in Germany. They work in an anthroposophically or Waldorf oriented institutions in Germany. Most of them live in the office premises during their service. Read more about the incoming program here.

Quality Assurance

We constantly keep in touch with our partner organisations and also conduct surveys for the purpose of quality assurance. Surveying them has helped us understand their expectations and work towards a better partnership.