Gap Year: Volunteer abroad » Next Steps » Frequently Asked Questions about your Gap Year » Where does my contribution go?

Where does my contribution go?

Unlike many organisations, Frontier strives to be transparent about how its volunteer contributions are spent. After all, you will have worked hard to raise the funds for your project or expedition and we think you are entitled to know how we operate. Whilst it is impossible to give you an exact breakdown in each individual case, we can give you an idea about the type of things on which your contribution is spent. First of all though, we would like to explain how volunteer contributions are NOT spent!

Frontier is one of the only organisations operating in the field of ethical and gap year travel which is a not for profit company. This means that volunteer contributions do not end up in shareholders' pockets, nor do we buy company cars, rent trendy offices or appoint flashy public relations consultants or advertising agencies. As a not for profit company we allocate your funds to the essential costs associated with running our internationally renowned projects, our modest office, researching and developing new projects, building partnerships with developing country NGOs, highlighting threats to endangered wildlife and habitats and developing the skills and capacity of our hardworking and popular teams of field and headquarters staff.

Because we don't have to allocate profits to shareholders we are able to invest more in project development and we're able to offer you an unparalleled selection of top quality opportunities at the most competitive prices - no other organisation comes close. We can also invest more in our existing projects, providing them with better resources, the best staff and equipment and widening the scope of their activities and improving their impact.

Let's take a look at where your project contribution does go. This largely depends on the type of project you choose to join. Frontier projects fall into two categories:

Frontier Group projects

Frontier Group projects are operated by Frontier in collaboration with long-term partner organisations in five countries across four continents. These are:

• Frontier-Cambodia
• Frontier-Fiji
• Frontier-Madagascar
• Frontier-Nicaragua/Costa Rica
• Frontier-Tanzania

These projects are run by Frontier field staff, carefully selected for their experience and expertise, along with highly skilled staff from the partner organisations in the host countries. The projects are exclusive to Frontier and are not available through other providers. Entry to Frontier Group projects is competitive and follows an application and telephone interview.

Most Frontier Group projects have research, conservation and development components and most have separate teaching activities. As an international conservation and development agency Frontier is without equal in our field. Three of the Frontier Group projects encompass major, internationally recognised, marine conservation and dive training programmes. To run these we employ professional dive instructors, scientists and development workers who have been through a rigorous selection process. They all demonstrate a proven track record as field workers and have excellent academic credentials or diving qualifications. Frontier research and conservation volunteers are trained in standardised scientific techniques and established methods of data collection, all Frontier field work is published in technical reports and often in peer-reviewed scientific and conservation journals. In addition to the scientific training, Frontier volunteers may receive dive training to PADI Advanced open water (depending on project duration), TEFL training and our unique nationally accredited BTEC qualification.

When you join a Frontier Group project, your contribution will go towards developing and sustaining that project. Although we keep all project costs to an absolute minimum, we always ensure that value for money is not achieved by compromising on your health and safety, such as by purchasing inferior quality technical equipment for our diving expeditions, contracting poor quality services for camps or by selecting inappropriate staff for projects.

While working on a Frontier Group project, you may typically be living and working with a group of 4-30 volunteers, all carefully selected by us. Most likely, you will have already met some of them during your project briefing in the UK. This will vary dependant on season, location and the nature of the project: for instance, teaching projects will typically utilise smaller volunteer numbers of between 1 and 15.

For more information on Frontier Group projects, see the rest of our FAQs.

Frontier Group projects incur many additional costs not applicable to our Frontier supported projects. Below is a list of expenses to which your contribution may be applied. It obviously depends on which project you choose and not all projects will have every item on the following list:

Overseas office rental and overheads, project site rental, tents, tarps, generators, satellite phones, radio phones, mobile phones, radios, general scientific equipment such as specimen bags, jars, envelopes, butterfly nets, insect traps, canopy traps, camera traps, Sherman traps, scientific consumables, books, field guides, manuals, equipment manuals, safety kit, medical kit, medical supplies, camp equipment such as lanterns, batteries, pots, pans, other cooking equipment and jerry cans, fuel, food, building materials, boats, outboard motors, compressors, diving equipment such as regulators, BCDs, tanks, oxygen kits, service kits, waterproof cases, laptops, computers, printers, software, computer accessories, dive training materials, stationery, research permits, work permits, park and reserve fees, equipment rental, vehicles, vehicle maintenance, parts and consumables for vehicles, vehicle rental, other general equipment rental.

Frontier supported projects

As the pioneer of eco-volunteering and ethical gap year travel, Frontier has been approached by many organisations over the years for assistance with conservation and humanitarian projects across the globe. The needs of these organisations vary from project to project. They may require funding or resources, additional man power in the form of hard working, carefully selected volunteers, specialist skills or perhaps simply they need to build awareness of their activities by advertising themselves internationally. At Frontier, we are very careful about the organisations and projects we partner with and you can be confident that all projects supported by Frontier meet our highest standards and endorse Frontier's mission.

Without Frontier's international standing, wealth of experience and support, many of these small scale, local community run projects would find it hard to promote themselves internationally and would fail to reach new and enthusiastic audience. They would be unable to develop and extend their valuable and often highly innovative programmes. And many worthy causes would fall by the wayside. By working with these host country organisations, we can give them a chance to flourish while at the same time offering volunteers a wide range of exciting projects and adventures in new environments with diverse cultures and languages.

As well as offering competitive rates to our volunteers, we also ensure that our partners receive a fair payment to cover their project costs and we work hard to provide partners with additional benefits such as our expertise in marketing where we apply the knowledge developed over twenty years of working in the eco-volunteering and ethical gap year travel sector. As a Frontier volunteer, you will receive the benefit of expert advice from our dedicated team of experienced gap year travel advisors who will help you find the perfect project. You will receive pre-departure support and guidance from our professional volunteer coordinators and regional managers and once travelling you will have the reassurance of emergency support and backup from our field teams and 24 hour international emergency support. Our status as a not for profit organisation means we provide better value to you, the volunteer, than other providers whilst at the same time passing on more of the contribution to the project itself.

Frontier works for and with our local partners, building awareness and recognition of their excellent projects, promoting their achievements and working with them to disseminate project outputs and extend project goals.

Frontier only works with partners who have been carefully selected and meet our high quality standards. We are truly proud to work with every one of our partners. Here's what they say about us:

"Without working with Frontier, we simply wouldn't have been able to help the amount of disadvantaged children that we have."
India Street Children Partner

"Partnering with an international organisation such as Frontier has enabled us to draw from people with wide-ranging and varied skills, hard to find locally."
Nepal Community Work Partner

"The professional way in which Frontier's volunteers have helped us conduct our research has really improved understanding of the Sea Turtles we so dearly want to protect"
Costa Rica Sea Turtle Conservation Partner

Working on a Frontier supported project gives you the chance to contribute directly to a host country community initiative: it is a more intimate experience offering you the chance to immerse yourself profoundly in the daily lives of your hosts absorbing the details of their lifestyles, customs, cultures and languages. You'll be living with the host community either independently or in a small group of local or international volunteers who may have been recruited directly by the partner organisation. You may be living with a carefully selected and hospitable host family where you will have a private room and probably a shower or you may be in a volunteer house or local hostel where you may be sharing with other like minded volunteers. Catering arrangements will vary between projects and you're likely to be introduced to a wide range of local cuisines and delicacies.

Frontier supported projects will appeal to individuals who wish to leave behind the daily grind of the rat race, eschewing western materialistic culture and searching for a simpler lifestyle with contrasting values and distinct standards. You will be exposed in full to the local language and embraced warmly by the local community and immersed in their culture. Frontier supported projects are staffed by project partners and you may find yourself supervised or if appropriate mentored by a wide range of in-country specialists such as game rangers, field guides, bushman trackers, nurses, doctors, conservation specialists, organic farmers, forest officers, park wardens, childcare workers, fisheries officers, protected area managers, teachers, depending on the nature of the project, all specialists in their fields and keen to pass on their skills and knowledge.

Overseas Costs

Whether you are working on a Frontier Group project or a Frontier supported project, part of your contribution will probably be going towards the following overseas or in-country expenses:

• Airport pickup/drop off
• Ground transfers
• In-transit accommodation
• Food
• Project accommodation
• Training, briefing and orientation,
• Basic project materials
• 24-hour in-country emergency support
• 24-hour international HQ emergency support
• Partner organisation office costs and overheads

Office costs

As with any organisation, we must spend a certain amount of money on office costs. We only have one international headquarters in a small building in London. As well as rental costs, we must also pay for overheads such as electricity, phone calls, stationery, postage and computers. There are also ongoing costs such as insurance, maintaining our website, advertising and marketing - all essential to keeping Frontier up and running. We strive to get the best value out of everything we buy - for example we use every computer for as long as possible and after they are no longer suitable for intensive office use they are refurbished and sent to our field camps and project sites where further use can be made of them.

Below is a list of some of the expenses incurred in keeping Frontier up and running:

Staff wages, taxes, office rental and overheads, communications costs including telephone, email, Skype, satellite communications, radios and radio phones, postage and couriers, office equipment, software licences, consumables such as light bulbs and printer cartridges, insurance, PADI and other professional body subscriptions, marketing costs including, brochure and leaflet production, print advertising, web marketing, web site development and maintenance, open days, careers fairs, university, college and school presentations, trade fairs, volunteer briefing and training weekends, BTEC and TEFL training sessions, research and development for existing and new group projects, staff travel carbon offsetting, staff training and development, scientific research and development department costs producing scientific and technical reports and peer reviewed papers, attending conferences, presenting seminars, liaising with project donors, counterparts and stakeholders.

As well as our London HQ, we have offices in each of our five Frontier Group host countries. These provide a base from which we can conduct our world class research and conservation projects as well as enabling us to give you 24 hour in-country support.

How to choose a project

When choosing a project with Frontier, it is important that you think carefully about what type of project will best match the type of experience you are seeking and how you would prefer your contribution to be spent.

For those wishing to contribute to an established group project working alongside similar, like minded 'Frontier volunteers', living and working on a typical Frontier field camp, located either on the beach, in the forest or on the open savannah with a dedicated group of staff on hand 24 hours, a Frontier Group project is probably perfect for you. If you want to contribute to a world class research and conservation project undertaking pioneering biodiversity surveys in remote, uncharted environments, then a Frontier Group project is almost definitely for you.

If, on the other hand, you want an opportunity to immerse yourself fully in the culture of a host country chosen from around the globe and live like a true local, then you should choose a Frontier supported project.

Some things to consider when choosing a project are:

• Do you want to be living and working amongst a group of Frontier selected volunteers or would you prefer to be contributing in a more individual and independent way: integrated in the host country community?
• Do you want to sleep in a simple field camp, in a local style dwelling or longhouse, in a remote location or would you prefer accommodation with a bed and a shower in a volunteer house or homestay?
• Do you want to be supported by a group of Frontier field staff or would you prefer to be guided or supervised by the local community specialists and workers of our partner organisations and be supported by your homestay family?
• Do you want to be very much off the beaten track, in a remote location, isolated from the tourist or back-packer trail in a pristine environment or would you be happier in an urban or semi-urban setting with possible access to bars, cafés, clubs and discos?

Remember that every project is different and some may vary from season to season. Arrival destinations and project locations may alter with seasons and project activities may vary reflecting the changing needs of the project and local community. A degree of flexibility is obviously essential with overseas volunteering especially since this will enable the local project to derive the maximum benefit from your valuable volunteer work. To help you choose, take a look at the table below for a quick reference guide to choosing a project. If you have questions about a particular project or need help in deciding which project might best suit you please look at the project information on our website, call one of our gap year travel advisers with no obligation on 020 7613 2422, or request a call back for their expert top tips!

Responsible travel

All staff in our London office live locally and either walk, cycle or take public transport into work. We do not spend money on environmentally damaging company cars and only travel where necessary. We do not send head office staff to visit field projects for short assessment or appraisal exercises, but rely fully on our excellent field staff who are contracted for either 6 or 12 months and we make full use of a wide variety of communications with field offices and partner organisations to support and manage projects. Where overseas visits are absolutely essential, part of our costs include offsetting our carbon emissions which we feel is an essential part of being an environmentally responsible organisation.

Volunteers are offered the chance to offset their carbon emissions through Frontier by filling out the carbon offset form on our website.

We recycle 100% of our office waste and use recycled materials in our printing and publications. We aspire to being a virtually paper free office by the end of 2009. We provide our volunteers with access to all briefing and pre-deployment preparation documents with our unique online volunteer support service.

Sustainability

All Frontier Group projects make a contribution to conserving global biodiversity and supporting the development of livelihoods for under-privileged local communities. Frontier supported projects work with partner organisations in over 50 countries in 5 continents and therefore benefit the global environment and world population. All Frontier Group conservation projects are established with the central aim of empowering local communities to manage their livelihoods sustainably, improving the overall quality of their lives and preventing over-use and depletion of their natural resources. Many Frontier group conservation projects are part of long-term projects which have been running for up to five years. The longest running Frontier programme (in Tanzania) has been running continuously for the last 20 years.

Mission Statement

To conserve the world's most endangered wildlife and threatened habitats and to build sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities in the world's poorest countries. To create solutions that are apolitical, forward-thinking, community-driven, and innovative and which take into consideration the long-term needs of impoverished communities.

Conclusion

We hope that by now you will have a better idea of how we apply your hard earned money and we hope that you will approve of the decisions we have made to make our expenditure more efficient and environmentally and socially sustainable.

Although it is difficult to give you an exact figure, somewhere between 10% and 100% of your contribution will be applied directly to supporting your overseas project through a financial support. We also provide a non-financial contribution to projects in the form of such things as staff, marketing, scientific expertise or equipment.

At Frontier, we applaud those of you who wish to plan and organise your own gap year programme, research project and travels. We know how hard it is to source, finance and manage the best and most worthwhile projects and we congratulate those of you who accept the challenge and succeed. We also appreciate that with exams, part-time jobs, personal statements, UCAS applications and student loan forms: many of you simply don't have the time to do all the research necessary to discover the best projects and are happy to let Frontier take the strain.

With our wealth of experience developed over the last 20 years and with our dedicated project development team, we are able to source the very best, the most valuable and worthwhile projects for you to support.