3 Questions: Documenting Your Volunteer Trip

You’re not the only one excited for your upcoming volunteer trip! You know who else is? Mom, mom’s co-workers, Dad, sister, brother, BFFL, Auntie, Grandma and that one Facebook friend/former teacher that likes all of your status updates. So many people want to hear your incredible stories and share in the exhilarating moments that are sure to come.

These are 3 questions to consider when figuring out how to document your volunteer trip in a way that connects with those following your journey:

1. What are my tools?

• Status Updates & Posts: Via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Use pictures, videos, hashtags, and @mentions. #HASHTAGEVERYTHING with your volunteer team specific hashtag.
• Pictures, Pictures, Pictures: Visually capture your experience as often as possible. Followers love this! Share via the aforementioned sites/apps.
• Upload Video Clips: Via Vine, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. using a smartphone, GoPro video camera or any other recording device.
• Blogging: Via your personal blog and other sites/blogs who will share your writing as a guest or linked writer. Make sure to get the word out via Twitter and Facebook.

2. When should I share?

• Before and after your volunteer trip, certainly, but let us encourage as much communication during your volunteer trip as possible!
• Share photos/videos, thoughts, and team updates daily or even multiple times a day.
• Safety and focus on the tasks at hand are always the priority on a volunteer trip but take every opportunity to share through social media when it’s appropriate.

3. What about safety?

• Protect Your Tools: Check out our article on avoiding theft while volunteering and make sure that you have a way to protect your belongings (may we suggest a travel insurance policy?)
• Adapt: If your original plan for documenting your volunteer trip isn’t working, get creative and consider what organic materials you can use to record information.
• Mission Over Media: Don’t let documentation become detrimental to your team or the people you are serving. Keep your focus on service and the mission of your volunteer trip.

Taking a volunteer trip is something you’ll want to remember for years to come, so it’s important to document your trip in a convenient and memorable way. Sometimes you might even need to take some time and special care to process your trip when integrating back into everyday life. And that’s perfectly normal! We want to help you every step of the journey.

Tell us about your recent volunteer trip on Facebook or Twitter.