Small Business Saturday

Why pay to volunteer? Because SOMEONE has to pay for the things you consume. There are tangible costs like water and electricity and there are intangible like training costs. You as a volunteer of course invest your time to a centre but you are costing resources at the same time. Ethically compensating people for their time while making sure your costs are covered is how we make sure volunteering doesn't drain the communities we send people to.

When you book with AEI there are lots of add ones that are built into the price like airport pick up/drop off, insurance, pre departure manuals, carbon balancing, the international volunteering course, travel discounts from volunteer card and an extra small donation to our partners. So why do we add that? To make sure that volunteers don't feel obligated to give more. You are going to invest your precious time to these animals and many people who do do it because they want to nurture and help. Often we wonder if we are helping enough, when you know absolutely everything isn't just compensated for but also invested in, you don't have to wonder if you are doing enough.

Also (2), when you support a women owned b Corp like AEI you help us to live OUR dreams of helping people volunteer with animals safely and ethically. It also frees up time from the animal hospital manager. When we do their logistics, marketing and volunteer coordination she can get back to working with the animals- their true dreams.

Support small business, support ethical programs and make sure you make a positive impact in the programs you love.