Frequently asked questions.

Absolutely not! Our placement partners all assist animals in some way; these organizations need help with every aspect of their work. While some of our experiences are specially made for veterinary professionals, you do not have to be a vet to volunteer. AEI experiences are designed to provide training and support for people who love animals but haven’t had the opportunity to collaborate with them before. If you have a particular skill that would help our placement partners, be sure to bring it to our attention. Examples of professional skills that can be applied to AEI experiences are design, construction, admin, fundraising, and education. It doesn’t matter who you are or what experience you have; you can make a difference!

If you apply less than 60 days before departure, your deposit will be 50% of your total fees. The deposit will be due 7 days after your interview. Your total fees will be due 14 days after your interview.

Some of our experiences are very popular. To make sure you are able to volunteer for the dates you prefer, we recommend you apply at least 6 months in advance. If you are applying less than 6 months before your departure date, that is okay too. We can’t guarantee you a spot at every experience, but we will do our best for you! Apply early, and you will not only get the best timing possible, but you will also be more successful with your fundraising. More time to plan means a more successful AEI experience!

English is spoken at all the AEI experiences. You won’t have to learn another language if you speak English. You will, however, be working side by side with volunteers from other countries and with people from the country you are visiting, so there will be an opportunity to pick up other languages if you are interested. You will be provided with information about the language of the country where you will be volunteering, including English translations of common words and phrases. We always encourage our clients to try to speak a little of the native language—people always appreciate it when visitors make that effort. Some of our experiences even have language classes available so you can learn a new language while volunteering!

It is quite possible that you can! Many colleges and universities allow students to use international placements as their co-operative or clinical placement. We will work with your program coordinator to determine if the AEI experience of your choice meets the educational requirements of your program. If you are a professional interested in using an AEI experience to earn continuing education credits, contact your professional organization for approval. We can answer any questions your professional association may have and are more than happy to provide any supporting documents and evaluations required. Your program coordinator or association administrator can reach us at info@animalei.com.

Once you apply, you will be interviewed by our volunteer coordinator. These take place on weekdays and are 30-minute Google Meet interviews. Once you have been approved for the experience, we just need you to sign your waiver and contract online, then deposit your first payment ($750 Canadian) online, and we will confirm your volunteering experience with the placement partner! If you have everything ready immediately, you can be approved immediately. We have had people apply and volunteer the next week — it can’t always work this fast because of availability, but we will do everything in our power to make the process quick and easy so you can get to volunteering as soon as possible!

We have been to all placement partner locations to inspect, participate in, view, and judge the transportation, activities, animal care, volunteer arrangements, and living conditions. We have met the people you will be staying and working with and who will be transporting you around. We have a great relationship with all of our placement partners. Our volunteer coordinator emails all of them at least once a week, some of them once a day! These organizations run successful international volunteer programs and have hosted many volunteers over the years. We are confident in our partners’ abilities to make good judgments, maintain high safety standards, provide appropriate emergency medical care if necessary, and ensure you will be safe. Our partners have signed agreements ensuring that they will provide medical supportive care and bring you to authorities/hospitals/transportation/whatever you need in the event of an emergency or crisis. All AEI volunteers also sign agreements to follow procedures and rules outlined by AEI and the Placement Partner. This ensures that the work and volunteer environment remains safe and professional. All of AEI’s Placement Partners know that if any volunteer participates in acts of violence, harassment, illegal activities, or behaves in a way that endangers animals or people (including themselves), they will be asked to leave the experience.

AEI provides its volunteers with a complete travel package to ensure their trip will be as smooth and worry-free as possible. When you arrive at your destination country, you will be picked up from the airport and safely delivered to your placement. AEI provides you with up to $500,000 in travel insurance through our insurance company, International Volunteer Card, which provides insurance especially for “voluntourists.” IVC provides you with the added security of a 24-hour emergency support line staffed by people who specialize in travel emergencies.

We provide you with an AEI Travel Manual that we wrote ourselves after visiting the placement partner sites. This manual covers everything from parasites in the water to how to deal with culture shock. These manuals are mini guidebooks specifically designed for you and your exact adventure. Anyone interested in additional preparation is encouraged to purchase Travelling without Baggage. Our volunteer coordinator wrote this book to help you stay safe while travelling. Travelling without Baggage is available as an e-book for purchase from our online store. We’re sure all authors think their book is important, but we really believe that this guide contains the essentials for physical and mental health while travelling and volunteering.

That said, ultimately, this is your trip that you make on your own. We encourage all of our volunteers to be smart and trust their instincts! Be prepared, stay alert, and if something feels unsafe, it probably is, so be empowered to say no and trust yourself when you do. As with all things in life, we can’t guarantee that nothing bad will happen to you, but we try our very best to minimize the risks and put everything in place to help you stay safe and healthy during your adventure.

We have a great partnership with Corporate Traveller. Don’t let the name fool you; they’re fantastic! They charge $25, and then they do all your work for you, making sure you get the best prices for flights and providing you with 24-hour support before and during your trip—just in case! If you want an email introduction, just ask.

Some of our programs have strict policies about the age of volunteers; this is because of local laws, regulations, and liabilities. However, we have a few programs that allow clients of all ages. If you would like to see a list of them, search under All-Ages programs on our search page.

The length of your AEI experience is entirely up to you. That is one of the great things about volunteering with AEI—each of our placements accepts volunteers year-round, so your travel date and length of stay can be based on your schedule. Most of our experiences do, however, require you to volunteer for at least 1 week. We have found that volunteering for less than one week is just not worth it for our clients and is not enough time to fully benefit our placement partners. We want to ensure you spend enough time training to be truly comfortable and have the best adventure ever!

Of course! Not all of our experiences have room for exceptionally large groups, but most have space for at least groups of 5. We have had people use these experiences as graduation trips, honeymoons, family trips, and getaways for best friends who want to volunteer together! Groups of 5 or more get 10% off their individual fees.

This is important to us, too! This is why we wrote our AEI Travel Manuals after visiting each country and spending time with each placement partner. We gathered information, asked all the tough and embarrassing questions, made all the mistakes, and did extensive research, so you won’t have to! Once you read your AEI Travel Manual, you will understand how to dress, how to tip, how to say hello, and how to have an amazing adventure. Of course, throughout your planning and travelling, you can always contact us and ask any questions you have. For further ideas on how to lower your negative travelling impact, please visit our Responsible Travel Page.

We partner with sustainable centres whose ongoing conservation efforts never stop. All our placement partners operate 365 days a year. This means they need volunteers every day of the year. Of course, there are high and low seasons, and we will explain what tasks you will be participating in while you are at the placement partner’s centre. Some centres ask that you start on specific days of the week, but that is the only limitation. The best time to volunteer is when you are available—the animals will always need you.

• Review our experiences.

• Apply (normally done 6–12 months before your desired departure to give you enough time to receive any necessary immunizations, apply for and receive your passport, apply for any required visas, fundraise, etc.).

• Please sign your waiver and contract online. Your nonrefundable deposit of $750 Canadian is also due at this time. Once these have been received, the volunteer coordinator confirms your placement at the experience.

• Fundraise!

• Review your AEI Travel Manual, training materials, and online training sent to you by the volunteer coordinator.

• Book your airline ticket and send us the information and trip itinerary. Once this has been received, the volunteer coordinator will set up your airport/hostel/hotel pick-up.

• Sixty days prior to your departure, the balance of your fees is due. Also due are your copies of transcripts/professional licences (if you are volunteering as a student or professional for educational credits), vaccination records, doctor’s note, and a copy of your photo identification (such as your passport). These can be scanned and emailed to us.

• VOLUNTEER!

• You will be sent a post-trip debriefing questionnaire that we ask you to fill out so future clients can read reviews, learn from your tips, and see if the experiences are right for them. We will also ask for pictures or videos to post on our Facebook. We want to see them too!

Certainly! Easy Group Airfare! They are the ultimate online destination for discounted group travel. Whether you are travelling across the country or around the world, Easy Group Airfare serves as your travel agent and advocate by providing travel assistance and support for groups travelling the globe. A triple-bottom-line company, Easy Group Airfare donates 5% of profits back to the non-profit organizations that book their travel with them. Request a quote with Easy Group Airfare!

Once your application has been accepted, you will be required to pay a deposit of $750 Canadian. This deposit is nonrefundable and is used to secure your reservation and process your trip. If you decide to cancel your trip after you send in your deposit, AEI will allow you to transfer these funds to another AEI experience if done within one year from the date of your cancellation. After one year, these funds will no longer be transferable.

That is an excellent question—and a very important one to us at AEI, where, as a B Corp, we have pledged social, economic, and environmental responsibility. Most of your money goes directly to our placement partner to pay your placement fees, which cover your accommodation, meals, airport pick up and drop off, training, support while on the project and any required membership fees and uniforms. Your travel insurance and IVC Card benefits cost $120, and carbon balancing your travel with Ecologi costs $100. The rest of your fees go towards supporting our placement partners (such as the place you are volunteering), developing new placement opportunities and allowing AEI to function as a socially responsible B Corp. Remaining fees are broken down as follows: Promotion of our partners: 17.6%; International educational support: 15%; Pre-departure client support, including travel manual(s): 17%; Client recruitment: 17%; Placement assessments and site visits: 7.5%; In-kind donations: 3%; Investment in new partners: 4.5%; Bank fees, currency conversion, applicable taxes: 6.4%; Administrative costs: 12%. By travelling with AEI, you are supporting important, hard-working organizations around the world and making a significant difference in the lives of animals!

The donations you send will go to the placement partners, who are charities in their own country. Unless you pay taxes in those countries, you will not be eligible for a tax receipt. We are not a charity; we are a B Corp!