FAQ

A volunteer is someone who engages on a voluntary basis, driven by their own motivation and without financial compensation. By volunteer, we also include other common terms such as unpaid volunteer, voluntary worker, event staff, board member or active member.

A volunteer opportunity is a task that a non-profit organisation is looking to fill with volunteers. Opportunities can vary in scope and time commitment – from one-off activities to longer-term engagements that involve a few hours per week or month.

You apply for a volunteer opportunity by submitting an application to the opportunities that interest you. Your application is sent directly to the organisation, which then decides if and how they will get back to you.

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a volunteer, you can read more on the Become a volunteer page.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering can apply for an opportunity. After that, the organisation’s contact person and the applicant decide together whether the opportunity is a good match.

Requirements vary between opportunities. Some may have age limits or request specific experience, but many opportunities do not require any prior experience at all.

No, it’s free to apply for a volunteer opportunity.

If you’re interested in a certain type of opportunity or a specific organisation, you can set up an alert. You’ll then receive emails when new opportunities that match your preferences are published.

There are several ways to stay updated:

The time commitment varies depending on the opportunity and how much time you’re able to give. Some opportunities involve volunteering several times a week, while others are better suited to once a month.

The opportunity description outlines what’s expected. You can also contact the organisation if you’d like to know more before applying.

No, submitting an application is not binding. You and the organisation decide together what a possible engagement would look like.

Often, the organisation will make initial contact, for example by phone or at a meeting, to talk more about the opportunity. This gives you the chance to ask questions and decide whether the opportunity is right for you. It’s always okay to say no if you feel that the engagement isn’t a good fit.

Yes, if you have an account with Volontärbyrån, you can withdraw an application yourself.

Here’s how:

Once you withdraw an application, it cannot be undone. If you later want to apply for the same opportunity again, you’ll need to submit a new application.

Through Volontärbyrån, you can find a wide range of volunteer opportunities. The opportunities are offered by non-profit associations, religious communities and non-profit foundations that operate in line with democratic rights and freedoms. They can range from short-term activities to longer-term engagements, across many different fields.

If you’d like to see what opportunities are currently available, visit the Find opportunities page.

When organisations post volunteer opportunities, they can specify different accessibility features, such as allergy considerations, accessible toilets, the possibility to bring a guide dog or adaptations for visual impairment. These are shown as tags and can be filtered, making it easier for you to find opportunities that match your needs.

Organisations can also use a free text field to describe accessibility in more detail. If you’d like to learn more, you can read more on the page Accessibility guide.

No, Volontärbyrån currently only connects volunteers with opportunities in Sweden.

Volunteering with a non-profit organisation usually does not affect your entitlement to unemployment benefits (A-kassa). However, the rules may vary depending on your individual circumstances, so we recommend that you check with your unemployment insurance fund (A-kassa) or with the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) if you are unsure.

If you receive activity compensation or sickness compensation, there is usually a limit to how many hours per week you can volunteer. The rules may vary depending on your situation, so we recommend that you always contact your case officer at Försäkringskassan if you’re unsure.

No, it’s free of charge for non-profit organisations, religious communities and foundations to post volunteer opportunities through Volontärbyrån. It’s also free for volunteers to submit applications for opportunities.

To register your organisation, fill in your organisation’s details and submit a registration through Volontärbyrån. To register, you need to be a non-profit organisation, non-profit foundation or religious community with an organisation number.

Once the registration has been submitted, we review the information and send you a confirmation. Before registering, it’s a good idea to check whether your organisation is already listed with us.

You become a coordinator by creating an account and then joining the organisation, or by being invited by someone who is already a coordinator.

As a coordinator, you can manage the organisation’s details and opportunities, and invite colleagues who need access to the organisation account.

To post an opportunity, you first need to add your organisation to Volontärbyrån. Once the organisation has been reviewed and approved, you’ll receive an email and can start posting volunteer opportunities.

If you’d like to learn more about how to find volunteers, you can read more on the Find volunteers page.

No, Volontärbyrån does not have a volunteer pool. Instead, people who want to get involved actively search for the volunteer opportunities that organisations post on our website and submit applications for the opportunities that interest them.

Volontärbyrån makes it easier for people who want to volunteer and organisations looking for volunteers to find each other.

Through our online platform, non-profit organisations can post volunteer opportunities that interested individuals can apply for. Volontärbyrån does not have a volunteer pool; instead, we gather volunteer opportunities in one place. Once an application has been submitted, the organisation is responsible for further contact and follow-up.

Volontärbyrån can be used by non-profit associations, religious communities and non-profit foundations that share a set of values based on democratic rights and freedoms. This means that only organisations and opportunities that are grounded in these values can recruit volunteers through Volontärbyrån.

All organisations and opportunities are reviewed before being published on the website. If you’d like to learn more, you can read about our guidelines.

When you use Volontärbyrån, we process certain personal data about you, such as your name, email address and phone number. We do this to enable contact between volunteers and organisations. We take your data seriously and only use it for clear and lawful purposes. Read more about our privacy policy here.

If you have an account with Volontärbyrån, you can delete it yourself by logging in and going to My account. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find Settings, where you can choose Delete account.

When you delete your account, your personal data will be removed within 14 days.

Volontärbyrån is funded through partnerships and grants from municipalities, companies, organisations and foundations.

There are many terms used to describe people who volunteer, such as volunteer, unpaid volunteer, active member or board member. At Volontärbyrån, all of these are included.

We work with non-profit organisations in many different fields – from social work to sports, nature, the environment, culture and adult education. All types of non-profit associations that share our values are welcome.

For Volontärbyrån, volunteering is about more than giving. Those who get involved often receive a lot in return – such as a sense of community, the opportunity to use their interests and the chance for personal growth. Voluntary engagement also helps people connect, feel better and experience a sense of belonging.

Through involvement in non-profit organisations, people also have the opportunity to make their voices heard and influence social development. These are some of the reasons why we want to help ensure that more people in Sweden have the opportunity to get involved.

For Volontärbyrån, volunteering must always be voluntary. Volunteering works best when it is based on personal motivation and willingness, not on requirements or pressure – for example as a condition for benefits, compensation or grades.

Volunteering within community organisations contributes to both social development and innovation. Many of the services we now see as a natural part of society originally began as volunteer initiatives, such as home care services, child health centres and libraries. New solutions also continue to emerge within the non-profit sector today, such as women’s shelters, Missing People and Skjutsgruppen.

When people come together around issues they care about, it creates a sense of community, trust and engagement. This strengthens social cohesion and can help prevent social exclusion. Volunteering also gives more people the opportunity to make their voices heard and take part in shaping society.