What better way to spend the weekend than to do something meaningful together as a family? Volunteering together as a family not only fosters the bonds among family members, but also helps others in a meaningful way at the same time. Many organisations and communities are more than willing to promote such activities on a regular basis.

Before you embark on your search for volunteer organisations, gather your family members and brainstorm about which type of organisation you would like to volunteer in. Find something that everyone can participate in and enjoy. Here is a list of collective organisations where you can find a wide range of non-profit volunteer groups in all parts of the world.

1. The Idealist Non-profit Database
http://www.idealist.org/if/as/ Org?type=NON_PROFIT_TYPE

An expansive database where you can search for an organisation based on its area of focus in different countries.

2. The International Association for Volunteer Effort
http://www.iave.org/

Where you may find a list of volunteer groups all over the world, and keep updated with news.

3. VolunteerMatch
http://www.volunteermatch.org/

VolunteerMatch offers a database of volunteer opportunities in the United States searchable by zip code. Opportunities that are appropriate for groups or families are marked with a little brown "G" in your search results.

4. do-it.org
http://www.do-it.org.uk/

An online resource for finding volunteer opportunities in the United Kingdom. Enter your area of interest or your post code in the "Want to Volunteer?" section for a volunteer opportunity.

Other sites which offer help for family volunteering include:

1. Doing Good Together
http://doinggoodtogether.org/i ndex.html

2. Family Cares
http://www.1-800-volunteer.org /1800Vol/FamilyCares.do?title= familyCares&LOCALE_KEY=EN

3. National Family Volunteer Day
http://disney.go.com/disneyhan d/familyvolunteers/

Learn more about this author, Jarinia Heuze.
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