Volunteer work and paid work for charities

I've been searching the web for a complete list or directory of charities operating in Germany (or more specifically, Munich if possible). The kind of thing I'm looking for are charities who need either volunteers or people to work for them, in Munich. Preferably not church/religion-related/orientated. It should also include German sections of international organisations like Amnesty International, Oxfam etc if there are any (I think for these 2 that there is no presence in Munich, however).

I've found similar websites for the UK and US, but none for Germany. (I used keywords like Wohltaetigkeit, Menschenrechte usw).

I'd be grateful if you could help, or let me know the names of charities which you know of. I've got a list from searching on TT of the charities like Diakonie, Caritas, UNICEF and so on, but would like a complete list or at least a lot more choice. Thanks!

Amnesty International, Munich branch

I found ai with a simple google of amnesty münchen. I'm sure you could find others the same way.

Also, the Munich website has a whole section on volunteering: Wie kann ich helfen?

just don't expect as many charities as in the uk. my personal experience is that the charity culture in the uk is very different in germany.

These guys are always looking for volunteers:

http://www.lichterkette.de/

For the most part, they are trying to help badly integrated immigrants.

Münchner Aids-Hilfe e.V.

Positive News in Berlin

Try the Einewelthaus. They have fundraisers and community events all the time, and they sometimes have information sessions on volunteer opportunities.

http://www.einewelthaus.de/home.html

http://www.paritaet-bayern.de/

Should find something there!

What about the Red Cross?

Link to Munich branch:

http://www.brk-muenchen.de/start

there are tons of Amnesty International groups in Munich
there's even an english-language group that meets in Neuhausen
i keep meaning to go, actually, but i've never managed to get round to it yet
maybe in january

Hi all. I'm interested in the non-profits in Munich. Is there a non-profit network? My background is Community Development in a low-moderate income urban neighborhood. I specifically work with housing and real estate. Though I'm also peripherally involved with community organizing and financial literacy i.e. people understanding their mortgage, foreclosure prevention etc.

Can you recommend any non-profits or foundations like this in Munich? I'm not just interested in paid positions, but also volunteering.

Thanks for your help.

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I don't quite understand what you want, but this might help if it's charities or volunteer work you're looking for: http://www.toytowngermany.com/search/?q=charity

hey! i'm not sure about non-p work, but i HAVE to talk to you someitme about comm dev!

I'd love to talk to you about Comm. Dev. What are you interested in talking about?

I appreciate your response. Unfortunately the non-ps listed are more of the traditional non-ps, like Human Rights Orgs, Charity work like feeding the poor etc. While it's all good work, my interest and expertise lies in Community Development.

The University of Pittsburg defines CD. "Community Development is about process, not something that is handed down from an administration and internal governmental departments. Community Development is about engaging the community by giving access to resources and information and by showing how access and use those resources. Community Development is about education and communication. Community Development is the building of a community, one that provides strength through the support of existing assets."

It's obviously a very broad definition.

The CD organization I work for focuses on a low-moderate income inner-city neighborhood with about 18,000 residents and 6500 row homes. We have lot of obstacles like high foreclosure rate, petty crime like drug dealing, and some problem teenagers. However we also have a lot strengths like active residents, beautiful architecture, 125-hectare park with a stream, lots of trees, walking paths & ball field, and a 18-hole public golf course.

I am part of a 3-person team to improve the residential aspect of the neighborhood. We provide block grants so a whole block of houses can collectively do something to improve the curb appeal of their house like repainting their porches, gardening etc. Our community organizer helps neighbors organize clean-ups, block socials and come together when there is a problem on the block. We have a counselor who educates people on buying a home, like understanding what kind of mortgage your getting, how to buy within your means etc. He also reaches out to people who might have taken out bad/predatory loans. We also provide a below market rate interest home improvement loans for the houses in our neighborhood.

Specifically I work with residents to promote and sell the neighborhood to prospective buyers. This doesn't sound as altruistic, but it is necessary. For years the real estate market in our neighborhood was stagnant or decreasing. Most of our homeowners are low-moderate income. Their wealth is in their home, so it is important that their home increase in value. That's how many people send their kids to college.

First though, we had to remind the existing residents why they love the neighborhood so much. People tend to forget, and speak negatively about the neighborhood. We had to explain to them that everything they say or do encourages or discourages investment in the neighborhood. So now, we have residents speaking positively about the neighborhood. We host events highlighting the strengths of our neighborhood, and with an intense web & media based marketing effort, we've been able to reverse the negative trends in the neigborhood significantly.

We also partner with another non-profit to renovate homes in the neighborhood - a key component to many community development organizations.

Our 2-person business development team that provides facade improvement grants helps small business owners develop and manage their business plans, organizes promotions and provides basic education for our local business district.

We work to increase economic, social and racial diversity in the community. Many comm. dev. organizations also work with youth and education programs.

I'm sure this is a longer explanation than you wanted, but maybe it gives you a better idea of what I'm interested in.

I'm looking for neighborhood based or city wide non-profit organizations that are working in neighborhoods to improve them.

It is possible that I'm speaking from a very USA-centric point of view. I don't know that European cities face the same problems that cities in the USA do.

anyone know of anyone looking for people to do some charity work, i will have a few hours spare when my son starts school and it would be nice to mix with some German speakers. I'm in the south of Munich

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Volunteering Opportunities in Munich.