You can create a user ID for the Vapaaehtoistyö.fi service with your email address. As a registered user, you can keep track of the opportunities you have signed up for, create a search alert, and request certificates of employment for the opportunities that you have participated in.

To create your user ID, click the person icon in the right-hand corner of the navigation bar on top of the page. Creating a user ID is not mandatory and you can still sign up for volunteering opportunities without a user ID. If you are applying for an opportunity and you don’t have a user ID yet, you will receive an email with a link to creating a user ID. Please also keep in mind that you will not be invited to apply for volunteering opportunities after creating your user ID. Instead, you will have to apply for opportunities that interest you on your own.

You can use the service and apply for opportunities without creating an account and signing in.

You can search for volunteering opportunities that interest you by using the search function on the front page of the Vapaaehtoistyö.fi service. We recommend searching for opportunities with your location. You can filter the results by selecting the themes that interest you. Click the image to access the description of the opportunity and the sign-up form. You can apply for the position by filling out the application form (if you are signed in, just click “Send application”). The person who posted the opportunity will get in touch with you.

Your contact information is required so that the organization looking for volunteers can communicate with you. Your details will not be disclosed to third parties. A confirmation link will be sent to your email when you apply for an opportunity or create a user ID. Use this link to activate your user ID. Your data will be stored in a secure environment. The links to the Terms of Use and the Data Protection Statement are at the bottom of the page.

The service is partly funded by the Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA), which requires us to record the users’ age and gender. The data is used for statistical purposes and cannot be used to identify any individual users.

You can withdraw from your volunteer role completely or until further notice by letting your contact person know about your decision. You can stop volunteering at any time and without any specific reason. If you would like to have all your data removed from the service, please send a message to asiakaspalvelu@vapaaehtoistyo.fi.

Private individuals cannot look for volunteers using the Vapaaehtoistyö.fi service. Opportunities can only be advertised by organizations (e.g. an association, organization, parish, city, municipality). This allows us to ensure everyone’s safety as the opportunities are organized and managed by an organization that, among other duties, interviews the candidates and provides training for the volunteers.

The Vapaaehtoistyö.fi site is a national online directory of volunteering opportunities that is open to everyone. The site brings together people looking for volunteering opportunities and organizations looking for volunteers. The purpose of the website is to increase the awareness of volunteer activities and to make it easier to find volunteering opportunities. The service is jointly maintained by the Church Resources Agency and Citizen Forum.

The service can be used by organizations, parishes, municipalities, wellbeing services counties, and other non-profit organizations to advertise their volunteering opportunities.

The national Vapaaehtoistyö.fi service can be used to find volunteering opportunities across Finland. Each year, thousands of volunteers sign up for volunteer activities through the site! By creating an account, an organization can advertise volunteering opportunities in selected towns and cities, manage its volunteer activities, and maintain a secure register of volunteers. There is also a paid version of the service that offers more features.

1. On the front page of Vapaaehtoistyö.fi, click Register an organization account in the top navigation bar.
2. To create an account to use the free basic version, enter your organization’s details in the fields marked with an asterisk (*).
3. When creating a password, please make sure the password contains at least 8 characters, one uppercase and one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character. For instance, “Password2024!” is a valid password.

You can sign in to your account with your email address and the password you created. If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new one to be sent to your email. If you are interested in using the paid advanced version, which supports multiple user IDs and has more features, please send a message to asiakaspalvelu@vapaaehtoistyo.fi.

Follow these steps to create and publish volunteering opportunity advertisements on the site:

1. Sign in to your organization account.
2. In the account view, click Add a new task.
3. Enter details in all fields marked with an asterisk (*) in the application form. Tip: remember to specify the end date of the volunteer activity as well as the start date.
4. Select the themes that match the volunteering opportunity.
5. Once your volunteering opportunity advertisement is done, you can publish it right away. You can also save a draft or incomplete version of the advertisement. This version will only be visible to you, and you can continue editing it later. You can edit drafts and published advertisements and also use them as a template for future advertisements.
6. Before publishing the advertisement, add an image to it that matches the role (size preferably 1200 x 800 px). An image is not mandatory, but it makes the advertisement more attractive. Advertisements with no image are displayed with the Vapaaehtoistyö.fi logo.

Tips for creating a good volunteering opportunity advertisement:

1. Readers will read the title first. Try to come up with an inspiring title that describes the opportunity and makes people want to read further.
2. A good description of a volunteering opportunity tells the reader:
  - what the opportunity is about;
  - what skills are needed;
  - when and where the volunteer activities will take place; and
  - why it’s a good idea to participate in the volunteer activities.
3. Briefly explain what your organization is and what it does.
4. Add a contact person to the role description.
5. Select at least one theme that matches the volunteering opportunity.

If you cannot publish your advertisement for some reason, check the fields to make sure you have filled them out correctly. Missing fields are shown with a blue outline and instructions for what you need to do below the field.

Tips: When entering the address for the opportunity in the Task address field, select the address from the submenu that appears under the address field. Do not insert a link in the Organization details title in the form. If you want to, you can include the link in the Contact us field.

1. Sign in to your organization account and click Tasks.
2. Click the image of the task you want to edit.
3. To edit the task, select the pencil icon on top of the task. Make the necessary changes and then publish the task or save it as a draft.

When you create a volunteering opportunity advertisement, select themes that match the task, such as Children, youth and families or Church/parish. The themes help people looking for volunteering opportunities to find suitable opportunities.

When a volunteer applies for a position, the service sends an email to the email address of the person who published the advertisement. You can also see the volunteers who have applied for a position you advertised by signing in to your account and clicking Tasks. In Tasks, you can click the image of human characters shown in the task card, which takes you to the details of the volunteers who applied for each opportunity. You can sort the order in which the volunteers are displayed by selecting either Newest first or Oldest first in the upper left-hand corner of the view.

If you want to delete your account, please send an email to asiakaspalvelu@vapaaehtoistyo.fi