Global Village team leader FAQs

​​You must be 24 years or older to become a team leader, complete a team leader application, pass a criminal and sex offender background check, become CPR and first aid certified and successfully complete the online team leader training course.

You’ll complete a comprehensive online training before you begin to recruit your team. Once you are officially certified as a team leader, you’ll have access to our entire team leader resources library which includes templates, samples and handbooks about managing team dynamics, marketing your trip, handling finances while traveling and so much more!

Once you complete team leader training you’ll have access to our team leader group and have access to a full library of resources as well as peer support while you organize a trip. Once you’re ready to organize a team, you’ll submit a proposal for an ideal location and time frame. Our office will work with you to finalize your trip dates and location before you begin recruiting.

Anyone can join your team as long as they have a heart for service, are ready to work hard on the build site and commit to learning about the community that you’re visiting. Team members must be a minimum of 16 years old at the time of travel, and additional paperwork is required before they are able to travel. Please review our Global Village minor policies for required documentation for minors to travel and restricted activities for minors on the build site.

We send teams to nearly 30 countries across the globe, each with unique qualities and different experiences. ​​​​​​

Most locations have an ideal team size of 12, including you as the leader. Once you become a trained team leader, you’ll be able to view all of the hosting countries and team size options.

We’ll talk more about the budget throughout your team leader training course.

Whether you’re organizing a team from your workplace, church, school or personal network, you’re responsible for meeting the minimum team size for the trip location.

​​​​​​Open teams are trips that are promoted on the Habitat for Humanity International website and social media platforms. These are generally teams of volunteers that do not have pre-existing relationships. Open leaders are required to attend an in-person leadership training. We are not currently accepting applications for additional open leaders at this time.

Private teams are teams associated with a specific organization or network. There are three types of private teams:

• Organization: A team associated with a church, corporation, social club, etc. The organization collects all trip funds and submits one check to Habitat.
• Habitat affiliate: A team traveling on behalf of a local Habitat affiliate. The team leader can be an affiliate staff member, volunteer, board member, etc. and volunteers are recruited using the affiliate’s network. The affiliate collects all trip funds and submits one check to Habitat for Humanity International. Trips to most locations are eligible for tithe credit.
• Friends and family: Team members are recruited from the team leader’s personal network. Team members can pay their program donations directly to Habitat for Humanity International and utilize the peer-to-peer fundraising platform, Share.Habitat. 

We list all teams with open recruitment on the Global Village website. All private teams will recruit from their own networks and not be posted to the website.  

Open team leaders receive a per person subsidy based on each team member recruited. If you recruit more than 12 volunteers for your team, you will be able to receive additional subsidy that can be used for increased airfare costs or visa fees, if applicable for the location where you are traveling. Private teams are able to include or exclude the cost for airfare in the budget. That decision is up to you as the team leader and your organization, as it does increase the volunteer’s program donation for the trip.

Only teams that are proposed as an open team will be promoted on the Habitat for Humanity Global Village website.

Once your trip is confirmed, your web flyer will be posted at least eight months in advance of your trip. If your trip is more than eight months out, then your web flyer will be posted privately and interested volunteers will still be able to select your trip during the application form.

It’s important that the information you provide on your trip proposal is accurate, as we will not be able to update the team leader bio on the web flyer once it is posted. We are only able to make updates if trip details change, such as host location or dates.

Habitat operates in more than 70 countries worldwide, and we send Global Village teams to about 30 of them. The reasons vary as to why we don’t send to all 70 countries, but include safety/security, capacity and priorities within the national organization, as well as available projects that volunteers can meaningfully engage with.

Each Global Village host program chooses their availability for hosting Global Village teams. Factors such as weather, hosting capacity and holidays affect the host locations ability to host certain times of the year.

Global Village requires a minimum team size of eight and a maximum team size of 16, when led by a single team leader. If there are two team leaders for a trip, then the team can grow to a maximum of 24 team members. However, your host country may have additional standards for minimum and maximum team size depending on their hosting capacity. Please contact your trip engagement specialist to confirm the minimum and maximum team size for your host location. If a team has less than 12 team members, this may affect your budget and team leader subsidy.

If you are unable to recruit 12 team members, you may still be able to travel with a smaller team; however, it depends on the host country requirements. A smaller team will increase the team leader contribution and decrease the subsidy available for airfare reimbursement and visa costs. Your trip engagement specialist will be able to provide the specific budgetary requirements for your team should you recruit less than 12 team members.

You can recruit team members until 45 days prior to the start of your trip. All team members must be registered and paid in full 45 days before the trip begins.

The 45-day deadline helps ensure that all logistics are in place in order for your team to have a successful experience. Funds for trip expenses must be received by the host program at least 30 days prior to the team arrival so that they may make deposits and confirm reservations for hotels, meals and program activities. The 45-day payment deadline allows us to have time to prepare the financial transfers to ensure they are received by the host program in time.

It is important that you accept every person who is interested in volunteering with Habitat. Occasionally, a volunteer will not be a good fit for your specific trip. In the event that you are unable to invite an interested person to your trip, it is necessary that you alert the Global Village office so that we engage that volunteer elsewhere. Please do not leave people hanging in the trip process without hearing back from you.​​​​​

Each time you’re ready to lead a team, start by completing a trip proposal. You can find the links for the appropriate team type on the team leader resources page.

Contact your trip engagement specialist if you are having concerns with recruiting team members. If your host country approves a smaller team, you may be able to travel with a minimum of eight volunteers.

All team leaders must complete a background check. Read additional information and frequently asked questions.

All team leaders must be certified in both adult CPR and first aid, as well as any official co-leaders. Even if other team members are certified, the team leader must also become certified prior to the start date of the trip. This requirement applies to leaders of all team types — private, open and Thrivent teams.

While some training programs allow full certification to be done online, at a minimum we require that the test must be conducted in person to ensure that the skills have been mastered. 

Certifications typically last for two years and must cover the entire span of the trip dates. We recommend looking for courses with the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association. 

Typically, CPR and first aid certifications are good for two years, but can vary by organization. Your certification must be valid for the entire duration of the trip.

You will be provided login instructions to the Team Leader Academy in your trip confirmation email. If this is the first time you are accessing your account, your username will be your Habitat ID and the provided password. When you initially login to your account, it will prompt you to change your password. You will then be able to access the Team Leader Academy at any time utilizing your Habitat ID and the password that you provided.

We want you to be as prepared as possible, and that means remaining up to date on our program and understanding the changes that occur each year. The webinar is short and if you have additional questions or clarification after completing it, then your trip engagement specialist would be happy to talk with you.

After logging into your Team Leader Academy account, you will see titles such as Team Leader Training, Confirmation Tutorials and Team Leader Tutorials. Just navigate to the section you’re looking for and locate the correct training video for your team type.

The Team Leader Academy is your one-stop training resource for leading Global Village teams. The Academy includes new team leader training and recertification trainings, as well as trip specific trainings. We’ll continue to create and add new continued education trainings as well for our team leader group.

Affiliates can receive tithe credit for the host program contribution portion of each volunteer’s program donation, provided that the host location is tithe eligible. Please note that there are a few host locations that are not eligible to receive tithe credit. Please contact the Global Village office to confirm which locations are eligible for tithe credit.

​​​​​​Tithes can only be used for the direct contribution to the host country you are visiting. You will only receive tithe credit if you submit your funds to the Global Village office using the enclosed invoice and instructions.

You should allow at least six to nine months to plan your Global Village trip. We begin accepting affiliate proposals in early summer for the following calendar year. To ensure that your first preference for host location and date is available, it is recommended that you submit your proposal early. This also allows you the time needed to recruit your team and prepare for your Global Village trip.