Financing Your AFS Experience—You Can Do IT!
Let your friends, family, school, and everybody in your community know you’re planning to study abroad with AFS. We can help by giving you strategies, ideas, and examples of how other students financed their programs abroad. We also have financial assistance and scholarships available. Show you’re serious and we’ll be there for you. We have helped thousands of students overcome financial barriers to an AFS Experience.Here are the key fundraising steps:
1. Plan and act early. The first thing to do is figure out how much your program will cost. Remember to factor in the required medical coverage, domestic airfare to an AFS departure city, visa and passport fees, and spending money ($100-$250 per month depending on the country).
2. Figure out what you can contribute. Include savings and what you may contribute from part-time or summer employment. Ask your parents what they can contribute. Think of all the money your parents will save by not feeding, clothing, and entertaining you while you are abroad!
3. Raise money. AFS Returnees have developed many creative money-raising tips. Check our our money raising booklet. This booklet has a lot of tried-and-true ideas. AFS also has telephone workshops to assist you in learning more about fundraising, just call 1-800-AFS-INFO.
4. Time your fundraising to meet the Payment Schedule.
Give Your Friends and Neighbors the Chance to Help.
Fundraising is about figuring out why you want to study abroad and then giving your friends, family, and neighbors the opportunity to help you. Here are some ways that students have worked with their friends and neighbors to help finance their AFS experience.
• Ask family and friends to “buy” a day of your AFS trip. Take the tuition of your AFS Program and divide it by the number of days you’ll be in your
host country to get the average cost of a day. You could also have people “buy” miles–figure out how many miles away your host country is from your home town and do the math!
• What’s your special talent? One AFS Participant who was famous for her delicious bean pies enlisted the help of her sister. Together they took orders, and baked and sold pies.
• Several AFS Participants organized a pizza night through their local AFS Chapter. Students invited people they knew to come to a local pizza parlor and mention AFS when they ordered. For 20 percent of the profits, students helped to make and serve pizzas and clear the tables.
• One AFS Participant and her mother created dolls in traditional costumes from around the world. They sold them at craft fairs and community events.
Remember that donations sometimes come in forms other than cash, such as frequent flyer miles (for your domestic flights to and from your international gateways), a camera, or a backpack. Think about the things you’ll need for your trip, and let people choose how they can help. If you let AFS choose your destination, you may be eligible for a wider range of scholarships.
AFS is committed to making our programs available to qualified students through fundraising support, as well as financial aid and scholarship assistance.
Where Does the $Money$ Go?
Program Costs Abroad=37%
• Host family recruitment • Screening of host families • AFS application processing • Student placement • Orientation for students/families
• Counseling for students/families • Volunteer recruitment
• Volunteer training • Volunteer support • Domestic travel to and from host family
Program Costs in the U.S.=23%
• Promotion of AFS programs to students, parents, schools, and community representatives • Recruitment, screening, selection, and placement of students • Orientation for students and families
• Counseling for students/families • Volunteer recruitment
• Volunteer training • Volunteer support • Program and preparation materials • Host country information • Scholarships and support
International Travel=17%
• International airefare and related costs • Ticket handling and processing • Airport supervision and transfers
International Program Coordination=8%
• Coordinating AFS international exchanges • Coordinating emergency response services • Maintaining worldwide compliance with AFS program quality and operations standards
Management and Financial Support=15%
• Staff support for AFS programs and financial management • Office and equipment depreciation • Information services • Compliance with quality standards of U.S. Government • Compliance with Council on Standards for International Educational Travel
