How to Become a Host Organisation for ESC

To take on the host role in the European Solidarity Corps, an organisation needs a Quality Label with a host role. In the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), the host role covers the full range of activities related to hosting a participant, including the development of a programme of the young person's activities and providing guidance and support to the participant during all the phases as appropriate. Some of these activities can be carried out by a support organisation involved in the same project. Where only one organisation is involved (in-country activities or Volunteering Teams), the organisation has to ensure that all phases are carried out and the tasks and responsibilities are fulfilled. When an organisation registers a volunteer in the system, the organisation chooses a role: support (formerly called sending) or host. The same organisation can take on both roles; in that case the project necessarily takes place in one country, that is, the project is in-country. Our guide on what a supporting organisation does explains the other role, and our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps is explains the programme.

Last updated: November 2026.

Which Quality Label do you need to host volunteers?

You need a Quality Label with a host role: obtaining a Quality Label is a prerequisite for an organisation to participate in any activities supported by the Corps, and the Quality Label does not provide automatic access to funding. Organisations established in an EU Member State or a third country associated to the Programme can submit applications for the Quality Label at any time to the National Agency of the country in which the applicant organisation is established. There is no fixed time for a Quality Label result; National Agencies evaluate applications in periods set by their own planning, generally twice a year, and then announce the results. Our guide on the ESC Quality Label covers the application and the award, our guide on National Agencies explains who assesses it, and our guide on the Organisation ID explains the OID.

Can you host without applying for the grant yourself?

Yes: organisations who do not hold a Quality Label for lead organisation may act as partners in projects, but they cannot apply for funding. Eligible applicants for Volunteering Projects are organisations holding a valid Quality Label for lead organisation at the grant application deadline. The lead role is for organisations who apply for grants, manage and coordinate Volunteering Projects. The lead role cannot be awarded independently: organisations must hold a Quality Label for host or support in order to act in a lead capacity. The lead organisation manages the project's grant and budget; often the host organisation is also the lead organisation, so no third organisation is needed. Our guide on the three Quality Label roles compares host, support and lead.

Which tasks and places do you have to define?

An organisation applying for the Quality Label with a host role must declare pre-defined activities, that is, standard activities in which volunteers are involved, with a set of tasks that they will carry out in the organisation. Organisations applying for a host role may also declare locations during the application for a Quality Label: a location is a place in which the activities are organised for a specific number of volunteers. The following rules apply to every location:

📍 Responsibility: a location must be under the legal and managerial responsibility of the host organisation.

📍 Capacity: organisations can organise an activity for volunteers that are hosted in different locations, provided that the hosting capacity in terms of number of volunteers is not exceeded.

📍 Country: all locations must be in the same country where the host organisation is based.

📍 Tasks: the pre-defined activities that the volunteers will be involved in, in terms of tasks to be performed, must also be defined for each location.

In the host role, you offer the volunteer the opportunity to carry out a well-defined set of tasks, allowing some of the volunteer's ideas, creativity and experience to be integrated. Our guide on the ESC activity agreement explains the document that records these tasks.

What do you do for the volunteer during the activity?

During the activity, the host role covers learning, mentoring and support:

🎓 Training and evaluation: ensure that the volunteer attends the full Training and Evaluation Cycle (if applicable).

🏥 Health insurance card: ensure that the volunteer makes proper use of the European Health Insurance Card, and only uses the insurance scheme when required by the circumstances (if applicable).

📝 Tasks and learning: offer a well-defined set of tasks and identify clear learning opportunities for and with the volunteer.

🧭 Task support: provide task related support, supervision and guidance to the volunteer.

📘 Learning outcomes: provide support to the volunteers to reflect on the learning process and to identify and document their learning outcomes, through EU validation tools, in particular Youthpass or Europass or national tools. The support organisation may also undertake this task.

🗣️ Language courses: support the volunteers undertaking language courses, if necessary.

🧑‍🏫 Mentor: identify a mentor who is responsible for providing the volunteers with personal support and with support to carry out self-reflection on the learning.

🌍 Other participants: encourage contact with other European Solidarity Corps participants whenever possible.

🏘️ Local community: provide opportunities to integrate in the local community and meet other people.

The mentor is the person appointed by the host and/or support organisation, usually an experienced volunteer. The mentor is not a boss who manages the volunteer's tasks, and not a professional counsellor or therapist. In standard ESC volunteering there is also a person in the organisation who manages the volunteer's work; the mentor is a different person. Our guide on the ESC volunteer mentor explains the mentor role, and our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate.

What must you provide for daily life?

In the host role, you provide these living and working conditions:

🏠 Accommodation and food: provide suitable accommodation and healthy meals (or a food allowance) to the volunteer, including during the holiday period.

🚌 Local transport: ensure that means of local transport are available for the volunteer.

📅 Allowance: provide the due allowance to the volunteer on a weekly or monthly basis.

🕐 Working time: ESC volunteers work at least 30 and not more than 38 hours a week; the rest of the time is their own.

🌴 Days off: ESC volunteers work five days a week and, in addition, have 2 days of leave per month, which they can combine.

In the European Solidarity Corps, the organisation usually provides the accommodation and gives food money, so the volunteer can cook at home or eat out; the details are set out in the info pack. ESC volunteers usually live in a shared volunteer flat; sometimes in a dormitory or apartment-style residence, and rarely with a host family. Food money is set by country and written in the volunteering agreement before the project, and food money is a standard, mandatory support that cannot be cut. ESC pocket money is paid weekly or monthly, in cash against a signed receipt or by bank transfer, depending on the organisation, and the details are written in the volunteering agreement. Our guide on ESC pocket money explains the allowance, our guide on the ESC activity agreement explains where these points are written, and our guide on ESC insurance explains the cover.

How do you find and select volunteers?

Once awarded a Quality Label, organisations have access to the European Solidarity Corps Portal. In the Portal, organisations are invited to publish volunteering activities for which they are looking for participants. In the Portal, organisations holding a Quality Label can advertise opportunities for volunteering activities, search for registered candidates and contact them. Technically organisations can search the portal and contact candidates, but in practice this does not happen. Once the organisation and the registered candidate have found each other, the organisation sends an offer to the registered candidate. In Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas, organisations have to select participants in the Placement Administration Support System (PASS), and those participants have to be registered in the Portal.

Volunteers are to be selected in a fair, transparent and objective way, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political opinion or disability. Organisations must not require any previous qualifications, educational level, specific experience or language knowledge. A more specific profile of the volunteer might be drawn up if justified by the nature of the tasks of the activity or by the project context. Hosting organisations often use a selection process with several steps to understand a candidate's real motivation. Selected volunteers should be told every detail honestly, for example that they may live in a small rural area, that transport may be only a bicycle, or that housing may be mixed-gender. Our guide on how to recruit volunteers covers selection, our guide on how to get more applicants covers publishing a call, and our guide on inclusion support covers young people with fewer opportunities.

What must stay true while you host?

Participation in volunteering activities must be free of charge for the volunteer. Volunteering activities must not substitute traineeships or jobs, and volunteers should not replace paid staff or undercut their pay and conditions of service. Security and safety of the participants, participating organisations and target groups must be ensured. Security and safety should include appropriate clearance requirements for participants working with vulnerable groups in accordance with applicable national law. Clearance requirements are usually not asked for at all, but they can be asked for projects working with children or other vulnerable people under special protection. Organisations should cover the expenditure of participants in solidarity activities but should not provide them with salaries or an economic benefit. Our guide on the ESC Quality Label lists the other principles.

Frequently asked questions

Can we host volunteers from our own country?

Yes: the same organisation can take on both roles; in that case the project necessarily takes place in one country, that is, the project is in-country. In an in-country project, two different organisations from the same country can also take part; the Guide does not forbid this, it only does not require it. Our guide on Volunteering Teams explains the group format.

Can we host in more than one place?

Yes: organisations can declare and host volunteers in more than one location. Organisations can organise an activity for volunteers that are hosted in different locations, provided that the hosting capacity in terms of number of volunteers is not exceeded. All locations must be in the same country where the host organisation is based. Our guide on the ESC Quality Label covers the application and the award.

Do we pay the volunteer a salary?

No: organisations should cover the expenditure of participants in solidarity activities but should not provide them with salaries or an economic benefit. Our guide on ESC pocket money explains the allowance.

Who enrols the volunteer in the insurance?

For activities supported under Volunteering Projects, the enrolment of the participants to the insurance scheme is done automatically through the system. The beneficiary organisation (the applicant whose grant agreement has been signed by both parties) must enter all information about the activity in the IT tool provided by the European Commission (Beneficiary Module). The enrolment to the insurance must be done before the departure of the participants, so the beneficiary must input the information in the system before the start of the activity (usually 2 weeks in advance). Our guide on ESC insurance explains the cover.

Can we host without a support organisation?

Yes: where only one organisation is involved (in-country activities or Volunteering Teams), the organisation has to ensure that all phases are carried out and the tasks and responsibilities are fulfilled. In all cases, the involvement of a support organisation in activities involving young people with fewer opportunities is highly recommended. Our guide on inclusion support explains the extra help available.

What comes after the Quality Label?

Once awarded a Quality Label, organisations have access to the European Solidarity Corps Portal. Organisations can also open a page on Youth Works Hub to publish opportunities and posts. Youth Works Hub checks what organisations publish from their own pages, but the content organisations share from their own profiles is entirely the responsibility of those organisations. Our guide on Humanitarian Aid Volunteering explains that separate strand. The Youth Works Hub pages below cover the next steps.

👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects