Worried about what a cancellation might mean for your Donation Goal? Here is everything you need to know.
Individual Cancellations
A volunteer must communicate the cancellation of their brigade participation in writing to their Brigade Leader and the Program Associate assigned to their Brigade.
Global Brigades strongly encourages volunteers who wish to cancel their Brigade participation to find a replacement volunteer so their original commitment to the program implementation may be fulfilled. Within 1 month* after their cancellation, the volunteer must email their Program Associate if they plan to apply the eligible transferable funds toward their Donation Goal for a future brigade.lIf communicated in a timely manner, funds may be reserved for a future Brigade for up to 12 months** of the canceled brigade.
*If the volunteer doesn’t email their Program Associate within the 1 month period, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission and are no longer available to meet a future Donation Goal.
**If the volunteer reserves the funds raised for a future Brigade, but does not sign up for a new Brigade taking place within 12 months, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission
Chapter Cancellations
A chapter may have to cancel your Brigade for various reasons. Examples include not meeting the volunteer group minimum, or not having university support to travel abroad. When a chapter cancels their scheduled Brigade, ideally they work with their volunteers to schedule a new Brigade that works for everyone.
In some cases, the new scheduled Brigade may no longer work for an individual volunteer and they may have to cancel their Brigade participation. If this happens to you, please contact our Program Associate to find out if we can add you to another Brigade that is scheduled for dates that work better for your schedule.
If you are unable to sign-up for a new Brigade, you can email your Program Associate to keep the eligible transferable funds raised toward your current Donation Goal for a future Brigade’s Donation Goal for up to 12 months upon the time of cancellation.*
*If the volunteer reserves the funds raised for a future Brigade, but does not sign up for a new Brigade within 12 months of the canceled brigade, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission
Cancellations by Global Brigades
Global Brigades’ number one priority is volunteer safety. In rare scenarios, Global Brigades may have to cancel Brigades in a country due to events beyond our control, which may include, but are not limited to natural disasters, endemic and pandemic disease, and political unrest.
If your Brigade is canceled by Global Brigades, we will do our best to help reschedule your Brigade to possibly a new date and/or different country. If you are unable to participate in the rescheduled Brigade, you can elect to reserve the eligible funds raised toward your Donation Goal for a future Brigade.*
*If the volunteer decides to not utilize the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal for a future Brigade, the funds will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission.
Our Refund Policy and Transferable Funds Policy
In the event of a cancellation, amounts raised, with the exception of airfare booked by Global Brigades can be credited towards a future Program* as described below, or alternatively may be eligible for a refund according to the following policy:
- If the notice of cancellation is provided more than 97 days before the program start date, 50% of the funds are refundable and the other 50% is eligible to be saved and transferred towards a future brigade. Alternatively, the full amount of the raised funds are transferable for a future program
- If the notice of cancellation is provided between 97 and 68 days of the Brigade start date, the funds available for application toward a future brigade will be reduced by $250 USD/ CAD | £200 (Not applicable to TeleBrigades), and no refund is available.
- If the notice of cancellation is provided within 67 days of the Brigade start date, the funds available for application toward a future Brigade will be reduced by $390 USD/CAD | £300 (Not applicable to TeleBrigades), and no refund will be available.
- The value of any airfare booked by Global Brigades is only eligible for a travel voucher/airline credit for the value of that ticket less any change fees in the event a participant cancels their travel. Vouchers or airline credits are issued by the airline in accordance with each airline's policy.
- Volunteers have up to 1-year from the original program end date to utilize funds eligible for transfer in accordance with this policy, towards a different Global Brigades program. **If the volunteer reserves the funds raised for a future Brigade, but does not sign up for a new Brigade taking place within 12 months of the canceled brigade, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission
*For funds to be saved and transferred, the volunteer must email their Program Associate as soon as the cancellation takes place and no later than one month after cancellation to state their desire to save the funds.