vostel volunteering

What vostel volunteering does

vostel.de is a Berlin-based social enterprise founded in 2015 that operates a digital volunteering marketplace connecting individual volunteers with nonprofit organizations across Germany. The platform aggregates volunteering opportunities from 2,406 nonprofits, listing 12,547+ opportunities and serving a cumulative user base of 59,922 volunteers since launch. It targets two primary user segments: individual volunteers — particularly younger generations and newcomers including refugees, expatriates, exchange students, and au pairs — and nonprofit organizations seeking volunteer recruitment. The platform is available in German and English and is organized around 26+ German cities with dedicated landing pages for major urban centers such as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Potsdam, Wolfsburg, and Wiesbaden.

The core product is a web-based self-serve marketplace where volunteers search and register for opportunities filtered by city, topic, target group, language requirements, and frequency. Notable product extensions include '5-Minute Engagements' for micro-volunteering tasks independent of nonprofit partners, 'Location-Independent Volunteering' with 437 reported remote opportunities, and a content/blog layer plus a six-weekly newsletter. The technology stack is conventional: a web application using Google Analytics for site telemetry and Google Maps for location-based project discovery; no proprietary AI, mobile app, public API, or SDK is disclosed. Distribution runs entirely through organic channels — a content blog and social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube. The platform advertises itself as CO2-compensated.

The business model is structured as a social enterprise with the marketplace offered free of charge to both volunteers and nonprofit organizations. No pricing tiers, subscription fees, transaction commissions, or alternative revenue streams are disclosed in the available sources. There is no parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, no institutional investor, and no public financial reporting; the entity operates as a privately held, founder-led organization with a small team of 1–10 employees based in Berlin.

Name

vostel volunteering

Legal name

vostel.de

Website

https://vostel.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

vostel.de is a Berlin-based social enterprise operating a free digital volunteering marketplace that connects individual volunteers with nonprofit organizations across 26+ German cities, currently linking 59,922+ volunteers and 2,406 nonprofits through 12,547+ opportunities since founding in 2015.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Volunteer Matching Platform

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Volunteer Program Funding, Scholarships & Fundraising Support (EDAIAGAO)

Keywords

• Volunteer matching platform
• Social impact marketplace
• Nonprofit volunteer recruitment
• Community engagement platform
• Micro-volunteering opportunities

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Platform Services: vostel.de is described as a social enterprise that aggregates volunteering opportunities from nonprofits on a single platform. The platform is free for both volunteers and nonprofits seeking volunteers. Revenue model is not explicitly disclosed in the source material.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

vostel.de operates a web-based volunteering marketplace platform that connects individual volunteers with nonprofit and social organizations across Germany. The platform enables volunteers to search, filter, and sign up for volunteering opportunities by city, topic area, target group, German-language skill level, and engagement frequency. It supports both on-the-ground location-based projects across 26+ German cities and remote/location-independent engagements, including 5-Minute micro-volunteering activities. Nonprofits and social organizations can list their volunteering opportunities on the platform for free.

Product overview

vostel.de is a social enterprise from Berlin operating since 2015 as a volunteer matching platform that connects individuals with non-profit organizations across Germany. The platform serves as a unified system with multiple engagement pathways: a core matching platform for full volunteering projects, 5-Minute Engagements for micro-volunteering, location-independent remote opportunities, and city-specific pages for local engagement. Additional offerings include a blog with volunteering guidance and a newsletter. The platform reports 59,922 volunteers, 12,547 volunteering opportunities, and 2,406 non-profits connected through the service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• vostel.de Volunteering Marketplace Platform A free web-based volunteering marketplace platform that connects individual volunteers with nonprofit and social organizations across Germany. Volunteers register and use filtered search by city, topic, target group, German-language skill level, and engagement frequency to discover, register for, and participate in volunteering opportunities, including on-site projects in 26+ German cities, remote/location-independent engagements, and 5-Minute micro-volunteering activities. Nonprofit organizations list their volunteering projects on the platform at no cost.

Quantifiable outcome

• 59,922 volunteers registered on platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• betterplace.org: Germany's largest online donation and volunteer-matching platform, directly overlapping with vostel on nonprofit listings, volunteer recruitment, and social-enterprise positioning in the German market.
• Idealist (idealist.org): Global nonprofit and volunteer listing platform serving job seekers, volunteers, and organizations. Direct competing marketplace for volunteer engagement opportunities across multiple geographies.
• VolunteerMatch: The original US volunteer-matching marketplace with search-by-location and cause-area filters. Closest international analog to vostel's core product loop and nonprofit onboarding model.
• VolunteerHub: Software-as-a-service volunteer management platform serving nonprofits directly with branded volunteer portals, events, and reporting — directly comparable on the B2B side of the volunteer engagement market vostel could expand into.

Broad incumbents

• Caritas Deutschland: Germany's largest Catholic welfare confederation with extensive volunteer programs and a member organization structure. Represents the type of large, established nonprofit ecosystem vostel partners with — and a potential platform competitor if it built direct volunteer matching.
• Aktion Mensch: One of Germany's largest social lotteries and grantmaking organizations, supporting thousands of volunteer and inclusion projects. Comparable on the nonprofit-side supply ecosystem vostel aggregates.
• Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK): Germany's Red Cross society, running thousands of volunteer engagement programs nationwide. Comparable as a major German supply-side nonprofit that vostel lists opportunities from and as a potential internal alternative platform.

Regional players

• GoVolunteer: Australia's primary national volunteer matching platform with very similar search and category structure to vostel — useful peer for benchmarking product-market fit and engagement in a single-country geography.
• Volunteer Ireland: Ireland's national volunteer matching service supporting nonprofits and individuals with searchable opportunities — comparable in mission, scale, and single-country marketplace model to vostel.
• Do-it (UK): The UK's largest volunteer-matching database operated by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). Closest UK analog to vostel's single-country marketplace structure and free-to-use nonprofit listing model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@vostelvolunteering/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/vostelvolunteering
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vostel-volunteering
• Instagraminstagram.com/vostelvolunteering
• TikToktiktok.com/@vostelvolunteering
• Xx.com/vostelvolunteer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about vostel volunteering