VSO Collective

Name

VSO Collective

Legal name

VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas)

Website

https://vsointernational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health Systems Strengthening & Global Health Technical Assistance (BPADAEAH), Disaster Risk Reduction & Climate Risk Management (BPADALAK), Democracy, Human Rights & Governance Assistance (BPADABAG)

Keywords

• International development
• Volunteer mobilization
• Inclusive education
• Community health programs
• Climate resilient livelihoods

Headquarters

HQ city

City Of London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual donations: VSO receives donations from individual supporters globally, including monthly giving programs and one-time contributions. They operate donation pages on their website and engage supporters through newsletters and campaigns.
2. Government and institutional grants: Major funding from UK government (FCDO), European Union, and other institutional donors. The Volunteering for Development programme was a £70.5 million multi-year grant from UK government (2017-22).
3. Foundation partnerships: Partnerships with foundations including Lego Foundation, Ikeas Foundation for specific programmatic work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

VSO is a volunteer-based international development organisation that places skilled professional volunteers alongside local communities and partners to deliver programmes in inclusive education, adolescent and youth health and wellbeing, resilient livelihoods, and climate resilience. It operates through four practice areas (Inclusive Education, Inclusive Health, Resilient Livelihoods, Climate Resilience) and named projects such as ENGAGE, RECOVER, Make Way, Speak It Loud, ACTIVE, and the Prison Health Programme, reaching 24.8 million people across 36 countries under its 2022-28 strategy.

Product overview

VSO is an international development organization that creates change through volunteering rather than sending aid. The organization operates as a portfolio of development programs organized around four main areas: Inclusive Education, Inclusive Health, Resilient Livelihoods, and Climate Resilience. Key named projects include ENGAGE (girls' education in Nepal), RECOVER (COVID-19 economic recovery in Cambodia), Make Way (sexual reproductive health in East Africa), Speak It Loud (gender-based violence in Zimbabwe), and the ACTIVE program (citizenship in Zimbabwe). Major funding comes from UK government (FCDO), European Union, and private foundations. The organization does not appear to offer a technology product; rather, it delivers human development outcomes through volunteer mobilization, community partnerships, and program implementation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VSO Volunteering Programmes
• Inclusive Education
• Adolescent and Youth Health and Wellbeing (Inclusive Health)
• Resilient Livelihoods
• Volunteering for Development (VfD) Programme
• ENGAGE (Empowering a New Generation of Adolescent Girls with Education)
• RECOVER (Rural Employment for COVID-19 Economic Recovery)
• Make Way
• Speak It Loud
• ACTIVE (Active Citizenship Through Inclusive Volunteering and Empowerment)
• Prison Health Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• 24.8 million people reached (4.2M directly, 20.6M indirectly) in first two years of 2022-28 strategy
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Lego FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Lego Foundation to champion play-based learning in Rwanda through teacher training programs implementing innovative community engagement models.
• Ikeas FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to create climate resilient livelihoods, particularly in Kenya where youth are supported to turn waste into work through collaboration with ICDI and Taka Taka Solutions.
• DanChurchAid (DCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead implementing partner in the RECOVER (Rural Employment for COVID-19 Economic Recovery) project in Cambodia, a three-year initiative co-funded by the European Union.
• People In Need (PIN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium partner in the RECOVER project implementing economic recovery programs for fishing and farming communities in Cambodia.
• Women in Law Southern Africa (WLSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Speak It Loud project in Zimbabwe providing free legal representation to women survivors of gender-based violence to seek justice and child custody.
• Rescue 1122 (Pakistan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Pakistan government emergency services for disaster response training. VSO has trained over 1 million youth on emergency response and formed 5,000+ Community Emergency Response Teams.
• Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Tanzania CLARITY project providing legal support to communities affected by mining and environmental damage, working to access justice for human rights violations.
• Tanzanian Women Chamber of Commerce (TWCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Tanzania CLARITY project providing social and legal support to women in mining, helping women miners access justice and improve working conditions.
• Geita Women Miners Association (GEWOMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal women's miners group in Geita, Tanzania - one of the few women's miners groups in the country, supported through CLARITY project for equitable access to mining sector.
• Theatre for a ChangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner in Bangladesh and Tanzania using drama to interact with communities and challenge perceptions of gender norms.
• Global Partnership for EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on education initiatives, including policy work in East and Southern Africa.
• Samfya Association of Persons with Disabilities (SAPD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner in Zambia implementing EYEE project for youth with disabilities, supporting entrepreneurship and employability skills development.
• HumentumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal network for civil society support; Kathryn Gordon, VSO Executive Board member, serves on Humentum's global board.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mercy Corps: Major international humanitarian and development NGO operating in conflict and crisis-affected countries with programmes in livelihoods, health, and education. Comparable in geographic reach, donor base, and programme portfolio structure.
• BRAC: Large international development organisation operating across education, health, livelihoods, and climate resilience in Africa and Asia, with significant overlap on community-driven programming and country presence in Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Plan International: International development organisation focused on children's rights and gender equality, with strong overlap with VSO's inclusive education, gender-based violence, and youth health programmes. Comparable donor base and country footprint.
• Peace Corps: The US government's primary international volunteer placement programme, sending American volunteers to work on community development projects abroad. Most directly comparable peer given its volunteer-for-development methodology, government funding model, and country-based placement structure.
• CARE International: Global humanitarian and development federation working on poverty, women's empowerment, health, and education across 100+ countries. Comparable scale, multi-donor funding structure, and focus on marginalised communities.
• UN Volunteers (UNV): United Nations programme that deploys volunteers globally to support peace and development initiatives. Direct peer in the volunteer-for-development space with similar deployment model, UN agency funding base, and global country footprint.
• Habitat for Humanity: International non-profit deploying skilled volunteers to build housing and community capacity in developing countries. VSO's Co-CEO Donné Cameron previously held senior leadership at Habitat for Humanity; the organizations share a volunteer-driven model and faith-inspired roots.
• Save the Children: Leading international children's rights and development NGO operating in 120+ countries with significant overlap on inclusive education, child health, and adolescent wellbeing programming comparable to VSO's portfolio.

Emerging players

• Restless Development: Youth-focused international development agency placing young volunteers in community programmes across Africa and Asia. Strong overlap on VSO's youth volunteer and adolescent health/wellbeing focus but with a narrower demographic and smaller scale.

Broad incumbents

• Oxfam International: Global confederation of NGOs working on poverty, inequality, and development with significant scale across education, livelihoods, and humanitarian response. Larger and broader portfolio but overlapping donor base and many of the same institutional partners.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/vso_intl
• Facebookfacebook.com/vso.international
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vso
• Instagraminstagram.com/vsointernational

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries3 records

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 VSO Collective