A volunteer must communicate the cancellation of their brigade participation 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 funds raised toward their Donation Goal for a future brigade, which will be reserved for a future brigade for up to 12 months** upon the time of cancellation.

If a volunteer cancels their participation within 14 days of the brigade start date, the funds available for application toward a future brigade will be reduced by $150 for in person Brigades. This $150 will be utilized to cover the costs already expended to prepare for their brigade participation which was canceled on short notice.

*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 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 of the canceled brigade and uses all the funds for that program or any other within 12 months after the canceled brigade, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission

If Global Brigades has already booked a volunteer’s flight at the time the volunteer cancels their participation, Global Brigades’ travel team will work with the airline to cancel the flight. If the airline provides a cash refund back to Global Brigades for the flight, we will utilize those funds to further Global Brigades’ mission. If the airline provides a flight voucher back to Global Brigades in the name of the volunteer, the volunteer can utilize the flight voucher for a future brigade.*

 *Typically, most flight vouchers expire 1 year after the date the original ticket was issued, subject to airline policies. 

A chapter may have to cancel your program 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 reserve the 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 cancellation takes place within 14 days of the program start date, the funds available for application toward a future brigade will be reduced by $150 per volunteer for in-person Brigades, or a 10% of the chapter donation goal for TeleBrigades. These funds will be utilized to cover the costs already expended to prepare for their program which was canceled on short notice.

**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 and uses all the funds for that program or any other within 12 months after the canceled brigade, the funds raised toward the volunteer’s Donation Goal will be utilized to further Global Brigades’ mission.

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 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.