How to Help Refugees: 12 Practical Ways That Work

How to help refugees effectively means matching your time, money, skills, or space to one verified need through five pathways: donating, volunteering, hosting, advocating, or supporting refugee-led groups. Since 2015, when more than a million people sought protection in Europe, the most useful help has come from people who chose one path and followed it rather than spreading efforts across several.

• The single most effective first step in how to help refugees is to choose one path – money, time, goods, housing or advocacy – and go deep rather than wide.
• Cash donations to established organizations (UNHCR, the IFRC network, Caritas, Diakonie) almost always outperform donations of goods, because humanitarian agencies buy locally at lower cost and avoid storage and sorting bottlenecks.
• Volunteering works best when it is skills-based and sustained: regular practice in German or English conversations, translation, legal clinic support or childcare trumps one-off sorting shifts.
• Housing is the option with the greatest impact and highest commitment; in Germany this usually happens through municipal authorities or organizations like Refugees Welcome rather than informal arrangements.
• Advocacy – writing to MPs, supporting resettlement schemes, tackling misinformation – changes outcomes on a scale that no individual donation can match.
• Be wary of “voluntourism” and unvetted collection drives; both can divert resources and create dependency.

Start With the Right Question

Choosing how to help refugees starts with an honest inventory of what you really have: money, time, a spare room, a professional skill, a car, a network or simply a willingness to learn. Each of these is a different type of contribution, and each has a different cost – financial, emotional, logistical – that you need to understand before committing.

Money is the most flexible resource and the easiest to increase or decrease. Time is the most personal and, when applied consistently, the most transformative for the person receiving it. Space – a room, an apartment, a garden – is the rarest and most important. Skills from dentistry to translation are the most underutilized. Advocacy is the most exploited means.

A common mistake among new caregivers is to start with possessions: picking up clothes, toys or furniture. Humanitarian organizations across Europe have repeatedly asked the public to stop sending unsorted donations of materials, as storage, sorting and distribution consume volunteer hours that could be spent processing cases. If you already have specific items, ask a local organization what they currently need before packing anything.

Route 1: Donate Money — and Do It Well

Cash donations to established humanitarian organisations remain the benchmark for efficiency when considering how to help refugees. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Caritas, Diakonie and Save the Children all publish annual reports and audited accounts, so you can check how funds are spent before you give.

Practical decisions to make:

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• Restricted donations or unrestricted donations. Designating your donation to a specific country or program sounds good, but unrestricted funds allow organizations to respond to whichever crisis is most underfunded. Both are legitimate; know which one you choose.
• One-time or monthly. Regular donations allow organizations to plan multi-year programs such as language classes or legal aid. A modest monthly amount is often more helpful than a larger one-time donation.
• Emergency calls versus long-term work. Emergency calls get the most media attention, but the needs that persist after a crisis subsides – integration, housing, mental health support – are chronically underfunded.
• Local vs. International. A large international NGO has reach and logistics; a small, local association in your town can have almost no overhead and deep trust in the community. Splitting your donation between the two is a reasonable strategy.

If you want to check the legitimacy of an organization, check whether it is listed in national charity registers: in Germany, the Deutscher Zentralinstitut für Soziale Fragen (DZI) maintains a well-known seal for charities and the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft publishes a voluntary transparency pledge. In the United Kingdom, the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator perform similar functions.

Route 2: Volunteer — With Specificity

Volunteering is where most people start and where most quietly stop, usually because the role they took on didn’t fit their skills or schedule. If you are wondering how to help refugees, the solution lies in specificity: decide what you can do every week for at least six months, then find the organization that needs exactly that.

High-value volunteer roles that organizations consistently struggle to fill:

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• Linguistic practice and tutoring. Structured conversation sessions in German, English or the language of the host country are in constant demand. Consistency matters more than qualifications.
• Translation and interpretation. Speakers of Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Tigrinya, Somali, Ukrainian and Kurdish are required for appointments with authorities, doctors and lawyers. Note that formal asylum procedures often require certified interpreters, so be clear about what role you are filling.
• Administrative and bureaucratic support. Helping someone complete a residence permit application, register with the Bürgeramt, open a bank account or enroll a child in school is not glamorous and extremely useful.
• Legal and medical volunteering. Qualified lawyers, doctors and psychologists can often volunteer through specialist clinics and professional associations rather than general refugee charities.
• Childcare and youth work. Parents attending language classes or appointments need reliable childcare; it is one of the most requested and least provided forms of help.
• Mentoring and friendship. Long-term one-on-one connections – a weekly coffee, homework help, a phone call – reduce the isolation that causes much of the mental health burden among newcomers.

Where to look in Germany: local Freiwilligenagenturen (volunteer agencies), Caritas and Diakonie agencies, AWO, DRK (German Red Cross), university refugee initiatives and municipal integration offices. In the UK, Refugee Action and local City of Sanctuary groups coordinate volunteers. Across the EU, the successor program to the European Voluntary Service, the European Solidarity Corps, funds longer placements.

One caveat needs to be clearly stated: volunteering with traumatized people can be emotionally taxing. Learn about supervision and debriefing before you begin and consider your own limits as real.

Route 3: Host or House

Offering accommodation is the most direct form of help and the one that presents the greatest stakes for both parties when considering how to help refugees. In Germany, formal accommodation usually comes through municipal authorities, which place refugees in private apartments under specific contracts, or through organizations such as Refugees Welcome, which matches hosts with people looking for rooms.

Before offering a room, answer these questions:

• Is this a formal placement or an informal arrangement? Formal placements come with legal frameworks, rental arrangements and support structures. Informal arrangements leave you to negotiate everything yourself.
• What is the expected duration? Hosting for three months and hosting for two years are completely different commitments.
• Who handles conflicts? Shared kitchens, different sleep schedules, cultural differences around privacy and gender: all of this requires a named person or organization to mediate.
• What happens if it doesn’t work? Have an exit plan that doesn’t leave your guest without a roof.

Hosting is not for everyone, and organizations are clear that a failed placement can be worse than no placement at all. When in doubt, start with short-term emergency accommodation or a spare room scheme with organizational backing.

Route 4: Advocate and Change Systems

Individual assistance responds to individual needs; policy first determines how many people need help. Advocacy is therefore the most effective route for how to help refugees, and it requires no money and very little time.

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Concrete actions:

• Write to your elected officials about processing times for asylum applications, the right to work while an asylum application is in progress, rules on family reunification and resettlement quotas. In Germany this means your Bundestagsabgeordnete; in the UK, your MP; in other EU states, your national representatives and MEP representatives.
• Support resettlement and community sponsorship programs. Community sponsorship programs, modeled after Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees programme, allow groups of citizens to fund and support a refugee family’s first year. Several European countries now offer versions of this.
• Counter misinformation. False claims about asylum seekers spread faster than corrections. Sharing accurate information from official sources – Eurostat asylum statistics, UNHCR reports, national interior ministry data – is a real contribution.
• Support refugee-led organizations. Groups founded and led by refugees themselves are systematically underfunded relative to their impact, as they often lack the grant-writing capacity of larger NGOs. If you have fundraising or administrative skills, offering them to a refugee-led group can multiply its reach.

Route 5: Support Refugee-Led Businesses and Community Life

Economic participation is one of the most powerful indicators of integration, and this is where consumers have direct power. Buying from refugee-run businesses – restaurants, bakeries, tailors, barbers, delivery services, online stores – provides income, references and confidence. If you are wondering how to help refugees, consider these ways to provide practical support:

• Buy from refugee-run businesses and leave reviews; online visibility is disproportionately important to small merchants.
• Hire. If you run a business, consider whether your positions actually require the qualifications you listed and whether you can offer a trial period or a traineeship. In Germany, Ausbildung (vocational training) places are a well-established route to work.
• Use your professional network. An introduction to a former colleague may be worth more than a donation.
• Fund micro-grants. Small amounts – a bike, a laptop, professional certification fees – often unlock jobs in a way that larger, slower grants cannot.

Comparison: Which Route Fits You to Help Refugees?

Route	Time cost	Money cost	Impact profile	Best for
Donating money	Very low	Variable	High, scalable, indirect	People with limited time but stable income
Volunteering	Medium–high	Low	High, personal, relationship-based	People with a regular weekly slot
Hosting / housing	Very high	Medium	Very high, direct	People with space and organisational support
Advocacy	Low	None	High, systemic, slow	Anyone willing to write, speak or organise
Supporting businesses	Low	Low	Medium, economic, immediate	Consumers and employers
Goods donation	Medium	Medium	Low unless requested	People with specific items an organisation has asked for

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When considering how to help refugees, avoid these common pitfalls:

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Collection of unsorted merchandise. As noted, this is the most common well-intentioned error. Always ask first.

Voluntourism. Short trips to “help” in camps or at borders, especially those taking paid places from local workers, often do more for the volunteer’s resume than for the people involved. Long-term and locally anchored commitments are different.

Treat people as projects. Refugees are not a category to be served but neighbors, colleagues and classmates. The most lasting help is often indistinguishable from ordinary friendship.

Ignoring your own sustainability. Burnout among volunteers and aid workers is well documented. Choose a level of involvement that you can maintain for years, not weeks.

Assuming you know what is needed. Ask. The gap between what outsiders consider necessary and what people actually need is often considerable.

Sources & Further Reading

• Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees — Wikipedia: The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951, is a United Nations multilateral…
• Tent Partnership for Refugees — Wikipedia: The Tent Partnership for Refugees, previously known as the Tent Foundation, is an international non-profit organization founded by Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and…

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most effective way to help refugees?

Donating unrestricted money to a reputable, audited organization is usually the most effective single action, as the money can be converted into whatever is needed most at the lowest cost. If you have regular time, sustained volunteering based on skills – language practice, translation, administrative support – has a comparable impact. Advocacy changes outcomes on the largest scale, but it works slowly.

Can I host a refugee in my home?

Yes, but do it as part of a structured program rather than informally. In Germany, municipal authorities and organizations such as Refugees Welcome organize placements with contracts and support. Hosting works best when the duration, house rules, financial arrangements and a mediation route are agreed in advance, and when both parties have an exit plan.

What should I not donate to refugee charities?

Avoid donating unsorted clothing, furniture, or toys unless a specific organization has requested these items. Storage and sorting consume volunteer capacity, and unsuitable goods are often thrown away. If you want to donate physical items, ask a local group what they currently need and consider donating the cash value instead.

How can I help refugees in Germany specifically?

If you are looking for how to help refugees, Germany offers several structured routes: volunteering through a local Freiwilligenagentur, Caritas, Diakonie, AWO or DRK branch; support a refugee-led association in your city; provide a room through a formal hosting scheme; or contact your Bundestagsabgeordnete about asylum and integration policy. Learning about the asylum process – the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge handles claims – helps you provide accurate information to people who need it.

Is volunteering with refugees safe?

Volunteering is generally safe when it takes place through a recognized organization with supervision, clear role boundaries and insurance. The risks are more often emotional than physical: secondary trauma is real, so ask about debriefing and supervision before you begin. Never accept legal or medical tasks for which you are not qualified.

How do I know a refugee charity is legitimate?

Check national charity registries and transparency schemes before donating. In Germany, look for the DZI seal or an Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft commitment; in the UK, consult the Charity Commission register and the Fundraising Regulator. Legitimate organizations publish annual reports, audited accounts and clear descriptions of how funds are used.

Further Reading and Sources

• UNHCR — the UN Refugee Agency publishes global statistics, reports and advice on refugee protection.
• Eurostat — asylum statistics provides official EU-wide data on asylum applications and decisions.
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies coordinates humanitarian response and publishes accountability standards.
• Refugees Welcome connects hosts with refugees in Germany and other countries, offering guidance on how to help refugees.
• Wikipedia — European migrant crisis for information on 2015 arrivals and subsequent policy changes.

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