Volunteering in Frankfurt

The volunteering database of the volunteer agency at the Bürgerinstitut gives you an overview of options in Frankfurt. If a task interests you, you send the agency a message and receive the details for contacting the organisation. Placements are made only with charitable or municipal organisations and initiatives.

The agency is also happy to advise you in person; for that you arrange an appointment in advance. Usually a getting-to-know-you meeting at the placement follows, in which you agree on the task and the time frame.

Above all you need time, reliability and an interest in the task. For many roles no special knowledge is required, because the placements show you the ropes. Usually there is no set age, but some tasks have a minimum age, such as 16 or 18. It matters that you say honestly how much time you have, so that the task fits your everyday life.

If you work with children and young people, many organisations ask for an extended certificate of conduct. For roles in rescue services, hospice work or supporting people with dementia, there is often training before your first assignment. In Frankfurt, the volunteer agency at the Bürgerinstitut clears up such questions with you in a counselling session.

Volunteering is unpaid in principle, but many placements reimburse expenses such as travel or pay an expense allowance. Since 1 January 2026, such an allowance is tax-free up to 960 euros a year; this is the volunteer allowance. If you work as a coach, carer, in an artistic role or in care, you can use the trainer allowance of up to 3,300 euros. The two allowances cannot be used for the same activity at the same time.

Important if you are aiming for Frankfurt’s E-Card: only those who receive no flat expense allowance beyond reimbursed costs can get it. Reimbursement of expenses such as travel, on the other hand, is no obstacle.

Yes, in Hesse it is called the Ehrenamts-Card, or E-Card. Frankfurt sets stricter rules than the state: you get it if you have volunteered for at least three years, at least five hours a week, with one or more charitable organisations in Frankfurt. A flat expense allowance that goes beyond reimbursing costs rules the card out.

The E-Card is valid for two years from issue and can be applied for all year round. According to the state, there are more than 1,700 discounts across Hesse, for example at top-level sport and cultural events, cinemas, museums, swimming pools and adult education courses.

Statutory accident insurance and the insurance of your organisation come first, for example when you work in social welfare or on behalf of the city. Ask at your first meeting how your placement handles this.

Hesse was the first state to sign framework contracts for accident and liability insurance for volunteers, back in 2003, with SV SparkassenVersicherung. They apply to everyone who is active in Hesse or whose volunteering starts from Hesse, above all in groups without their own legal form. Liability cover is a flat three million euros for personal injury and property damage, and accident cover pays up to 150,000 euros for disability, depending on its degree.

Yes. The 19th Frankfurt volunteering fair took place on 12 September 2026 in the Römer, with 109 participating organisations, more than ever before. The programme includes volunteering speed dating, where you meet several placements in short conversations.

The city publishes information on the 2027 fair in spring 2027. Until then, the database and the counselling at the Bürgerinstitut can help you.