Volunteering near you
Volunteering in Cologne
In Cologne an independent volunteer agency, the digital volunteering exchange of the city and the AWO civic engagement office help you find a role in your own neighbourhood
Key points at a glance
- The Cologne Volunteer Agency gives 45 to 60 minutes of advice by appointment and has more than 600 offers in its database.
- The City of Cologne also runs its own volunteering database and the digital volunteering exchange.
- According to the 2024 survey, about 33.8% of people aged 14 and over volunteer in North Rhine-Westphalia, compared with 36.7% nationwide.
- Cologne issues the NRW volunteer card from four hours a week or 200 hours a year, valid for two years.
- Expense allowances are tax-free up to 960 euros a year, and up to 3,300 euros for coaches and trainers.
1997
Cologne Volunteer Agency founded
Citizens of Cologne found the agency. Today it has more than 600 volunteering offers in its database.
2025
Election duty at the municipal elections
Chairs and secretaries of electoral boards receive 80 euros, and 190 euros for both election weekends.
3 April 2026
Nominations deadline for the volunteering award
Until this day, nominations for the 2026 Cologne volunteering award could be submitted.
6 September 2026
25th Cologne volunteering day
A volunteering exchange at the Rheinauhafen. On the same day the city presents the 26th Cologne volunteering award in the town hall, with 13,000 euros in total.
- Sport and exercise12.8%
- Social services7.9%
- Culture and music6.3%
- School and nursery6.0%
- Church and religion5.6%
- Leisure and social life4.9%
- Environment and nature3.8%
- Rescue services and fire brigade3.1%
Contact points
| Contact point | What you find there |
|---|---|
| Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur e.V. | Offers individual advice to volunteers and runs an online database of opportunities, plus its own offer for people who want to help at short notice. It supports organisations in recruiting volunteers. |
| Ehrenamtsbörse digital der Stadt Köln | The official city platform where Cologne initiatives, projects and organisations present their volunteering opportunities. A guided “Rundgang” helps if you do not yet know where or how to start. |
| Büro für Bürgerengagement (BfB) der AWO Köln | A free placement agency for volunteering in social institutions, projects and initiatives. It offers an opportunities database, an events calendar, advice and training. |
- State
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Author
- Johannes Max Harms
Where can I find volunteering in Cologne?
You can find volunteering in Cologne through three well-connected routes: the Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur, the digital volunteering exchange of the city and the AWO civic engagement office. The Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur advises you individually, or you can look for a suitable offer yourself in its online database. Its website also explains the difference between volunteering and a voluntary service. That helps if you are not yet sure which form suits you.
The Ehrenamtsbörse digital is the official platform of the City of Cologne. Associations, initiatives and organisations present their volunteering opportunities there, and you can contact the relevant people directly. If you do not yet know where and how you want to get involved, start a “Rundgang” there. City departments also look for volunteers through the exchange, for example in social services or in environment, green spaces and playgrounds.
The AWO civic engagement office in Cologne sees itself as the link between people in Cologne who want to volunteer and institutions looking for support. Its placement service is free, and you can filter the database for specific offers. An events calendar shows dates related to volunteering in Cologne. This lets you get to know organisations in person before you decide.
Which areas are there?
The areas in Cologne are particularly wide-ranging, from neighbourhood help through hospitals and justice to the fire brigade and the environment. The city exchange lists, for example, volunteer hospital visiting, volunteer support for offenders in the JVA Köln prison and the volunteer fire brigade with its youth section. There are also neighbourhood help groups such as Kölsch Hätz and a network for volunteer guardianship. A separate section covers queer people and LGBTI topics.
If you can help with language, the Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur is the right place. Its Babellos project organises volunteer language mediation for people who cannot yet make themselves understood in German. The agency also collects donations for its work with international volunteers. If you speak several languages, ask specifically about this in the advice session.
The AWO civic engagement office focuses on social institutions and local neighbourhoods, known in Cologne as the Veedel. Its project “Gemeinsam sind wir stärker” builds communities in the districts, and a separate project is aimed at young people in Cologne aged 12 to 27. At the Veedelstreff in Nippes, so-called third places are emerging where people meet outside work and home. Places like these depend on volunteers who bring them to life.
How can I get involved in peace and understanding?
You work for peace and understanding where conflicts are settled and people are brought together. The city exchange has its own section for volunteering in law, conciliation and elections. Behind it are roles in which you help settle disputes fairly and safeguard democratic processes. This is peace work in the everyday life of the city, calm and practical.
A second route is working with refugees. The Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur coordinates volunteer work with refugees in the Köln-Mülheim district, and its Babellos project creates understanding in the literal sense. Its guiding idea is encounter between people, varied, engaged and supportive. Anyone who joins in here sees directly how strangers become neighbours.
If you have a project of your own, you can create it as a peace mission on W3ltfrieden or support an existing mission. A mission describes what you plan to do, who is responsible and how progress is documented. You can see in the mission overview whether there are already suitable missions in Cologne. People, not a bot, decide on publication.
How much time do I need to bring?
You can get started in Cologne with very little time. The Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur has a dedicated offer for short-notice volunteers, with current opportunities that need no long commitment. This is a good way to get to know different institutions. If you like a task, you can turn it into a regular role later.
For regular tasks, it is worth getting advice before you commit. The agencies know which institutions expect fixed weekly slots and where things are more flexible. Be honest about how many hours you can set aside. That way you get suggestions that still fit your everyday life after a few months.
If you have more time, you can consider the Federal Volunteer Service, which AWO Köln also offers. It is a fixed placement over a longer period and different from volunteering alongside work or studies. The Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur explains the difference on its website. Read up there before you choose a form.
Also allow some time for training if you accompany people or take on responsibility. The AWO civic engagement office offers training for volunteers, and many institutions give new volunteers an induction. The dates in the events calendar show you what is currently on. This time pays off because you feel more confident in your task.
Sources
- Stadt Köln: Ehrenamtsbörse digital (in German)
- Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur: finding a volunteer role (in German)
- Cologne Volunteer Agency: counselling (in German)
- City of Cologne: allowance at the 2025 municipal elections (in German)
- City of Cologne: Cologne volunteering day (in German)
- City of Cologne: NRW volunteer card (in German)
- Engagiert in NRW: insurance (in German)
- Federal Chancellery: Sixth German Survey on Volunteering (FWS 2024), summary report (in German)
- Income Tax Act, section 3 no. 26 and 26a (trainer and volunteer allowance, in German)
Four steps to volunteering
- Start the tourBegin with the “Rundgang” in the digital volunteering exchange of the City of Cologne. It leads you to institutions and topics that might interest you.
- Compare the databasesAlso look at the databases of the Kölner Freiwilligen Agentur and the AWO civic engagement office. Both list specific tasks with contact persons.
- Ask for adviceGet individual advice from one of the two agencies. Mention your part of town, your time and what you are good at.
- Try it brieflyUse an offer for short-notice helpers to join in once without a firm commitment. Afterwards you decide whether to stay.
More cities
- Volunteering in DüsseldorfNorth Rhine-WestphaliaFrom the Caritas and Diakonie volunteer centres to the city’s own office: how to find a volunteering role in Düsseldorf that fits your life
- Volunteering in MunichBavariaIn Munich several volunteer agencies offer personal advice, and the city bundles everything you need to know about getting started on a platform of its own
Common questions from volunteers in Cologne
How do you sign up as a volunteer in Cologne?
For personal advice at the Cologne Volunteer Agency, you make an appointment by phone or email. The session lasts 45 to 60 minutes, and you do not need to bring any documents. The agency was founded in 1997 by citizens of Cologne and has more than 600 volunteering offers in its database.
If you prefer to search yourself, use the City of Cologne’s volunteering database. It lists individual offers such as visiting people with dementia, breakfast help at primary schools or habitat care. In the digital volunteering exchange, initiatives and organisations introduce themselves, and you contact their contact persons directly.
What do volunteers in Cologne need?
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 Cologne, the Cologne Volunteer Agency clears up such questions with you in a counselling session.
Do volunteers in Cologne get paid?
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.
One example with a fixed allowance is election duty. At the 2025 municipal elections, chairs and secretaries of electoral boards in Cologne received 80 euros, and 190 euros for serving on both election weekends.
Is there a volunteer card in Cologne?
Yes, Cologne issues the NRW volunteer card. You need to volunteer at least four hours a week or 200 hours a year and have done so for at least a year. An expense allowance is allowed as long as it does not exceed the tax-free allowances of 960 or 3,300 euros. The card is valid for two years.
You can apply and renew at the city or through the NRW volunteer card app. It gives you discounts across the state; according to the state government these include reduced entry to museums, swimming pools and other public leisure venues, and lower prices for adult education courses, cinemas and theatres.
Are volunteers in Cologne insured?
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.
For everyone else, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has taken out group liability insurance. It also applies when your volunteering starts from NRW and takes place in another state or abroad, and also when you receive an expense allowance. There is also accident cover from the state, which applies on a secondary basis if there is neither statutory accident insurance nor insurance from your organisation.
Is there a volunteering day in Cologne?
Yes, for 25 years Cologne has held a volunteering day with an exchange where many clubs, initiatives and organisations present themselves. The 25th Cologne volunteering day took place on 6 September 2026 at the Rheinauhafen. It is a good place to meet several placements in one day.
On the same day the city presented the 26th Cologne volunteering award in the town hall, with prize money of 13,000 euros in total. Nominations for the 2026 award could be submitted until 3 April.
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