Clubs and volunteering for students

DECA

Business, marketing, finance and hospitality club known for its role-play and case competitions, from districts up to an international conference.

10 students + a teacher advisor

FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)

Business competitions, leadership conferences and career prep, with state and national events every year.

5 members + a teacher adviser

HOSA (Future Health Professionals)

For future doctors, nurses and other health professionals: health science competitions, leadership and service. Chapters affiliate through their state HOSA each year.

A teacher advisor + your state HOSA

TSA (Technology Student Association)

STEM competitions from coding and robotics to engineering design and video production, with state conferences and a national one.

A teacher advisor; members take a tech-related course

SkillsUSA

Career and technical education club for the trades, technology and health: hands-on skills competitions plus leadership training.

A teacher advisor (classroom or virtual chapter)

BPA (Business Professionals of America)

Competitions and leadership in business, finance, IT, management and communication, with state and national conferences.

A teacher advisor applies online

FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America)

For culinary, fashion, early childhood, interior design and hospitality students: 50+ competitive events, service projects and leadership.

A Family and Consumer Sciences teacher as adviser

Hack Club

Start a coding club at your school with up to $100 in starter funding, stickers, hardware and a big Slack community of teen hackers.

Apply online to lead a club

Girls Who Code Clubs

Coding clubs that meet after school, on weekends or online. Ask a teacher, librarian or parent to apply as facilitator; they can learn alongside the club.

An adult facilitator (no coding experience needed)

SWENext Clubs (Society of Women Engineers)

The Society of Women Engineers' STEM clubs for students of all genders, with mentors from local SWE sections and 300+ clubs worldwide.

Register a club of any size

NSBE Jr. (National Society of Black Engineers)

Pre-college chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers: STEM projects, competitions and the Pre-College Initiative conference.

5 paid members + an adult advisor

SHPE Jr. (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers)

High school chapters of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, open to any student interested in science, technology, engineering or math.

10 members + an advisor who works at your school

Mu Alpha Theta

The national math honor society: chapters run competitions and peer tutoring, and members can apply for its awards and scholarships.

A math teacher sponsor; your school must offer advanced math

Key Club

The oldest and largest high school service club, run by students and sponsored by Kiwanis: local service projects, leadership and district conventions.

A sponsor (usually Kiwanis), a faculty advisor + 11 members

Interact (Rotary)

Rotary's service clubs for teens: at least two projects a year, one for your community and one that promotes international understanding.

A sponsoring Rotary club

Leo Clubs (Lions)

Lions Clubs' youth service clubs, based at a school or in the community: Alpha Leos for ages 12-18 and Omega Leos for 18-30.

A sponsoring Lions club

Red Cross Clubs

Official student clubs of the American Red Cross: run blood drives and disaster-preparedness events, with at least three service projects a year.

3-6 founding members + your school's approval

Best Buddies

Student-run friendship clubs that pair students one-to-one with peers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A teacher advisor

Habitat for Humanity campus chapters

Student-led chapters that build homes with local Habitat affiliates and raise awareness about affordable housing; colleges can also join Collegiate Challenge break trips.

Circle K International

Key Club's college counterpart: a student-run campus service and leadership club, sponsored by a local Kiwanis club.

A Kiwanis sponsor, an advisor + 15 members

UNICEF Clubs

Advocate for children's rights, educate your school and fundraise for UNICEF's work, as part of a national network of student clubs.

4 student leaders + an adult advisor (25+)

Girl Up

The UN Foundation's clubs for gender equity: campaigns, fundraising and leadership training. Clubs are open to everyone, boys included.

5 core members (+ an adult advisor if most are under 18)

Amnesty International student groups

Run human rights campaigns, letter-writing events and awareness drives alongside Amnesty International USA's 600+ youth and student groups.

Register each year + a short online orientation

Active Minds

Peer-led mental health advocacy chapters that run awareness events and push their schools to take mental health seriously; 500+ chapters nationwide.

3 students + an advisor

Roots & Shoots (Jane Goodall Institute)

The Jane Goodall Institute's youth groups: pick a problem in your community, for people, animals or the environment, and run a project to fix it.

A group advisor

Operation Smile student clubs

Raise money and awareness for free cleft surgeries, with training and support from Operation Smile's student programs team.

A faculty advisor + your school's approval

Schoolhouse.world

Tutor other students in free small-group sessions over Zoom (founded by Sal Khan). Tutors build a verified portfolio recognized by 50+ colleges.

Get certified in a subject first

UPchieve

Tutor and coach low-income middle and high schoolers online, on your own schedule. No tutoring experience needed.

Free training; no minimum hours

Learn To Be

Free one-on-one online tutoring for underserved kids. Hours are verified and count toward the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

1-2 hour-long lessons a week for 4+ months

Crisis Text Line

Volunteer from home as a crisis counselor, texting with people who need support. Training is self-paced and shifts fit your schedule.

Free 15-hour training, then 200 hours

Be My Eyes

Answer a video call when a blind or low-vision person needs a quick pair of sighted eyes, like reading a label. Help whenever you're free.

The free app and a phone

Zooniverse

Help real researchers by classifying galaxies, wildlife photos and historic documents from your browser.

A browser, no experience needed

Smithsonian Transcription Center

Transcribe historic diaries, letters and scientific specimen records so the Smithsonian's collections become searchable.

Missing Maps

Trace buildings and roads from satellite images in OpenStreetMap so aid groups can reach people in disaster-prone places.

Quick to learn, no experience needed

Distributed Proofreaders

Proofread scanned public-domain books page by page to turn them into free e-books on Project Gutenberg.

No minimum, even a page a day

SciStarter

Search citizen science projects you can do online or near you, and track your contributions in one place.

DoSomething

Volunteer and civic action campaigns you can do on your own time. Finishing eligible ones enters you for scholarships, with no essay or GPA.

Idealist

Search 100,000+ volunteer opportunities, on-site and virtual. VolunteerMatch merged into Idealist in 2025.

American Red Cross youth volunteering

Help at blood drives, pack comfort kits for disaster survivors or join a youth first aid team; all training is free. At 16 you can teach first aid and CPR.

A parent's consent + a 6-month commitment

Volunteer.gov

The US government's volunteer portal: find roles with national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other federal sites.

Special Olympics

Coach, officiate, help at events or play alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities as a Unified partner through your local program.

AmeriCorps

National service in tutoring, disaster response, conservation and more. Most programs pay a living allowance, and a full-time term earns an education award worth the maximum Pell Grant.

A full- or part-time term of service