Position Location: Hojancha, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Tropical Adventures is part of the Casa Milagro Foundation. Casa Milagro Foundation is a not-for profit organization dedicated to working in the areas of environmental conservation, education and community development in the country of Costa Rica. The foundation is divided into 3 programs: Tropical Adventures, Vecinos del Mundo (a community program) and the Environmental Policy Advocacy Program.

The mission of Tropical Adventures is to be a resource for empowering individuals and communities inside and outside of Costa Rica. At this moment Tropical Adventures brings in volunteers for the Vecinos del Mundo program of the Casa Milagro Foundation.

Tropical Adventures is a non-profit organization that provides volunteer and voluntour packages for individuals, families and groups interested in exploring the culture, language and natural beauty of Costa Rica (and now Panama and Nicaragua). The tours revolve around local volunteer projects, which offer the adventure of a lifetime for those willing to share their love, skills and time with those less fortunate. The majority of our guests choose to live with a local family, volunteer in a local community, take Spanish lessons and partake in many adventure tours in an attempt to see Costa Rica in a whole new way. Also Tropical Adventures sends volunteers to Casa Milagro’s community program but since we are still in the process of building up that program, volunteers are at this moment also still going to other projects.

Costa Rica is a military-free, peaceful country rich in resources. We want Costa Rica to remain this way, free from violent intrusion and capitalism, and to be a strong example for the rest of the world. As an organization, we show compassion for others, teach love by example, and recognize the more we give of ourselves, the more we are blessed in life.

Purpose: To promote the work of Tropical Adventures through a variety of marketing tasks, including the following duties and responsibilities:

  • Assist us in the design, creation, and delivery of marketing programs to support the growth and expansion of Tropical Adventures products and services.

  • Design and develop various marketing materials, posters, fliers/brochures, volunteer manuals and catalogs for distribution. And/or maintain the existing materials up-to-date.

  • Research, become familiar with and integrate many of the latest marketing strategies, including social media.

  • Develop and manage Web-based promotional marketing initiatives and special projects, constantly seeking out free and cheap ways to market our foundation.

  • Be prepared to help with the following: writing, research, media relations support, pitch development, compiling and researching press clippings, updating contact databases, event coordination support, assisting in special projects and administrative assignments.

  • Seek out online directories appropriate for our programs and keep our listings current (goabroad.com,volunteermatch.com, idealist.org, etc.).

  • Keep up-to-date and accurate our accounts and profiles on online communities such as www.facebook.com; create and implement “viral” marketing techniques to keep us in front of people – build momentum and a positive image for us within these online communities. Keep our information fresh, current, interesting and alive.

  • Manage our monthly newsletter and database, create fresh content monthly and ensure the newsletter is released in a timely manner.

  • Become familiar with marketing strategies, budgets and Fiscal Year plan.

  • Assist with several key projects, such as the quarterly board newsletter and public outreach efforts/events.

  • Assist with administrative tasks, as required.

  • Research and record foundation participation figures and trends; track effectiveness of various media/advertising efforts.

  • Participate in meetings with other foundations and organizational partners.

  • Help design, create, market items which we could sell as a means of bringing in additional income.

  • Manage, organize and keep photo library up-to-date.

  • Search out online forums and answer questions in an effort to be helpful to people looking for information about volunteering and about Costa Rica in general. Find reasons to write articles about Volunteering, Voluntourism and Costa Rica as a “ghost writer” for the Executive Directorso as to call attention to the foundation soft of through a soft approach / back door method.

  • Write articles at least 3 times a week to place on our blog to keep our content fresh and current.

  • Assist with the technology “virtual classroom” project for Tropical Adventures. 

  • Seek out (advertise), interview and help us hire / attract other interns to work with us. In short – find your own replacement!

  • Help us analyze our ongoing Google Adwords advertising (keywords) and help us to determine how well our advertising dollars are working and what adjustments need to be made.

  • Help us spread the word about our College / University Rep program by familiarizing yourself with other such programs being used by our “competitors” and by seeking out / training / managing students in worldwide universities with interest in this position.

  • Research and help us develop a “Sponsorship Program” with local and international corporations. Review our material and identify which local and international corporations have interests here in Costa Rica. Develop a database of these corporations and their contacts. Begin contacting (and / or work with our Community Development Coordinator) to see if these corporations have an interest in sponsoring our foundation, specific programs, projects (including one-time projects such as a painting weekend of a school, etc.) or “volunteer gift packs.”

  • Help us to figure out how to break into other markets (i.e., European “Gap Year” markets), identify advertising sources, determine what kind of changes / additions need to be made on our website and research our pricing structure to ensure our prices, as well as our programs are in line with what that particular market group is looking for.

 

Position Sample Tasks:

  • Writing blogs

  • Posting Facebook messages

  • Tweeting

  • Writing newsletters

  • Designing and implementing marketing projects

  • The design of marketing materials such as posters, brochures etc.

 

Benefits of this position:

  • Hands-on, real world, international marketing experience

  • Getting to live in Costa Rica and travel to various projects in the country.

  • Getting to know the Costa Rican culture.

  • Gain experience working with people from different cultures and backgrounds in a meaningful way.

 

Requirements:

  • Must be able to speak and write in English and at least a moderate level of Spanish.

  • Must be a good communicator.

  • Leadership qualities and excellent problem-solving ability.

  • Ability to work well with limited supervision.

 

Not included:

  • There is no salary or stipend for this internship position
  • No plane tickets or transportation costs from and to the airport are provided.
  • No work visa is provided. You will come on a ‘tourist’ visa and will be required to leave the country every 90 days for at least 72 hours. This is legal and is very easy and very inexpensive to do. We will help you figure it out.

 

Things which are included:

  • Travel expenses will be provided for any official travel inside of Costa Rica.

  • If space is available, lodging can be provided for between $100 and $150 inside the house where we have an office. If nothing is available during the time period the intern is available, we will assist you in finding something suitable nearby, either another house or a host family. A host family would cost between $100 and $350 depending on the situation.

Last updated 8 March 2013