We gave away 8.4% of our profits to charity in 2017

This post shares the bigger mission behind TEFL Heaven and how helping people teach abroad can also create lasting support for important charitable causes.

Alongside helping teachers start life-changing experiences overseas, TEFL Heaven has used its growth to support projects that provide education and medical care to those who need it most.

We donated 8.4% of our profits last year!

I have always thought that the best way to make a difference in the world is through business, because good business is SUSTAINABLE.

Business is not reliant on regular goodwill donations - people giving on a regular basis with no thought of reward.

I own TEFL Heaven - Teach English Abroad, along with my very generous business partner Ben. We both are committed to helping people have the best experience teaching abroad.

We gave 8.4% of our profits last year to two charities - Cambodian Kids Care Center and Operation Smile Thailand. Both are very worthy causes.

One educates children who cannot be educated by the Thai system due to their immigration status, the other provides surgery to children and adults who are born with a physical defect.

Both causes change lives forever. Imagine having a hole in your face, or having no one to educate you while you're young???

When we approached Cambodian Kids Care, the director and sole teacher, Uan, was SO stressed about money it was unreal. They were relying on goodwill donations, and there was not enough of them! Many times I could see the distress in his eyes and voice!

I'm not rich - I get paid more than a teacher and about as much as a small business owner - but I drive a Honda Civic, not a Ferrari. But I own a business, and have more coming in than Uan.

So we started donating to them out of our profits, about 4 years ago. It started as a small donation and has risen over the years.

We've spent 10 years building TEFL Heaven to what it is today, and due to our popularity and growth, we added Operation Smile last year as another place to help.

TEFL Heaven is growing - a lot. This means we can help more people have a great experience abroad and also help more charities.

I believe we are doing a great work here on the earth.

For those who think all business is about is money and business owners love getting fat off the profits, not all are like that! Yes, we have families to feed and yes, of course, I would love a Ferrari (actually probably would just love to afford a 12-seater for my many kids!) but that's not why we do this!

I also went a LONG TIME getting paid zero dollars (3.5 years), then a long time getting paid a teachers wage, before getting to this point.

We serve people, and our mission is to help 2020 people teach abroad in the year 2020. While we do that, we will help other people - like these two charities do - along the way!

If you also believe in us, or believe the same as me, please share the salary guides link with your friends - they are useful and can help them understand how much money they can make teaching abroad, and ultimately lead them to book one of our teach English abroad programs.

Send them this link to get the guides: https://www.teflheaven.com/

Teaching abroad through TEFL Heaven does more than help people start a new life overseas, it also supports wider charitable work that changes lives.

This post shows how growing a teach abroad business can create lasting impact, not just for teachers, but for communities and charities as well.