Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
FAQ about Goodwill Ambassadors and the Goodwill Ambassador Commission
Since we began in 2009, we have answered thousands of questions by email to help guide others interested in pursuing careers as goodwill ambassadors and in helping others with their ideals in philanthropy and saving the planet. Today we continue this practice of answering questions or referring visitors to this page. As Information Technology (IT) advances some of the most frequently asked questions have been upgraded to Q&A queries using artificial intelligence on platforms like Facebook and Google. Our organization is still adapting to these developments to differentiate Q&A from FAQ while maintaining our most frequently asked questions here.
What is a goodwill ambassador?
A goodwill ambassador is anyone that promotes benevolence on the behalf of a city, state, nation, organization or cultural group. There are 35 or more types of goodwill ambassadors that serve professionally in airports to zoos. Most professionally engaged goodwill ambassadors that represent products or brands are considered brand ambassadors. Most types of goodwill ambassadors not engaged in matters of state or international law are not necessarily entitled to use the "honorable" title as a form of address.
How do I become a goodwill ambassador?
There are many ways to become a goodwill ambassador
What is a United Nations or UN goodwill ambassador?
A United Nations goodwill ambassador is any delegated advocate that has been designated by the chief of a United Nations specialized agency. Each specialized agency uses their name abbreviation to designate the titles such as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, UNESCO Special Envoy, etcetera. On rare occasion the United Nations bestows a plenipotentiary "United Nations Goodwill Ambassador" title to its special envoys designated at the pleasure of the head of the United Nations.
Do goodwill ambassadors get paid?
Goodwill ambassadors normally do not get paid under their honorable title. However there are working goodwill ambassador programs where a person acts as a goodwill ambassador on the behalf of a government body and not their own character, but rather in the same character as their peers. Some police departments encourage their officers to serve as goodwill ambassadors especially with tourists.
To officialize the working relationship between the United Nations and its goodwill ambassadors, those designated are paid $1 (one dollar) per year and the United Nations subsidizes remote and local appearances who are most often celebrities. Other organizations such as Globcal International operate as a cooperative to develop goodwill projects internationally based in mutual benefit programs.
The average income of a goodwill ambassador with 14 years of education, based on required skill level, competent between 45-60 years old that advocates for an organization, cause, event on the social media and from an office with 4-6 scheduled event exhibition presentations can expect to earn between $18,000 to $75,000 with an average salary of $27,000 per year. A person working as a freelance goodwill ambassador would be entitled to be compensated if they engaged in full time work as a goodwill ambassador.