Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) has had 55 people with backgrounds in teaching, law and management withdraw from its recruitment process because they fear they will not be able to find a job when they return from their two-year posting.

Others who have dropped out have said they are concerned they will not be able to sell or rent out their house to cover their mortgage while they are away.

VSO needs to fill 355 posts by next March, in some of the world's poorest countries. Only 48 professionals have gone abroad since April. If levels of interest do not pick up, the charity expects at least 70 positions will be left unfilled at the end of March.

Inquiries from prospective volunteers in the year up to August were well down on the previous 12 months, sparking concern that the credit crunch is undermining people's confidence in working as a volunteer.

VSO volunteers typically help developing countries to build their education and health systems and community organisations or work in areas such as human rights and income generation.

With economists predicting several years of economic downturn, however, VSO is encouraging people to escape the gloom by taking a two-year placement and returning to Britain when the worst is over.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of VSO, said he understood that people felt insecure about their future, but urged them to think how much worse off people were in Africa and Asia.

“People living in developing countries are not facing two or three years' credit crunch, they are living in poverty that threatens their long-term education, health and livelihood,” he said. “It's crucial that we meet our commitment to partners in Africa and Asia by doing all we can to recruit the skilled professionals that are urgently needed.”

VSO is looking for experienced managers, and professionals with experience of working in primary education, as well as doctors and midwives. Banking skills are also in demand, especially if they come with planning or management expertise.

Volunteers are needed to train teachers in Eritrea, to work as doctors in Malawi and as institutional development advisers in Cameroon. There is a similar position vacant in Nepal for a project that supports people in rural areas affected by HIV and Aids. The charity provides volunteers with flights, accommodation and an allowance to cover basic costs.

Public-sector professionals volunteering for between six months and two years are entitled to claim pension contributions providing they return to the public sector for a minimum of six months afterwards.

Evidence that the credit crunch is hitting overseas volunteering comes as other research shows that charities are already being hit by a fall in donations.

Nearly one third of charities (30 per cent) say that they have suffered a drop in individual donations, while 88 per cent expect their income to fall, or fall further, over the next year, according to the Charities Aid Foundation and the Association of Chief Executives of the Voluntary Sector. The problem is being made worse by rising inflation, with 71 per cent of chief executives of charities saying that their costs have increased.

As a result nearly a third have already made redundancies and more than half have been forced to limit staff pay increases.

The Charities Aid Foundation said that the fall in donations was a departure from the trend seen during previous recessions, when individual donations remained relatively stable, despite rising unemployment.

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