This document provides a brief for developing a mobile volunteering app and communication tools for Espace Benevolat, a French charity that connects volunteers with opportunities. It outlines that Espace Benevolat has a database of over 4,600 opportunities across 1,200 organizations. The brief requests that a mobile app is created to search opportunities by interest, location, and age group. It also asks for a feature to flag time-sensitive opportunities. Additionally, it asks for help developing creative ways to promote the app through social media, newsletters, and the website. Espace Benevolat will provide visual assets and their database of opportunities to support the project.

1. Espace Benevolat brief for MAKE/TIME +U Mobile Volunteering
Espace Benevolat is the primary French aggregate volunteering charity that links people interested in
volunteering with volunteering opportunities in their area.
http://www.espacebenevolat.org/
Espace Benevolat have a database of more than 4600 volunteering opportunities all over France
uploaded by 1200 different charitable partners. In 2008, more than 22, 000 connections were made
between volunteers and charitable organisations.
BACKGROUND
Espace Benevolat was set up in 2003 by Isabelle Persoz. “As new technologies were emerging, I
recognised a need to create an online space to facilitate volunteering, seeing as France wasn’t particularly
engaged with volunteering”, says Isabelle.
There are a breadth of volunteer opportunities on the site including teaching, mentoring, translation,
first aid, fundraising and literacy. A popular charity amongst busy Parisians is La Mie de Pain, a
homeless centre where volunteers can help out with early morning breakfast shifts or dinners to fit
around their working day. Another popular one for creative volunteers is VSArts, a charity that
organises concerts and artist workshops in children’s hospitals, care homes or youth centres in
disadvantaged communities.
Espace Benevolat also has a sister site for young people called Jeune et Benevole, aimed at 14-25 year
olds. They realised that 34% of their visitors were young people, however some organisations didn’t
accept young people as volunteers. Jeune et Benevole connects young people with relevant
opportunities, allowing them to develop their skills, make connections, feel useful and do good. This site
now has 2800 volunteer opportunities.
THE BRIEF
Isabelle Persoz, founder, and Aurelia Picard, in charge of the website, would like to use the +U code to
develop a mobile volunteering app for Espace Benevolat and Jeune et Benevole.
Within this, Espace Benevolat have 2 different things they’d love help with…
1. Build a mobile volunteering app for Espace Benevolat and Jeune & Benevole
Create a mobile app where people can search for volunteering opportunities by interest, location and
age (if people are under 25, they will be shown opportunities from the Jeune et Benevole database).
Develop a special feature that flags up time-specific volunteer opportunities, i.e. that take place on a
specific date or that need to happen quickly (as shown on EB’s homepage – ‘missions urgentes’)
2. Develop creative tools to communicate to Espace Benevolat’s users about the mobile app
Find ways to get users (and non-users) excited about the app through social media, newsletter,
website

2. What we have to work with
Visual assets
Database of volunteer opportunities