How do we select our projects to better offer them to you? This is a vast question to which we wish to respond in order to show our commitment and help you understand the process behind each of our actions. This article aims to detail the criteria for selecting a project and how this allows you to access a reliable, safeand most importantly, beneficial program for local communities.
Engaging in a volunteer project is an important step, and it is essential that you understand the criteria on which our selection is based in order to embark on a mission with us with confidence. In this article, discover the different stages of this selection process, the criteria that guide our choices, our charter, and the commitments that strengthen our collaboration with local NGOs.
Freepackers is committed to proper ethics and values upheld by both our team and the local projects. We are pleased to share our various commitments with you!
We have visited the projects to ensure their ethics, the support provided, and the values upheld by the host organization.
We are in weekly contact with our partner NGOs to ensure the smooth progress of each mission.
We know the projects and NGOs personally. This is why we position ourselves as experts, thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the missions we offer.
Ensuring the ethics of our projects means ensuring that they contribute to sustainable development. But what is sustainable development? In practical terms, it means meeting the needs of today’s society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. It is based on three pillars: social, economic, and environmental. Our missions align with one or more of these areas to ensure a lasting impact.”
Our different project categories:
We contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015. For example, our humanitarian projects within communities help provide ‘quality education for all,’ which is Goal 4.
Freepackers is an intermediary organization. We bridge the gap between local organizations and volunteers.
This connection starts with a thorough orientation process, ensuring that each person is matched with the mission that best aligns with their expectations.
We conduct research and provide information to all volunteers, aligning their preferences and skills with local needs. Our experience and knowledge of the field allow us to provide the best advice to volunteers. We have been supporting volunteers on such projects since 2014, and each feedback we receive has helped us refine our profile analysis.
It is by speaking directly with you, through phone calls and emails, that we work together to develop your project.
The placement depends on the skills and profile of the participants. A phone interview and an application file (CV and cover letter) determine the volunteer’s mission on educational projects, ranging from childcare to organizing extracurricular activities and providing academic support/assistance in schools for those with more training.
We provide regular follow-up before, during, and after the mission to ensure the project runs smoothly.
Before
We are as transparent as possible about the on-site experience, so volunteers know what to expect!
During
After
At Freepackers, the main selection criterion for our projects is their concrete usefulness for local communities. The projects address field needs, whether humanitarian, environmental, or animal protection.
Our team regularly visits the field and evaluates the situation in collaboration with the NGOs present. These visits strengthen our partnerships and allow us to constantly adapt our criteria to meet the expectations and needs of communities and ecosystems.
This rigorous project selection has benefits for:
Freepackers selects its projects by prioritizing those that enable genuine collaboration with local NGOs. We make sure that each project can evolve and grow with the NGOs on the ground.
In this way, we guarantee missions that are sustainable, useful, and aligned with community needs.
The projects we offer are the result of many years of experience, reinforced by volunteer feedback.
The Freepackers team takes care to identify, together with NGOs, the specific needs, available resources, and objectives to be achieved. This analysis ensures that the selected project has the potential to produce concrete and measurable results for the community.
With a local NGO, Freepackers helped develop an ambitious project in the Córdoba region:
Creating an independent home to support women’s empowerment!
Although already supported by Engineers Without Borders, one visit per week was not enough. The NGO faced logistical and financial challenges, preventing the project from being completed within 2 years.
Our team assessed the project and, thanks to our network of engineering students from various European schools, we managed to provide a solution:
The project was able to move forward more quickly, more easily, and with a multiplied impact!
Through this careful selection, Freepackers ensures meaningful, useful, and sustainable programs.
We hope this overview of our project selection process has reassured, inspired, and motivated you to join us!
