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.
In addition to personalized and tailored placement, we provide regular follow-up before, during and after the mission. Real support to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
Once the project is chosen, we assist participants in preparing for departure. We take care of sending the necessary documents for mission registration and forward them to our partner NGO. We also make ourselves available via email, WhatsApp, and phone to answer any questions you may have. We aim to be as transparent as possible about the experience on-site, so that volunteers know exactly what to expect!
Once on-site, the host organization takes over to handle logistics and address any questions. However, we regularly check in with each of our volunteers, directly and through our partner. We maintain constant contact with the participants, who can reach out to us if needed.
Until the end of the mission, we stay in contact and follow up with our volunteers, who share their feedback and impressions with us. It is thanks to these experiences that we have been able to refine our projects, placements, follow-up, and thus our expertise over time!
At Freepackers, the main selection criterion for our projects is their tangible benefit to local communities. We are committed to offering projects that truly address the needs on the ground, whether in humanitarian, environmental, or animal protection fields. Our team regularly visits the sites and assesses the situation in collaboration with the local NGOs. These visits help strengthen our partnerships and constantly adapt our criteria to meet the expectations and needs of the populations and ecosystems involved.
This rigor in the selection of our projects provides benefits for all parties:
These criteria help us ensure quality projects that are sustainable and always aligned with local issues, while creating a rewarding and formative experience for all profiles.
Freepackers selects its projects by prioritizing those that enable genuine collaboration with local NGOs. This criterion is essential: we ensure that each project can evolve and grow alongside the NGOs on the ground. In this way, we guarantee sustainable, impactful missions that are aligned with the needs of the communities and adaptable to local challenges. Volunteer feedback helps us improve the projects we offer and is, therefore, the result of our many years of experience.
The Freepackers team works closely with the NGOs to identify specific needs, available resources, and objectives to be achieved. This analysis ensures that the selected project has the potential to deliver concrete and measurable results for the community.
Let’s take the example of a project we helped develop in Argentina, in the Córdoba region. A local NGO wanted to create an independent house to support women’s empowerment, an ambitious project but faced with logistical and financial challenges. Although the organization was already supported by Engineers Without Borders, their support, limited to a weekly visit, was not enough to meet the two-year goals as hoped. Our team assessed the project and, thanks to our network of engineering students from various European schools, we were able to propose a solution: more frequent teams and additional resources. With increased support (three times a week) from international engineers mobilized by Freepackers, the project was able to progress more quickly, more easily, and with a multiplied impact..
By selecting projects that meet all of these requirements, Freepackers ensures that the missions offered are meaningful, useful, and sustainable. We hope that this overview of our project selection process has reassured you, inspired you, and encouraged you to get involved with us!
