Is punctual volunteer the future of engagement?

The era of uninterrupted and flawless investment for a project has lived.Welcome to the "à la carte" society!Whether at work, in social relations or in leisure, new trends are emerging favoring flexibility.Solidarity is not free from this development.On the contrary, it grasped it quickly and made it, in part, its operating mode.

COVVI-19 as revealing this form of commitment

The Pandemic of COVVI-19 brought with it its share of beautiful stories.The regional press frequently told the occasional mobilization of volunteers in vaccination centers to lend a hand to caregivers.But beyond these special cases related to the context, there is a more global change in ways of engaging.

Already in 2019, the volunteer volunteer barometer, reported this new deal: 29 % of total volunteering is carried out during punctual missions.Émilie is one of these "new generation" volunteers.From the food maraud to French lessons for foreign persons, including waste collection, the young woman regularly engaged by responding to numerous punctual volunteer missions.This type of commitment allows him to juggle everyday constraints: "It is really practical when you have a busy schedule", she said.

This mode of volunteering allows students and assets, like Émilie, to engage more easily ... but not only.It also attracts retirees, a population historically very present in the associative world.They too want to engage differently.

"The company has changed"

Variety, flexibility ... Since 2019, many structures have adopted this operating mode.Restos du Coeur, for example, calls for 23,000 punctual volunteers against 70,000 permanent.For Claude Bougère, head of the association's national volunteer center, this integration of new volunteers responds to developments in the company: "We must do with these new forms of engagement because the company has changed," she explains."Today, people take longer than before for leisure and prefer to engage in several associations," she analyzes.

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What are the difficulties for associations?

The Restos du Coeur, created in 1985, nevertheless hesitated to offer "à la carte" missions, especially because of the organizational obstacle:

But the restaurants of the heart have taken the plunge.They now largely use punctual volunteers for a number of missions.For example, for the national collection, taking place this year from March 4 to 6, which allowed last year to collect 7,800 tonnes of foodstuffs.To allow the reception of the greatest number, the Restos du Coeur notably adapted the missions of missions to integrate these new volunteer profiles.

Benenova to facilitate commitment

Early early, Benenova felt these developments in association practices.Created in 2013, the association is intended to be a citizen commitment facilitator.It offers citizens of punctual volunteer -volunteer missions for partner associations that she tests and validates.Benenova supports the management of volunteers upstream to avoid this charge to associations.

At the time, "the observation was double", analyzed Alice Madec, regional director of Benenova Paris."The associations had the need to renew the volunteers.On the other hand, people wanted to give their time, but did not know who to turn to ".Today, Benenova offers 600 missions per month to a community of 20,000 volunteers.On the site, it is possible to find for example missions to distribute breakfasts with the chorba or to make meals with one is the other.

Towards the end of regular volunteering?

But are we witnessing at the end of this time during which, for some retirees, volunteering was akin to full-time work?When to get involved for the Restos du Coeur, for the Red Cross, was it giving part of your life?

No, replies Claude Bougère, the manager of the national volunteer center for Restos du Coeur.She wants to believe the maxim "volunteer one day, volunteer still", that is to say that punctual volunteering can be a gateway to a longer-term volunteer.She herself began on a punctual mission before committing completely to the association.

"A complementary model"

For Alice Madec de Benenova, volunteering on the à la carte will remain "a complementary model of regular commitment"."Current volunteers are welcomed by referents.Without these recurring volunteers, there is therefore nothing going on, "she illustrates.

Will this trend fill the downward trend in volunteer holdings, 7 % between 2014 and 2019?This could be well since, according to the Barometer of France Volunteer, 85 % of non-Bounevolia do not rule out becoming so as to be helped or encouraged.

Théo Nepipvoda