What are the Benefits for CSR's?
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives benefit from participation in the Travelcology ecosystem in the following key ways:
- Access to strategic non profit projects - CSR's will leverage the database of non profit organizations to identify projects where the company can contribute the most (resources, domain expertise, etc) and where there is the closest fit with their CSR marketing goals.
- Exposure to emerging markets - Through active engagement with the communities in developing countries, companies can leverage their CSR initiatives to gain valuable information about future markets and build brand awareness in a manner that demonstrates cultural respect.
- Immersive brand experiences with Volunteers - The volunteers working on the respective projects will generally fall into a highly attractive target market segment and the opportunity to have those influencers interact with the brand over an extended period of time, and in the context of a socially responsible project, is extremely valuable for CSR initiatives.
- Volunteers as Brand Ambassadors - more savvy CSR's will extend their relationships with volunteers by offering relevant training/preparation prior to the trip, gear and equipment during the travel period, and other types of ongoing support. Those volunteers will already be heavily promoting their own personal involvement in the non-profit project, and will in many cases naturally incorporate the CSR brands into their blogs, posts, and tweets. As those volunteers become more involved in the projects, they will be able to personally validate the authenticity of the CSR support, and can become highly influential brand ambassadors for those companies with attractive CSR values. Consider that 1 volunteer with an average of 500 friends, who makes 4 posts/month, would result in 24,000 branded impressions/yr.
What are the Benefits for Non-Profit Organizations?
Non Governmental Organizations and other Non Profit Projects benefit from participation in the Travelcology ecosystem in the following key ways:
- Access to a pool of skilled volunteer resources - the portal enables volunteers to find projects that are in need of their skill set (eg. technology, finance, bike mechanic, etc) and select profile information is passed to the volunteer organization well in advance of the scheduled arrival of the volunteer to ensure that the individual can make a material contribution. In Phase II, Non-profit projects will be able to post requests for specific skill sets to the entire database of Travelcology volunteers, who will then be able to book trips accordingly.
- Hassle-free logistics - Because the volunteers have organized their trips through established adventure travel operators, all logistical considerations - transportation, lodging, meals, etc - will be handled and the non-profit organization can count on volunteers to be well-prepared for the required tasks.
- Volunteers Viral Marketing of the Projects - Volunteers who get involved with specific projects will undoubtedly promote their roles using their social networks before, during, and after the trips. That viral marketing exposure will potentially lead to future volunteers, donations, and increased awareness of the cause.
- Exposure to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives - Companies with vibrant CSR initiatives will see compelling opportunities to partner with non profit projects with related core missions (eg. clean water, bicycles, shoes, etc). In addition, the volunteers who are promoting the projects through their respective social networks will be extremely attractive to CSR's, so projects with more volunteer participation will naturally attract greater CSR interest. Companies can provide support in several ways, including financial contributions, cause marketing, professionals with domain expertise (eg. technicians, trainers, logistics, etc), and much more.
- Examples of these partnerships can be seen below (coming soon ...)
What are the Benefits for Adventure Travelers and Volunteers?
Adventure Travelers committed to Volunteering benefit from participation in the Travelcology ecosystem in the following key ways:
- Access to non profit projects - volunteers can use the intuitive portal to easily filter and research projects that match their skill sets and are geographically proximate to compelling adventure travel opportunities
- Access to Community of like-minded volunteers - volunteers will use the portal to develop and maintain relationships with other volunteers who are passionate about similar causes and adventure trips. These affinity relationships will form the basis for ongoing involvement with non-profit projects around the globe, and offer a unique social platform that bridges online and real-world connections.
- Project accountability - volunteers will contribute their first hand assesments of projects that they work on, information that will then be categorized and dissiminated, enabling past and future volunteer participants and other interested parties to track the progress. This crowd-sourced transparency will lead to a high degree of accountability and increase the appeal for future volunteers, as well as CSR sponsors.
- Access to training - Certain projects, sponsored by CSR initiatives, will have training opportunities provided by the companies with domain expertise (eg, water filtration, bike repair, etc), and volunteers who select those projects will have the opportunity to gain additional skills prior to their trips, making their contribution on the ground that much more valuable.
- Discounted Gear, travel, lodging, etc - The involvement of socially responsible corporations means that group discounts will be available on equipment, supplies, travel costs, etc. In some cases, there may be branded gear that is only available to on the ground participants (perhaps similar to merit badges or campaign patches), building a sense of esprit de corp for volunteers who collect gear from multiple projects.
How is Travelcology different from other volunteer sites?
Travelcology differs from other volunteer search sites in 2 significant ways.
- Travelcology is a portal that aggregates volunteer opportunities around the world from a myriad of sources, including direct relationships with NGO's, partnerships with other online volunteer portals, and projects identified by volunteers. These non-profit organizations are vetted and tracked to ensure that volunteers are working with the most effective, well-run operations within the local communities. The steady stream of updates from volunteers in the field is fed through the Travelcology portal, where any interested volunteers, whether past or future, can monitor and interact. This transparency will help maintain a high degree of accountability, and will create a deep commitment and connection among all the volunteers working on common projects, even if they never meet in person.
- The Travelcology portal is designed for travelers who want both volunteer opportunities AND adventure travel experiences combined into the same trip. We have partnered with select adventure tour operators whose local experts in each region handle logistics for the entire duration of the trip, removing all hassles from the process and ensuring that the volunteer can focus on maximizing their contribution and enjoying their trip. The tour operators will arrange for extended lodging arrangements, transportation to/from the volunteer project site, food, communications, etc, for the additional days spent volunteering. This is a significant benefit for the traveler as well as the non-profit organization, since they get all the upside of a passionate, skilled volunteer without being burdened with any logistical responsibilities.