Remote engagement · Skills-based volunteering
Your profession in the service of AVEC, from home
The Relais d’AVEC put their professional skills at the association’s disposal, remotely, on precise, carefully scoped assignments. A few hours a month or a quarter are enough to make a difference.
Your skills are worth more than you think
You are a translator, designer, accountant, lawyer, doctor, developer, photographer, journalist, trainer. You have a profession that you practise every day and that may seem quite ordinary to you. For AVEC, this profession represents a precise, quantifiable value. An accounting audit, a campaign visual, a redesigned brochure, a medical consultation for a shelter protocol, a translation of a letter between a sponsored student and their sponsor, a training session for the kindergarten’s educators: each of these actions, which AVEC would otherwise pay an external provider for, can be offered by a Relais.
The maths are simple. One hour of your professional time given to AVEC is 150 to 300 francs saved on the association’s budget. That’s exactly the amount AVEC would otherwise have had to spend to buy this skill elsewhere. By the end of the year, these savings translate directly into funded programmes, children taken in, students supported. Skills-based volunteering is not second-rate volunteering — it is probably the most efficient donation a professional can make.
Six professions AVEC is always looking for
This list is indicative, not exhaustive. If your profession isn’t listed, write to us anyway: we almost always find a use for a skill that’s offered.
Translation and writing
Translating letters between university-sponsored students and their sponsors (French ↔ English ↔ Khmer, if you’re lucky enough to speak Khmer). Writing the monthly newsletter. Proofreading communication materials. Adapting texts for German-speaking Swiss readers.
Design and illustration
The occasional redesign of the annual brochure, designing the annual report, poster design for events in Switzerland, illustrations for citizenship education in schools, a visual refresh of the website. AVEC’s graphic restraint is a deliberate choice, but it needs expert hands.
Video and photography
Editing field footage brought back by Patrik. Producing an institutional video. Directing a professional photo shoot in Battambang (with travel costs covered). Post-processing images for the website and reports.
Accounting and finance
Helping prepare the annual accounts ahead of audit. Advice on the optimal tax structuring between the two associations. Support in drawing up forecast budgets. Analysis of the programmes’ financial performance.
Legal
Advice on the governance of both organisations, Swiss association law, French association law, international partnership agreements with the Cambodian authorities, sponsorship and patronage contracts, GDPR and data protection. Humanitarian fieldwork constantly throws up new legal questions.
Digital and tech
Maintaining and developing the website. Security and backups. Integrating tools (Listmonk newsletter, online payment, donor CRM). Automating administrative workflows. Technical coaching for the Battambang team. A good developer can save the association weeks of work.
How skills-based volunteering works at AVEC
To keep your commitment manageable and useful, AVEC works through precise assignments rather than open-ended availability. This stops you feeling overwhelmed, and stops AVEC making requests that miss the mark.
- One assignment, one framework. Every assignment request is put in writing with a clear objective, a defined deliverable, a reasonable deadline and an estimated workload. You know what you’re agreeing to before you agree to it.
- You decide how often. Some Relais take on one assignment a year, others one a quarter, others one a month. There is no minimum commitment. You give what you can, when you can.
- You can say no without justifying it. If a proposed assignment doesn’t suit you, doesn’t fit your current workload, or simply doesn’t interest you, just say no. The next request will come without any hard feelings.
- A skills-based volunteering agreement for larger assignments, allowing your company or you personally to benefit from the French tax deduction for corporate patronage (60% of the valued time). An equivalent scheme in Switzerland to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
- Written recognition. AVEC keeps a register of contributions and issues a certificate of patronage each year, for use in your CSR file or your own personal accounts.
I’m an employee — can my company get involved too?
Yes, and it’s actually an increasingly common arrangement. Corporate skills-based volunteering means releasing one or more employees on their working time, paid by the company, so they can contribute to AVEC. The company benefits from a tax reduction for corporate patronage (60% of the valued time in France, terms to be confirmed in Switzerland), gains a concrete, measurable CSR case, and rallies its teams around a shared cause. The employee benefits from an assignment aligned with their values, without eating into their personal time.
For a company wanting to explore this route, AVEC offers dedicated support: scoping the assignment, defining deliverables, joint follow-up, and a formal certificate of patronage. If your management is open to skills-based volunteering, mention it to HR or your CSR department, and pass their contact details on to us.
How to become a Relais
1
Introduce yourself to us
A simple email to Patrik Roux. Tell us your profession, your level of seniority, your approximate availability (monthly or quarterly), and the type of assignment you’re interested in.
2
We make you an offer
Within a fortnight, AVEC sends you one or two precise assignment proposals suited to your profile. You read them, accept the one that suits you, or ask to see other options.
3
You deliver
You carry out the assignment at your own pace, with your designated contact at AVEC. The deliverable is submitted, AVEC gives you feedback on its impact, and a certificate of patronage is issued. And if a second assignment interests you, we’ll talk about it.
Your profession can really make a difference. Write to us, and we’ll offer you a first assignment within a fortnight.
Prêt à proposer votre candidature?
Quatre champs, trois minutes, une première réponse sous une semaine. C’est la première marche.
Vous voulez d’abord vérifier les règles du jeu? Lisez la charte des Sentinelles.