About
The coronavirus pandemic posed a challenge for the many committed associations and initiatives in Berlin’s civil society: they were forced to quickly develop digital formats and ways of working in order to remain operational. However, there is still little digital expertise in many areas of volunteering, and time and resources are scarce. However, the crisis also presents an opportunity: if implemented correctly, digitalisation can unlock potential, open up new target groups and improve the effectiveness of volunteering.
Approach
In workshops and individual interviews, the needs of the target groups were recorded and coordinated with the various initiatives already active in this area. Based on the needs analysis, a landing page with information was developed and the first prototype services were set up, operated and evaluated.
Course of the project
The Digital Vereint platform now offers Berlin volunteers numerous tools, information and suggestions on how to organise their work more efficiently. To ensure that the information does not remain abstract, the site offers practical examples. Interested parties can find out how a beekeeping association, a football club and a collective use digital tools to organise their work and stay in touch. The club members explain why they consider digitalisation to be an important topic and why they primarily use open software for this purpose. If that’s not enough, you can find further non-profit addresses that can help under ‘Initiatives’.
The ‘Services’ section not only provides direct links to useful open software for online meetings and chats, but also important information on data protection and security. It is also possible to register for workshops on topics such as ‘Social Media’ via the website.
What happens next?
After four years of networking, numerous workshops and joint events, we are delighted that the project will continue now that the funding from the Berlin Senate Chancellery has come to an end and will be consolidated as an engagement platform. The new online service planned by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion aims to bundle and further expand the range of support available for association work in the future.
Contact
Special thanks to MOTIF – Institute for digital Culture with whom we developed the Digital Vereint project.
