National Postcode Lottery and DOEN Foundation

When we ended our partnership with GEF last November, we had still one very promising lead: the Dutch National Postcode Lottery. As with all big lotteries, they have a lot of cash and NPL pays about 50% of their revenues to charities and one-time funded projects. Although the deadline for a normal procedure for 2012 was already in October, we were still invited to the headquarters in Amsterdam in December for a conversation with the head of charities. This all thanks to Jan van Betten of Nudge, one of our partners.

Although NPL representatives liked our project, they said they couldn’t let us participate in the funding round of 2012 anymore because they need to follow strict rules set by the Department of Justice on how to run a lottery and division of funds to charities. This simply didn’t allow for any project to enter after the deadline.

They did say that we should talk to the people at the DOEN Foundation. That’s a daughter organization of NPL, in the same building. NPL would introduce us soon and then we can pitch in front of DOEN. That’s what we did on January 20th. Again two enthusiastic ladies after our pitch, but there was only one problem: DOEN only funds Dutch organizations that do things in The Netherlands or the Netherlands Antilles. It’s anchored in their missions and statutes, so they can’t make exceptions to this rule. They started brainstorming in the meeting already how they can work around this a little, but it was no more than access to their network and offering of connecting funded projects to us so they can go on board The Unity Express in the end.

Homecoming

Stephan and Coen, but also Maarten in some weeks, worked closely together with GEF to shape The Unity Express and find funding partners. This collaboration ended in November. That also meant that it was better for all Unity Express team members to return home and continue working from there.

One thing was clear: taking a little break helped us seeing the project from a distance and decide which path to take. At the same time we continued to work on getting NPL and DOEN on our side. This time from our homes again, but with the same dedication as ever.

The next months

The lead to NPL might not have been as fruitful as we had hoped, but that is certainly not the end. Most of us need to take care of our own financial position by looking for a day job or freelance work. In the remaining time we are going to contact companies and funding possibilities to pitch The Unity Express there and get the finances we need to spend full time on the project again. The real hunt for sponsors has never been started. Now is a good moment.

Although we should wait with actually organizing activities for the first journey, planning and brainstorming about them is essential for convincing sponsors to fund us. The program and activities of The Unity Express need to be defined as specific as possible. Our intentions are to spend time on that in the upcoming months as well. Having at least a handful of concrete activities will increase our chances of funding partners dramatically. As always, if you want to help us create these examples: you are welcome to contact us! We’ll also contact people through our Volunteers Network.

Till the next update and as always: thanks for still being with us :). We’ll get there!

Why?

The Unity Express has been growing for the past 20 months, but to pull away from the station, we need committed partners and sponsors on board to make it happen. As potential sponsors and partners told us that there is too little time to get everything in place for 2012, we’ve decided to postpone the first edition of the Unity Express. Aligning partners, getting the funds and building a community takes more time than we thought.

Now what?

We know this development might be disappointing and discouraging. But we believe this isn’t the case. Since we started the project, we thought that it needed a deadline to develop the concept and actually make it happen. But now that we have a well-defined concept, and we have moved on to building the community and finding the right support and funding, we should take all the time that is needed. It is one of our core principles to allow everybody to take ownership of the Unity Express. After all, the Unity Express is still a project from the people, by the people. Without the sound of a ticking clock in the background, we can live up to that principle now.

What about all my efforts?

Not to worry. Those of you who helped translate, design, research, brainstorm and more: thank you for the valuable contributions that you have made to the project up until this point; although our goal is still not in reach, we are counting on your continued support going forward! None of the points that you have earned will expire — they will still count toward a place on board the train once the time is right.

Without your efforts and contributions we wouldn’t have come so far. It is the you the community that kept us going when it was hard to keep up. Without the tremendous pressure of the 2012 deadline, we can actually get you more involved.

What can I do?

The Unity Express remains a communication vehicle to increase the scale, scope and visibility of your own initiatives and those of our sponsors. To you as a community member and follower of the Unity Express, we thank you for your contributions, enthusiasm and continued patience — the Unity Express was and still is a open-source community project; it’s simply on a longer horizon now. Please continue to spread the word! With a strong concept in our hands, there is more reason than ever to communicate the Unity Express to the world in order to build the support that is the last missing part now. Get in touch with us if you have ideas for the final meters we need to push the train over the mountain. Be on the lookout for potential sponsors and partners — and don’t stop with the constructive criticism and great ideas that made the project so much stronger in the past.

When will The Unity Express happen now?

We don’t know yet. The project needs the right companies and organisations to grow and that can take a while. We need time now to think, before taking the next steps. You should know that our ears are more open now than ever.

If you have any questions or remarks about the decision: we are available and will try to reply as soon as possible. You can send us an e-mail, post a comment below or find us on Facebook. Frequently asked questions will be added to this blog post over time.

The Volunteers Network

A fancy name for a very simple idea: up till now we never had a really good way of knowing who did or wants to do something for the project. It sort of happened all the time and we remembered them by name and E-mail address. Or they would stay in touch with us.

We thought we could do that a little more structured. We took some time to develop a form that you can fill in so that you are registered as a volunteer for The Unity Express. This is good for us, because now we can easily search for people that for example are good at web development or writing texts if we need that kind of help. And we will never forget about the people that once helped us out if we have new challenges in the future. It’s also good for you, because you’ll only get notified of challenges that you are familiar with, get invitations to volunteer-only parties and, if resources and budget allows us to, even some goodies as appreciation for what you did! All because of this great little form that allows us to keep in touch with you :)

Sign up as volunteer in the Volunteers Network here »

Challenges for volunteers

Whenever we spoke or E-mailed with people that said they wanted to help out, we were always saying like “yeah, there is so much to do, we are sure going to find something for you!”, never really having a concrete idea what that person could start doing right now. The thing is: there is indeed always a lot to do in the project, but a lot requires quite a bit of knowledge about the project. Not something you can hand over like that to someone and expect them to get it right away.

With the new Challenges menu item under “The Project” (and also the convenient sidebar list on the right) you can now see what tasks we have put up for anybody to pick up and complete. We have done our best to describe the challenges as detailed as possible so you know exactly what to do. Just clicking the “I accept this challenge” button is enough to get you started. All we ask is that you send a short E-mail telling us who you are and what your plans are.

Go see the current Challenges & start one today »

What do you think?

Good new features? Rubbish? Unnecessary? Brilliant move? Can’t wait to get started? Well, we can’t wait to hear from you all what you think! Is the form for the Volunteers Network easy to fill in? Are there questions or options missing? And how about the Challenges? Are they OK or still too vague? Please share your feedback and we’ll look into it!

The start of The Unity Express project was in February 2010. Back then, we started on a project of which we had no idea how big it could become. Now, almost 1,5 years and countless experiences later, we came to the conclusion that we can’t do it alone. And by that we don’t mean voluntary help; we knew that from the start. And boy do we appreciate all the help we have gotten so far. No, we need a strong, very experienced and credible partner that wants to organize The Unity Express together with us, on all levels. Because even though we are certain that we have the capabilities and the passion to make a journey like this, other (financial) partners might think otherwise: we have no track record, no financial capabilities and the team is fairly young. In other words: for them we are just a bunch of hippies wanting to change the world.

Who is Generation Europe Foundation?

Generation Europe Foundation’s creation in 1995 was based on a simple observation: that the young represent tomorrow’s decision-makers who will live, work, consume and contribute to the economic and political fibre of the world in the years to come.

Its goal is to engage tomorrow’s decision-makers, today, by engaging in two-way communication with young people on all issues that will have an impact on their future.

They have more than 15 years of experience in Europe-wide projects, volunteers in 36 countries (some of which are extremely active) and a staff of about 10 people in their own office in the middle of Brussels. Each year they release a diary in all 27 EU member states for high school students and teachers. They have also conducted extensive research on youth unemployment in Europe.

The bottom line is that GEF is very into Europe, has close connections with the European Commission and its values are very close to ours.

A win-win situation

We think the interests of us and GEF are complimentary to each other. We have the worked out concept, the experience to deal with train partners and put a lot of effort in creating a community of followers already. This is extremely valuable for GEF. In turn GEF can provide us the credibility and experience of running and maintaining a big project like this. GEF is like that uncle with all the knowledge and connections ‘in the business’ that we need. In other words: we have the idea GEF was looking for, GEF has the experience, structure and network we need.

The catch

But of course it’s not all just as simple as that. In order for us to work together and have that credibility, GEF needs to be the financially responsible partner. Because they have the means. We don’t. That also means that GEF will ultimately have a veto for decisions taken during the organization of the project.

Of course we will guard the concept and the overall vision of the project and GEF (and we) understand that this can only work if we both respect each other and work together on mutual trust. Only in extreme situations GEF needs to be able to say no. In the end it’s their wallet.

What this means for you and the whole community

In short: nothing will change for you. GEF understands that this project is one built on the help and support of the whole community and it’s open source vision. It will stay that way. Everybody can still contribute to the project in any way they want, wherever you live and whatever your qualities are. No changes are planned for the way you can get on board and all other parts of the concept developed so far will not be changed by this collaboration. Of course, when something is practical to change in the future, we will. But never without losing the project values out of sight.

The only visual change you might see is that, if it all goes through, in our communication it will become more visible that this project is done by Generation Europe in association with The WE Travel Foundation (that’s us).

We would like to hear your opinion!

Of course you don’t have to have an opinion, and we understand that this whole explanation of the situation barely touches the surface, but we would like to include you in this important decision for us. Do we get your support for “merging” with Generation Europe Foundation? What problems do you see ahead? Have a reason why we shouldn’t do it at all? Please comment here or give your opinion on our poll on Facebook. You could also just say how excited you are to see what this will bring ;).

CouchSurfing community

Coen arrived on Monday already, 1,5 days earlier than Maarten, so he attended the weekly CouchSurfing meetup in MONK alone, to share The Unity Express with all the local CouchSurfers. A group of about 15 to 20 people listened to the story and asked questions and had ideas how to get involved. Thanks, CouchSurfing community of Brussels, for the opportunity to tell the story in the midst of the meeting!

The HUB

On Wednesday we had a meeting with people from The HUB Brussels. HUB is a worldwide network of 26 (as of now) co-working spots for freelancers, entrepreneurs and change makers, with a growing network of more than 4000 professionals. Each HUB has a set of hosts, people that are going to help all the members of that HUB to accomplish their dreams and build businesses. Go check out their website, their working spaces are very cool, maybe you can join or create a HUB in your city!

After talking with the hosts of The HUB Brussels, we soon realized that we could help each other.

• The HUB has a big network of 4000+ professionals that can help us realize The Unity Express: we can be featured across the network and come into contact with people for funding, manpower or maybe something else…?
• Hosts from The HUB are trained “mediators” and have experience with connecting networks to each other. So, as soon as submitting projects to The Unity Express journey starts, The HUB could function as a help to accomplish your project on board. If you have a project to perform a theater play on board and you need decorations, The HUB can help you get that. Or if you need help with finding the right project, they are here for you too, even on board!
• There are 26 HUB locations across the world right now, and although they are not in the cities we pass through with the journey, we might visit those cities whenever we have a Team Meeting every other month. If we go to a city that has a HUB, we can arrange to use their co-working spot for free!

In return, we give The HUB a possibility to further spread their network across the 24 countries we come across and stop. We could even see it happen that a new HUB location will be born in a city we visit!

Generation Europe

“Generation Europe Foundation operates a two-way communication platform enabling exchanges of views between young people, the private and public sectors. We are experienced in providing educational information material covering a wide range of issues in 24 languages through a variety of media.” – source: Generation Europe Foundation website

We met the guys from GEF in the HUB (it quickly became our favorite place to come to work and have meetings ;)) to talk about a partnership. After explaining to each other what we are about, we discovered that a partnership would be very interesting. GEF can:

• Help us get City Coordinators in several cities that we stop, since they have a network of active volunteers in 36 countries in Europe, mostly excelling, active students or ex-students that want to be “the decision-makers of tomorrow”, as GEF puts it.
• Become a EU funding partner if necessary. For most of the EU funding programs you need 2 or more official co-organizers and GEF has experience with that.
• Give The Unity Express exposure in their newsletters and magazines, that is spread to their whole range of followers and members. They actually did already. In the future it could be more.

GEF was especially interested in the creative sessions that can be done on board. These sessions are sponsored slots in the program where a sponsor can bring in a question, hold a survey, discuss about a topic, or do a workshop on creating something for the sponsor. Of course these sessions are free to join or leave as you please, don’t worry :).

EACEA

Thanks to Maarten’s efforts of mailing the European Commission and the EACEA, the agency that takes care of all the structural funding programs within the EU, we managed to have a talk with representatives from the commission that deals with the funding programs. They were not the actual people that give a yes or no to fund requests, but they know everything about the programs.

It was an interesting talk, where new possibilities opened and known ones were questioned if it are the best ones to apply for. We certainly learned a lot and are now looking into the pro’s and cons. Difficult!

Bonus: EURail

We also talked to EURail Group again, one of our long-term sponsors. The meeting was in Utrecht, not Brussels, but it was directly after we returned to The Netherlands. EURail is going to do a lot for us, on top of what they already do for us:

• EURail Group will sponsor all 12 interrail passes for the Unity Express on Tour in October!
• They are also sponsoring 2 interrail tickets per MONTH (5-in-10 days or 10-in-22 days flexipass) to team members that need to travel somewhere (a team meeting for instance)
• They are seriously going to propose The Unity Express to their partners and funders to see if they can sponsor a wagon for the journey to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Interrail in 2012. That means EURail, or Interrail, could be one of the first to “adopt” one of the wagons of The Unity Express! More info somewhere at the end of June, beginning of July.

We, in return for the free Interrail tickets, will be blogging on the travel blog of EURail Group and of course provide them with all the information necessary to convince their partners of investing in us.

We think that this is one of our greatest achievements this past week, and we are very grateful of the opportunities EURail Group has given us. If you ever want to travel through Europe, be sure to consider the Interrail/EURail pass, it’s well worth the money!

We’ll be back…

In just under a week we met so many new people and got so many suggestions for organizations that we should contact, that we’ll sure be back in Brussels soon! The number of foundations and organizations that are doing something with tolerance or unity in Europe is simply amazing, and we have the idea that we know only the tip of the iceberg right now. We will of course share the dates of our return journey as soon as we know :).