Le Figaro Bordeaux
You have surely already made a donation on their website, but without necessarily knowing the whole story of the HelloAsso platform.
Organization approved as a social utility company (ESUS), and established in Bordeaux since 2013, this digital company has the particularity of not charging any commission: 100% of the money donated on the site is donated to the association in question. .
Its economic model is entirely based on the donation that users of the platform can make, and it is a clear success.
“
One in two people chooses to leave a voluntary contribution at the time of payment
,” explains Léa Thomassin, co-founder and president of HelloAsso.
“
The more we explain the model, the more people understand.
“Last month, the staggering figure of one billion euros collected was reached, for the benefit of approximately 250,000 associations.
This operation, inspired by the culture of tipping in the United States, was however a risky bet.
"
We were told: you're crazy, we don't have this culture in France, the French are stingy, they're not going to give anything
," recalls Léa Thomassin, smiling.
Its development seems to prove its early informers wrong: with four employees when it was created under the name of MailForGood in 2009, HelloAsso today hires 130 people, the majority of whom in the Bordeaux metropolis, in the heart of the Digital City. in Bègles, a rehabilitated former postal sorting shed.
This nugget of the social and solidarity economy (ESS) continues to grow, with 25 recruitments in the first quarter.
The Cité Numérique in Bègles aims to be "the summary of the digital ecosystem of the metropolis".
HelloAsso occupies approximately a space of approximately 1200 m2.
Jean Cittone / Le Figaro
In addition to its economic model based exclusively on donations, another particularity of HelloAsso is that it is now run by two women, Léa Thomassin and Hannah Berkouk, its general manager.
With its predominantly female management team, the organization intends to advance equality between women and men.
“
We are unfortunately still too singular
,” recalls Léa Thomassin, because only 17% of women are today at the head of companies in the “
tech
” sector.
Associative commitment, Hannah and Léa have pinned it to the body.
Hannah is co-president of Ernest, an association of solidarity restaurateurs, and Léa is both a member of the board of directors of the Women's Foundation and an ambassador for the Impact France movement, which represents SSE actors.
Both very early had the vocation of the social and solidarity economy.
From high school, Léa was interested in sustainable development and the need "
to imagine forms of economic development compatible with the limits of the planet.
".
When she co-founded HelloAsso, she was only 22 years old and had not yet graduated.
Hannah has written a thesis on corporate philanthropy.
It was during a training course that she led on associative financing that she met Léa, before becoming the tenth employee of the platform.
Read alsoThe city of Bordeaux establishes a “major dialogue” and a citizens’ convention on the climate emergency
A payment terminal under construction
Since then, HelloAsso has changed scale.
"
350,000 initiatives, activities or associative projects have been published on HelloAsso in the last twelve months and 4.3 million people have taken part
", explains Léa Thomassin.
Of the billion collected, approximately 7.5% was dedicated to humanitarian and charitable actions (75 million euros), whether to support Ukraine, during the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, or during campaigns annuals, such as Pink October.
The effectiveness of the platform still sometimes surprises its leaders.
In 2020, the designer Pénélope Bagieu had put drawings on sale for the benefit of the Abbé Pierre Foundation.
The 24,000 euros requested were collected almost instantaneously, initially suggesting a "
bug
technique: in 92 seconds, everything had been sold.
Beyond online payment for associations, HelloAsso also wants to make the associative fabric more visible, through partnerships with public authorities, and by developing tools like BasiCompta, accounting software for association treasurers.
The platform also organizes training, to "
help associations to use digital tools
".
Since 2021, it has offered a real "
search engine for associations
", to find organizations near you according to your areas of interest.
Finally, HelloAsso is working on a “ tap to pay”
software
“, which will allow, beyond the ticket offices for associative events, to expand the existing mobile application to make it a payment terminal.
"
We never get bored
", sums up Léa Thomassin.
According to her, HelloAsso was born of a "
real need of the voluntary sector
", and this continues.
The symbolic milestone of one billion is also the tree that hides the forest.
In 2022 alone, 330 million euros were collected.
"
It took fourteen years to collect the first billion, we plan to take a year and a half for the second
", aims the president.
HelloAsso currently employs 130 people in several departments, most of whom work in the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
DR / HelloAsso / Marc Gremillon
