24.10.2020 - Together to the goal

Since the beginning of October, we have been actively approaching community and regional social services. What are we hoping for from this? Hopefully more great success stories - and of course something for the long-winded.

Until now, we have given laptops directly to private individuals at our distribution windows. This not only presents us with major preparation work, but also demands time, transport costs and sometimes patience from the recipients. At our most recent drop-off window, for example, there was a queue that sometimes lasted over an hour - but more than 150 laptops found a new home. 

However, due to the latest measures in the wake of the current crisis (you know the ones), we can no longer offer these great actions. Even if we ourselves comply with the necessary protective measures, a spontaneous gathering of more than 15 people will no longer be allowed in future. 

Impressions of our last distribution window

But this should not mean an end to our activities. We have invested a lot of time in the last few weeks to pitch a new sales model so that the end users no longer have to come to us. We have set up a framework agreement, a separate service desk and corresponding information pages in order to convince public sector organisations to use our services. 

Distribution via municipalities and social services

In principle, we offer this option to all municipalities, regional social services and also companies that have corresponding service contracts with individual or several municipalities. 

Once a partnership has been agreed with us, it is very simple:

1. The organisation accepts requests from individuals.
2. Requests are reviewed by the organisations.
3. A request is registered with us at the Service Desk.
4. The unit is sent to the recipients by post,
5. The organisation pays the agreed contribution towards expenses

We make no secret of this contribution towards costs: For all public sector organisations, a contribution towards costs of CHF 150 is currently charged per device sent. This means that no costs are incurred when the contract is signed, but only when help is needed.

Win-Win-Win: Nobody loses

A laptop including shipping and preparation for CHF 150? Yes, probably no community can do that - and that's where we see our strength. We are designed for scaling and are aware that this is precisely why there is still a lack of equipment in many places. This means that the customers no longer have to come to us - because that has often been the reason for not using the equipment. Be it because of a lack of money for transport or a lack of time: both would become superfluous.

What we also must not forget: Social ideals usually know conclusively who exactly needs help and who might not. This work has always been particularly challenging for us and not always easy because of the lack of insight. Social services can also potentially reach more people than we can. Finally, it is not only about students, but also others who depend on equipment in their daily lives. For example, for vocational training or job applications. 

And finally, the CHF 150 is a contribution that also helps us as an association. We have fixed and variable costs - and of course everyone is currently working for us on a voluntary basis. But if you want to continue the project on a large scale, there will of course be personnel costs at some point - and of course these have to be covered somehow beforehand.

An interim result that is something to be proud of!

Well - now it would be exciting to see who is already involved. More than 50 municipalities are already involved and many are currently in the process of clarification - for example, the entire canton of Schaffhausen is in our partner area.

If someone is interested, they can simply get in touch via our Service Desk - just like any other enquiry. We will then discuss the details with the interested parties.

In conclusion

More information is available on our FAQs for the public sector. If you are interested, please feel free to take a look 🙂

We are already looking forward to giving you some insights into the cooperation between us and the organisations. It is still important for us to communicate openly and honestly - and the existing partnerships show us that we are on the right track!

So it is clear that in many communities the message is getting through and the zeitgeist is right. We hope that this card will soon appear in a greener guise and would be pleased if you could also raise the issue locally - because maybe you know someone who could also see an added value here 🙂 .

- Tobias Schär

Tobias Schär