Tremma, donate an object, fund a project
Tremma is the new online sales platform created by the Emmaus Label. What's special about this platform is that the profits from sales help to fund solidarity projects supported by the Transition Label.
Interview with Iris De Corlieu, Head of Label Transition and Project Manager at Tremma.
Can you tell us a bit more about Tremma? How did this project come about? How does the platform work in practice?
Tremma is an Emmaus Label project. It is a platform for participatory financing through objects. On Tremma, individuals can create ads to sell their objects for the benefit of digital solidarity projects. The aim of the Label Emmaüs endowment fund, the Label transition, which created Tremma, is to support and finance the digital transition of community organisations.
Today, digital technology is very much a part of our lives, and these tools help us to manage our associations more easily. They are also important for the people we support, for those in very precarious situations who are the first victims of the digital divide. And yet these are necessary tools for them, particularly when looking for work. In fact, 90% of jobs are only available online. So you need to know how to use digital tools, you need training, you need the right equipment, and that costs money and time. With Tremma, we are here to finance these projects.
Tremma works like a traditional classified ads platform. When they arrive on the platform, private individuals choose the project they want to support, then enter an ad creation tunnel. They take a photo of their item, fill in the corresponding description, then choose the transmission methods that suit them. The advert is then moderated by employees on integration schemes, before being put online by Label Emmaüs, which is a marketplace (and Tremma has a shop there). Once the item has been purchased, the donor receives a message confirming the sale or the dispatch of the consignment note in the case of a shipment, or a small message box is made available so that the donor can discuss the sale with the buyer and arrange a meeting.
Why the name "Tremma"?
We wanted to have our own identity that was very distinct from the Emmaus label so as not to create confusion with the traditional collection methods used by Emmaus organisations. As well as this, we also wanted to make a small reference to our roots. Emmaus has an umlaut over the "U" and we chose to write Tremma with two "M "s to recall the Emmaus name, which also has two "M "s.
How is the platform part of a responsible and socially responsible approach to consumption? In practical terms, how is Tremma helping the world to be a better place?
All of the platform's concepts have been designed to provide a 100% solidarity-based and eco-responsible solution. In fact, 100% of the funds are paid back to the projects financed via the platform. This project is supported by an endowment fund and focuses solely on solidarity.
It's also a project that was designed to create additional back-to-work jobs, so the ads are moderated by back-to-work employees. At present, we have 3 employees on integration schemes who are in charge of moderating the after-sales and donation service. Then, as volumes increase, we will recruit larger teams. This project is considered to be eco-responsible because it uses only second-hand objects and encourages re-use.
What's more, although this was somewhat sidelined by covid because of the contacts that had to be avoided, the aim was to encourage local exchanges as much as possible. That's why we created the private messaging service, so that people can exchange with people near them to pass on information hand-to-hand, thereby limiting our impact and carbon footprint.
What types of solidarity projects can be chosen when making a donation?
We work with promotions of 4 projects at a time. New projects are put online every 3 to 6 months. They are all projects run by public interest organisations, associations, etc. and projects linked to digital technology and the digital transition of these organisations.
For example, during the last promotion, these were mainly training projects. In each structure, they set up digital workshops to train people in need. There's a farm in the south of France that does work release for women. Women at the end of their sentences go to this farm before they leave prison for good. As part of the overall support offered by this farm, they wanted to include a digital component. Then there's a similar training project in an Emmaüs community, followed by another project in an emergency accommodation centre in Nantes. The last was a project to train volunteers from associations in the Auvergne region, the aim being to train them in green digital technology. It was a shared project between several associations.
Are you satisfied with the initial results and feedback from users since the official launch of your platform?
With the satisfaction questionnaire we send out to our users, we can see from their responses that they are very happy and that they understand the concept well. That's why we're really delighted. What's more, we've had great success right from the start thanks to our donors. To date, over 4,000 items have been put online and we've raised just over 15,000 euros.
Tremma was launched in a very special context... What impact, if any, did the pandemic have on Tremma?
Yes, it's true that there has been an impact, particularly in the construction of the project, because we've been a little later than expected since we thought we'd be doing as much ultra-local as possible. But in a covid context, it's impossible to offer just that.
However, we've had a positive impact on ourselves because it's more relevant to be running a project like this at the moment. It has reinforced our positions, because we can see that the need for digital technology and re-use is really there.
We've seen that you're planning to work with a number of different retailers. Can you tell us a bit more about that? What's the current status of this project?
We have a huge number of partnerships with companies at different levels. Firstly, Tremma is a project that has been developed through skills sponsorship. This is when companies make employees available to work on charity projects. After that, we have a huge number of ongoing partnerships. We work with companies for their internal communications, to recruit their employees, create ads, create challenges and promote everything we do.
A few weeks ago we launched a partnership with Showroomprivé to encourage their customers to donate items they no longer use before buying new ones. We've noticed that many customers buy new products to replace the ones they already have. The idea is that things that are no longer in use should not go to landfill but should be recycled and put back into a re-use circuit. We're also thinking about partnerships as part of the anti-waste law. We're also thinking about partnerships as part of the anti-waste law, which deals with unsold goods and brand unsaleables.
Is there any way I can support you other than by donating an item?
Absolutely! You can support us by giving your time and, of course, by donating money using the form on our website. There's no economic model behind Tremma, so people can participate in their own way to help us develop Tremma.
What's going on and what are your plans for 2021?
New project promotions will go online from 12 July. We're also thinking about developing environmentally-friendly transport solutions to take our approach even further. We're also going to be developing a number of partnerships, and above all we're going to make sure that Tremma becomes the new solidarity reflex for individuals.
Finally, on the Label Emmaüs side, we are launching an incubator and a web agency with our school, Label École, which is part of the cooperative. We've also just launched a logistics platform in the south of France. As you can see, we have no shortage of projects!
What would be your final word?
Donate your items to Tremma for even more solidarity and re-use!
Contacts
Websites: Tremma, Label Emmaüs, Emmaüs France