6 Things We Look for in Experteering Opportunities

[vimeo id=”107768682″]
Experteering is fundamentally a win-win game, and we’ve seen our Experteers support startups and social enterprises in ways they couldn’t have imagined before. One example is Ebanx, an innovative payment processing startup in Brazil supported by Endeavor. Ebanx was  looking to expand internationally and partnered with a MovingWorlds Experteer,  Nicole. In the first 18 months they worked together, Ebanx grew from 8 to 65 employees, and became one of Brazil’s leaders in online payment solutions today.

The story of Ebanx happens all the time at MovingWorlds, and every one of these stories starts the same way: An organization identifying an area of support, and subsequently translating that into an opportunity which can be posted on our platform. At MovingWorlds, we are committed to help you scope the best possible Experteering projects, so they stand out and captivate our best Experteers. Here’s an example of what a well-composed opportunity could look like.

As to make optimal use of your limited time, we encourage you to invest in creating an attractive and clear opportunity from the start, so we can help promote it across our social media and partner networks.

To make your opportunity stand out, we recommend you follow these 6 guidelines:

1. Share your Mission..and how the right skills will accelerate it

All our Experteers are looking for international experience where they can use their skills to make a difference, so make sure to “connect the dots” between the project, and how it helps your organization make the world a better place. Every opportunity on our website should highlight how skills can make an impact in a specific cause area. This is the number one thing that Experteers will look for.

In addition, in the profile page of your organization clearly state your organization’s mission. Be sure to address the question: “why does my organization exist, and what good does it create?

2. Choose a Title that highlights Skills AND Impact

Experteers are experienced professionals with a track-record of being valued and remunerated for their skills. This means a relevant title referencing specific skills works best to prompt their interest.Because this is often the first impression of your opportunity,  your title should always state the skill(s) or profession(s) needed, and preferably mention the impact to be generated as well.
Our specific guidelines:

1. Come up with an exciting or fun title that captures both the essence of skills needed, and what the person will work on, e.g. “Design Guru to set up Crowdfunding campaign for Innovative Recycling Concept”
2. In your opportunity title, don’t use the word “Intern” or “Volunteer”. MovingWorlds is not an intern marketplace, and our numbers show that both these terms are counter-productive in attracting skilled candidates.

If you’re not sure where to start think about the title like this: [Skill] to [Project Description] for [Mission]. You can then trim to make it concise and appealing.

3. Provide a Project Description that is Specific to Skills

When describing your project, the most important thing is to be specific and concise. This means clearly stating which specific skills you need to overcome your challenge, the work to be delivered, and to paint a clear picture of what the Experteer will do on a daily basis.

 As the Experteer will ultimately commit valuable time to your organization, it’s important he/she gets a realistic picture of the requests that will be made to him/her on a daily basis.

Our specific guidelines:

1. Project Description –  in the section “Explain the Opportunity, outcome and work” you should address the: “what, why, when, who and how” of this opportunity.  Including things like:
   1. What is the current challenge you are facing?
   2. How will this project help tackle this challenge?
   3. What would day to day work look like?
   4. What positive social, environmental or economic impact are you looking to generate? 

1. Project Deliverables – in the section “How will you know if this project is a success?” clearly define the anticipated outcomes and deliverables of the project, asking: “Which tangible results we need after the project is finished?”  Make sure to be realistic with your expectations. 

1. Post one project at a time – If you have more than one project for Experteers that require a completely different skill-set, don’t ask for both in the same profile. Instead, make a different opportunity profile for each, and attract more Experteers. When looking for a combined set of skills in 1 person, make sure the skills are related.

As a Bonus – MovingWorlds adds a customized and unique recommendation for every opportunity to make it stand out. The more specific your description, the better we’ll be able to recommend your opportunity.

4. Use Images to Tell Your Project’s – and Organization’s – Story

Words and text can only tell so much, but images tell much more. We noticed that our most popular opportunities always include various photos of the team, the Experteering location, and/or an example of impact created.

Our specific guidelines:

1. Add at least 3 pictures with relevant caption, related to the project activities and/or location (up to 6 pictures can be uploaded per opportunity)
2. If you have it – add an additional file with more details of your project or organization as a separate PDF (can be uploaded in the final step of setup)
3. If you have a compelling video of your organization, we encourage you to add a video link (Youtube or Vimeo) to your organization description. We don’t support embedded video on opportunity profiles (yet!).

5. Provide Links to Build Proof

Experteers join us because they are looking for trusted organizations and projects, and we provide access to a network of trusted partners with curated opportunities. Organizational profiles with links to partners, social media profiles, and positive social proof generate the most traffic and gauge the most interest from Experteers.

As our platform gets tens of thousands visits per month, including your links on our page will also benefit your organization by generating more traffic and optimizing search results.

NOTE: Only input links into relevant forms. Links put into project descriptions will be removed.

Our specific guidelines:

1. In your organization profile, mention relevant organizations or partners you work with or have worked with in the past.
2. A relation with one of our strategic partners can be indicated in your organizational profile under “affiliated with”, this helps us promote your opportunity through our network, and through our related partners. In addition, please let us know if you want to suggest a new partner for us!
3. Don’t mention your contact details (such as organization name, URL, email, or any other contact info) in the title, project description and project deliverables sections – as to avoid people contacting you without having been verified by us and checked for their availability and suitability first. This is very important, as it allows us to oversee all matches, and to make better use of your valuable time by only connecting you with quality and committed professionals.

6. Provide Local Benefits

At the core of Experteering lies the belief that both the Experteer and the Host Organization benefit from the interaction. Of course most of these benefits for the Experteer are ‘intangible’, being rooted in the experience itself. However, by offering tangible local benefits, like free accommodation, it proves to the Experteer that you are committed to working on a real project that has massive potential for your organization. In fact, it’s essentially a co-investment that helps ensure you both have a lot to gain in this type of experience.

Our specific guidelines:

1. Every opportunity should provide attractive local benefits, such as free accommodation and food, a travel stipend, language and/or cooking lessons, use of amenities… just to name a few.
2. Don’t charge the Experteer at any point for their time and skills donated. While charging is common for ‘voluntourism’ projects, this platform does not allow pay-to-volunteer opportunities. MovingWorlds only supports  Experteering, and there is a clear difference between the two. If you have any doubts or questions about a project you’d like to post, you can always contact us directly for further clarifications.

In Summary…

While we know that it takes time to post a quality opportunity, we are committed to helping you. If you follow these guidelines, the likelihood of being matched to the right Experteer will drastically increase. In addition, we’ll be likely to feature your opportunity on our homepage, write about you in our monthly Partner Spotlight series, and promote you on our social media channels. Our hope is that in addition to being matched to an Experteer, you’ll also get more attention for your organization and cause. Watch this video for a tour of the site, and for more information about posting opportunities, and see the image below which shows that your profile will look like on MovingWorlds.

Here’s Sample of what your Opportunity could look like: