Andrea Uses Geolocation for Volunteers with Uidu
After six months working as an intern at a consultancy agency, Andrea Vanini, a 25-year-old graduate from the MSc in International Management in 2011, was certain that his job wasn't the place for him. He has wanted to start a business since he began working in firms abroad, in China and Canada, while past work as a volunteer caused him to think of socially-responsible and local work. That's how he got the idea for Uidu (uidu.org), "a geolocalized and social network that allows non-profit organizations, volunteers and citizens to interact amongst themselves, contributing to transforming meeting on the web into work in their area." The name is an Italian transcription of the English words "we do" and was created from the desire to use the collective pronoun "we" in the volunteer world, as opposed to the singular pronouns often used, such as iPhone and YouTube.
Anyone accessing the site can choose a center and a range, to set the location of work. They will then see what non-profit organizations are available, their activities and their needs. It works like a traditional social network, with the possibility of giving "support" (the equivalent of friends and following) to an association and to make "contributions" (similar to posts or tweets). After the contact has been created, the individual and association are free to interact as they wish, including offline.
Andrea wanted to create a real entrepreneurial business, but in the area of non-profits. His business plan won a special award for the project with the most social impact at StartCup Milano Lombardia 2012, which gave him an edge when submitting it to potential backers and raising the necessary funds. "They were friends and family," explains Andrea, "but they have their own businesses and so they were able to give me advice when I needed it."
The initiative has taken on considerable dimensions. The group of entrepreneurs has grown to four people: in addition to Andrea, the group includes Enrico Micheli, who has taken a leave of absence from the bank where he is employed, and two other young men who are involved part time: Simone Dall'Angelo, the IT expert of the group, and Nicola Lazzaroni, the graphic designer. The number of users is growing, due to constant contacts with organizations and consortiums, and Andrea is satisfied with the way things are going.
The website has been online since January 2012, but the new versions, which is more detailed and user-friendly, has been available since December. "For now, our objective is to achieve a level that will allow us to provide the organizations with a series of services that they need which are currently difficult to find on the market with good value for money," explains Vanini, "since all the functions that the website offers are free."
Non-profit organizations are certainly not rich, admits Andrea, "but they spend money for what they need and are often unsatisfied with the results, as a large-scale survey we conducted shows. At first we thought about only intervening regarding communication needs, but now we believe that for small- and medium-sized organizations, the most urgent help they need is management-related."