With this participatory fundraising, the endowment fund wants to federate a community of patrons on a national scale.
Created in August 2020 , the Essentiem endowment fund, supported by several major players* in the tourism sector, is now thinking bigger. Indeed, the structure, led by Lionel Flasseur, is launching its first participatory fundraising on a national scale. An operation which aims to “bring together as many actors as possible to create the first community of committed patrons”, explains Lionel Flasseur. And thus bring new financial means to the fund.
For this collection, each interested structure will have to pay 500 euros. “Knowing that 60% of this donation is tax deductible for a company”, figures Lionel Flasseur. Essentiem, which hopes to convince 200 patrons by the end of the year, could therefore collect up to 100,000 euros via this collection. The fund, which is currently based on 400,000 euros of “financial surface”, will thus be able to “develop and source its projects throughout the territory, while financing its priority actions already undertaken”.
Holidays “to be like everyone else”
In the field, Essentiem acts concretely with two operating methods. First, the fund positions itself as a “project promoter”, by directly supporting projects that meet at least one of the fund’s three ambitions: including people, respecting nature, enhancing the territories. Concrete actions are already in place, such as the partnership forged with the association Vacances Ouvertes, which works on vacation departures for disadvantaged families. “For this second partnership, Essentiem has tripled its support with 70,000 euros in donations, in cash or in stays,” says Marc Pili, CEO of Vacances Ouvertes.
Thanks to this support from Essentiem, 1,100 people, i.e. nearly 250 families, mainly from the towns of Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis) and Argenteuil (Val d’Oise) will discover the pleasure of holidays this summer, in VVF and Vacancéole residences. Rest, of course, but not only: reconnection with your family, discovery of nature and French landscapes, self-esteem, meetings, sports, citizenship and open-mindedness: “holidays allow you to be like everyone world”, summarizes Marc Pili. “And it is unbearable, as a tourism professional, to know that 40% of French people do not go on vacation,” agrees Lionel Flasseur.
Project facilitator
Essentiem is also positioned as a “project facilitator”, particularly capable of supporting and hosting the creation of endowment funds specific to all interested structures. Aix-les-Bains, via its tourist office, Domaines Skiables de France and the Agence Savoie Mont Blanc have taken the leap in recent weeks. All will thus be able to support projects identified in their own territories. “It’s interesting, because most players in the tourism sector have understood that the meaning of what we do should now accompany economic development,” says Lionel Flasseur.
Based on the principle of patronage, “which works very well in France and which is opening up to tourism with Essentiem”, according to Lionel Flasseur, the endowment fund therefore hopes to participate, on its own scale, in the transformation of a sector which, more and more, looks at itself in the mirror. “If we don’t take into account these social, societal and environmental dimensions, we miss the point,” concludes Lionel Flasseur.
