How to connect with skills-based capacity building support on the MovingWorlds platform
On this page, we'll explain the matching process in 6 steps, taking you from joining the platform all the way to successfully completing your first project.
These are the common terms we use on MovingWorlds:
Non-profits, start-ups, social enterprises, or community based organizations based all around the world. The Host has a specific project or need and is looking for an Experteer. In exchange for free skills, hosts are asked to provide some sort of in-country benefit, like housing, language classes, meals, and various forms of cultural integration and unique experience.
Operates this matching site, will make suggested matches, and will facilitate an introduction when both parties approve. MovingWorlds will then provide you a planning process & template so you can work together to plan your own trip.
Working professionals from all over the world who are willing to donate their time and skills - pro-bono - to a Host Organization. In exchange for the skills, Experteers appreciate housing, a unique experience, and/or other local benefits. They can create a sustainable impact by working on projects that hosts don’t have the capacity or know-how to complete, and/or by training local staff in new skills.
To submit a request for support, first log into your dashboard. On the left-hand side, you’ll see a menu of options. Select the “Submit a Request for Support” option.
Once you’ve clicked “Submit a Request for Support,” you will be guided through the following 4 steps:
Choose the business challenge that you’re trying to solve from a list of options including product market fit, branding and positioning, measuring and reporting impact, and more. If you don't see an option that corresponds to your current business challenge, you can select 'other'. You'll have the opportunity to add more details about your unique challenge before submitting your request.
Add up to 5 skills that a professional would need to help you solve your problem. (Note: we highly recommend selecting all 5, as it helps the chances of finding a good match, quickly.) Based on the business challenge you selected in the previous step, our platform will suggest 5 recommended skills at the top of the drop-down list. However, you can still browse the full list and replace any suggested skills with more relevant ones.
How would you like a professional to support you? You can select one (or more) of the following options:
By selecting more than one support type, you’re able to submit multiple projects at once through a single form.
What else would a potential match need to know to decide whether they are a good fit for your needs? Depending on the support type(s) you choose in the previous step, you’ll see free text boxes to provide things like a description of your project, and what a professional can learn by working with you.
When you’re done, click the green “Submit for Review” button at the bottom of the page. From there, our Matching Team will review your project to verify that it meets our guidelines, and notify you to either request more information or to let you know that it’s published on the platform and discoverable by experteers. At any time, you can click “My Support Requests” from the drop down menu beneath your name in the upper-right corner of your dashboard, which will show you a list of all your projects, along with their statuses.
Once you post a project, there are some things you can do to increase the chances of finding the best Experteer.
To improve the likelihood of finding match, use our "Promote Your Project Toolkit"
On the left-hand side of your dashboard, select the “Search Experteers” option from the “Request Support” category, which will bring you to our search page. When you find a professional you’re interested in, you can select the “request introduction” button to send them a direct message which they will evaluate to decide if they’d like to connect with you directly. Here is a helpful template to get you started.
Now it is important for you to gather enough information about the Experteer, and for the Experteer to gather enough information about you, and the project, to determine if it is a good match from both sides.
Schedule a call where you can discuss the project and decide on whether the Experteer is the right fit. Use the time at the initial meeting to introduce yourself to the Experteer and learn more about the Experteer, their skills and their Experteering desires – think of it like an informational interview.
Share with the Experteer helpful information about your organization. This information includes but is not limited to:
At the center of every engagement is communication. If you can’t communicate clearly, the field engagement won’t work. Use this time to get to know each other and trade stories. Be transparent, transparency builds trust and is a crucial foundation to a long lasting partnership.
After your call, do extra diligence. Examples include:
After speaking you should have enough information to determine if the partnership is a good match for you. Once you agree to work together, the experteer will confirm the match via a form.
In addition, you can use the email templates below to communicate your intention with your Experteer:
Congratulations! Let the Experteer know. Here is sample email template you can send to the Experteer.
Write to the Experteer, thank them for their time, and inform them why you felt it wasn’t a good match. It's OK to be honest, that information is important for the Experteer. Also remember to email our matching team to let us know the match didn’t work and why so we can help you find a better match. Here is a template to get you started.
That’s OK! Plan another call with the Experteer to ask more questions. Here is a sample email template you can use to set it up. When you speak together again, talk more about the project, working conditions, outcomes, the team, and deliverables.
We’ve found that the more time you invest up-front to thoroughly plan your engagement together, the better the outcome of the project will be once the work officially begins.
When you are matched with your Experteer, MovingWorlds will send you both a link to the Project Planning Guide, customized based on the support type.
We know this document is a lot of work, however working through it at this phase will ensure great impact from your Experteer.
We find that most people work on it collaboratively / together while on their series of planning calls.
Once complete, sign and submit it to MovingWorlds to confirm the formal match and start off your Experteering engagement.
We recommend you setup a recurring series of calls with your Experteer to have a touch base every week and/or every other week leading up to the project start date, or at least until your planning guide is finished. You don't have to be on all calls, and perhaps other team members of yours will join the Experteer. However the idea here is that you will all get to know each other better.
When you are matched, you will receive your own copy of the Hosting Preparation checklist.
Make sure to complete the checklist so that you are fully prepared to make the most of your time with the Experteer.
Use the MovingWorlds Host Organization Resources for some interesting reads and free learning resources that might help in you with Hosting an Experteer.
If in-person, invite the Experteer to dinners and events, or make recommendations for local experiences.
If virtual, introduce the Experteer to team members and make introductions to other interesting professionals and organizations so the Experteer can expand their network.
Have you, your team, and the Experteer get active on social media. Posting pictures and sharing first-person stories will help create more attention for you and your organization.
Make sure to tag MovingWorlds and #Experteering so that we can amplify your stories. Alternatively, you can email us updates at match@movingworlds.org and we can promote these on social media for you.
When you are finished hosting the Experteer, you'll want to do these two things to help get extra attention for your organization:
After your project ends, take the time to send an Experteer a thank you email, card, or small gift as a way of making the Experteer feel valued for the work they have done.
If the Experteer had support from their boss or company of their full-time role, send them a thank you note, too.
We find that feeling valued through acts of kindness and verbal affirmation is especially appreciated by our Experteers and makes for stronger relationships in the long run.
We’ll send you a survey when you get back. PLEASE complete this - it helps us improve and better support social impact organizations, like you, and the Experteers you work with. And who knows, your input could be included in our next thought-leadership piece (with attribution, of course!) and shape the future of the social impact landscape.
When your project ends, we will invite you to share your story for a potential feature on the MovingWorlds blog. This is a great way to showcase your organization and its growth, and reflect on how to translate your learnings going forward!