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Find out how Nez Rouge makes Swiss streets safer and uses RaiseNow TWINT QR to collection donations.
Interview with Marcel Brauchli. Photos: Nez Rouge
Nez Rouge is a nationwide initiative to prevent traffic accidents. In Zurich we have about 400 volunteers who work for Nez Rouge. On public holidays in December, we’re out and about in the cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen, providing our “free trip home” service. People who feel unable to drive for whatever reason can call us, and we drive them home for free. But our campaign also runs from January to November. That’s the Nez Rouge service. You can book us in advance for an event, so that your guests get home safely. The service is used for company events, weddings and family parties, for example. You sign a donation agreement, and that income enables us to provide free trips home on the public holidays in December.
In both scenarios our goal is to reduce the number of traffic accidents caused by diminished driving capabilities. Of course alcohol consumption plays a large role, but it's not the only reason why someone might be unfit to drive. If you’ve taken medication, if you feel unsafe on the road due to snow or other weather conditions, or if you’re simply too tired to drive, then you should admit it. That’s what we’re there for. In our 2022 campaign we were able to get 657 customers home safely in 325 trips on 22 days!
We collect voluntary donations during the trips and were already accepting payment via TWINT and QR codes. Then we came across RaiseNow and thought, “That really makes sense!” It makes it easier for our organization to handle donation receipts. The whole process is simplified, including the creation of QR codes. It’s all very, very easy to use, and that’s why we decided to go for it back in 2021. RaiseNow TWINT really takes the pressure off us in this business.
We do a lot for our volunteer helpers. It might be safety training, or perhaps brunch together at a farm, or a movie or theater evening. The idea is to foster the team feeling in our organization. Of course we also put money into our development, for example for internal tools that help coordinate the trips.
But some of our donations also go to support other social projects. In 2022 it was the Schlupfhaus society, which supports children and young people in crisis situations. In 2021 we donated to the street paper, Surprise. That’s an institution that helps people reintegrate. In Zurich they’re mostly known as people selling the Surprise newspaper, which always has interesting articles. But they do a whole range of work. In 2020 we unfortunately had to take a break due to Covid, but in 2019 we supported EpiDogs for Kids. EpiDogs for Kids trains young dogs to recognize epileptic episodes in children early and to raise the alarm, so they have enough time to take their medication.
Our main income comes via RaiseNow’s TWINT QR Donate. Each driver has a printout of the QR code, and as soon as the trip ends, the driver says thank you and asks if anyone would like to make an additional donation. That can be in cash or via TWINT. In our vehicles we use the open amount for donations, but on our website we’ve also added a QR code that proposes three different amounts. Our customers can take inspiration from them or select their own amount.
We’ve also done some field research to see where our customers’ touchpoints are. We’ve added QR codes to all our printed material, so that for every touchpoint we can see which advertising it came from: from our posters, table stands in restaurants, etc.
Very well! We’ve introduced TWINT QR codes for young people in particular – they hardly ever have cash on them anymore – but it’s also been a success with older people. TWINT is really big in Switzerland now. Acceptance has definitely increased again now that PostFinance has finally got on board – one of the bigger financial service providers that didn’t offer it for a long time. We’ve collected statistics on how much is donated by TWINT and in cash on each trip. Apart from a few exceptions on public holidays, we now have a ratio of about 50:50.
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My biggest tip is to really think about which information you’d like to extract from the data later on. The function that allows you to have various channels with their own QR codes is particularly interesting. And it’s important for checking and increasing the measurability of our activities. You can create as many QR codes as you like, so it’s worth playing around a bit. Try out different QR codes for different channels and test which one works best where. It’s also easier for our accountant afterwards, as she can easily assign the different items.
We want to give our service another big push and really make it known that you can book us during the year and not only on public holidays. Once again, the appeal for donations will involve RaiseNow QR codes. We want to focus especially on wedding gatherings and company events that can book us for their guests. I can also imagine having our own market stall and getting attention that way. Of course the QR code, perhaps printed in an XL version, would also come into play.
People who join us enjoy driving and contact with people and want to invest their time in a prevention campaign. The evenings when we’re on duty are sociable and varied. We’re always glad of volunteers, whether they’re available on ten evenings or just one!
Marcel, we thank you very much for your success story and wish you and your club continued success!
With TWINT QR codes and simple donation forms your club can now collect and fundraise digitally as well.
