When the voluntary sector meets business: the Stuttgart Market Place

Objectives

The Stuttgart Market Place is quite different from e-Bay: it does not take place in virtual space and its purpose is not to make a profit. Quite the opposite: the direct exchange of money is taboo. The objective of the meeting between representatives of the voluntary and business sectors is the exchange of resources, skills and know-how and the agreement of volunteering activities. More importantly, the implementation of the agreements concluded during a Market Place provides the individuals and groups involved with new insights into ‘new worlds’ and new social networks.

The objectives for the second Stuttgart Market Place organised in 2010 were ambitious:

• To double the number of participants from the 20 companies and 20 nonprofit organisations which participated in 2007
  
  
• To ensure that each organisation makes about two agreements (as in 2007)
  
  
• To achieve a more balanced representation of the voluntary sector (20 NGOs from the social sector, 10 from culture and 10 from environment)
  
  
• To ensure follow-up to and evaluation of the project.