Paris, November 7, 2024 – During the Paris Olympic Games, the French Red Cross, in collaboration with Acheeve, a Web3 platform dedicated to employee engagement, recognized the efforts of its volunteers by awarding them unique digital badges. These distinctions celebrate the volunteers' achievements and dedication throughout the Olympic events, highlighting their positive impact on society. This innovative initiative, combining involvement and technology, was made possible through the Tezos blockchain.
Leveraging blockchain technology to enhance the value of volunteer involvement
The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, the world’s largest sporting events, mobilized over 45,000 volunteers this summer across all official sites, contributing to their success. These volunteers' mission was to improve participant experiences, enhance sports performance, and ensure smooth operations. To create a lasting memory of the volunteers' contributions, the French Red Cross, in partnership with Acheeve, built an innovative platform in January 2023. This platform utilizes NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on a large scale to celebrate the various missions undertaken by volunteers, such as emergency services, logistics, and support.
This project has been supported from the outset by the Tezos Foundation and Nomadic Labs, one of the largest research and development centers for the Tezos blockchain.
Unique Digital Badges for Volunteers
Exclusive digital badges, in the form of NFTs stored on the Tezos blockchain, were specifically created for French Red Cross volunteers. These immutable and tamper-proof digital trophies confirm their participation and are stored in a personal digital wallet. As volunteers completed missions, they received new NFTs, adding them to their wallets.
Promising Results and a Vision for the Future
The results of this campaign have been highly positive, both in terms of engagement and interaction with volunteers. In total, the initiative led to:
- 3,699 wallets created;
- 15,000 digital mementos collected;
- 3,306 active volunteers between the opening of the Olympic Games at the end of July and the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in late September.
Given the success of this tripartite initiative, the partners are now considering expanding the project nationwide. This recognition model could be integrated into the French Red Cross’s daily activities, such as outreach missions and training programs, with an added focus on gamification. Beyond being digital rewards, the NFTs also serve as a reliable database for the organization, allowing for a better understanding of its volunteers.
Pauline Blanc-Patin, Director of Innovation at the French Red Cross
“With this unique initiative, we celebrate and value the exceptional commitment of our volunteers, who have contributed to the success of the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Digital rewards help to reinforce their sense of belonging while keeping a lasting record of their actions. Thanks to this alliance between humanitarianism and technology, we are laying the foundations for an innovative recognition model.”
Maxence Guyot, CEO of Acheeve
“Thanks to the digital trophies in NFT format, the recognition of volunteer involvement is taking on a whole new dimension: the field of possibilities they open up, in terms of gamification and collaboration, will considerably enhance the experience of volunteers over the next 3 years. For Acheeve, these results with the Red Cross are certainly our greatest source of pride.”
Jean-Frédéric Mognetti, Executive Director of Tezos Foundation.
“Sports achievements and public joy are the words I would use to describe the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. The Tezos Foundation along with the rest of the ecosystem are proud to have contributed to this project, which aligns with our values, where blockchain technology and humanitarian action come together to honor the work of volunteers.”