At La Guilde, adventure is a starting point as well as a state of mind. A singular player in international solidarity, the NGO is at the service of concrete actions: volunteering, micro-projects, cultural initiatives or heritage projects. With the same idea: to support those who want to try the adventure, encourage useful projects and keep open this momentum that connects curiosity and the desire to discover the world.

From Sylvain Tesson to Paul-Émile Victor, from Philippe de Dieuleveult to Jean-Marc Boivin, La Guilde is part of a line of adventurers. Founded in 1967 around Patrick Edel as a kind of “scouting for adults”, it wanted to offer adventurers a place to share their experience. “The adventure only makes sense through the story”, recalls Vincent Rattez, its managing director, today.

After the major raids of its beginnings — including the Orion raid, Paris-Dakar before its time — La Guilde refocused its action on the “useful adventure”. She defends an open vision of the world, based on wonder, curiosity and the belief that, despite crises, the world remains beautiful. Mobilizing youth remains her common thread.

International solidarity volunteering is now the core of its commitment. Each year, it sends nearly 600 volunteers, in VSI or in civic service. Fifteen young people have thus just left in five countries in the Amazon basin, while 80 volunteers are currently working in Cambodia and 60 in Madagascar. It also supports micro-cooperation projects carried out locally: in Armenia, it helps refugees, supports cultural actions, artisanal agricultural sectors... “To make volunteers grow, to make projects grow: it is to believe in the transformative capacity of the human being”, underlines Vincent Rattez.

The Guild is also leading ambitious heritage initiatives: reopening a museum in Raqqa, rebuilding an ancient mosque in Mosul, and recently, restoring the Sea Museum on Gorée Island, in Senegal. It also organizes an annual adventure festival in Dijon and awards adventure grants. This year, one of them will allow a young sailor to attempt to sail around the world via the Northwest and North-East Passages.

Tomorrow, the future will continue to be written as close as possible to local realities: The Guild recently opened five international base camps — Dakar, Beirut, Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh, Bogotá and Madagascar. And it remains, in fact, this singular driver: “What drives momentum is desire. What's pulling it? The dream.”

Attracting private supporters

4 questions to Vincent Rattez and Éric Chapus

Vincent Rattez: General Delegate of La Guilde

Éric Chapus: Nexia S&A Partner

Is La Guilde's financial situation solid?

“The Guild has experienced strong growth: in five years, our budget has almost doubled. This dynamic is healthy, but it relies heavily on public funding. However, aid is falling sharply: we need to attract more private supporters to continue to pursue our raison d'être.” — Vincent Rattez

How is the partnership with Nexia S&A organized?

“It started twenty years ago, with the mission of auditor, in the continuity of a long-standing relationship between Patrick Edel and a partner at Nexia S&A. Today, we also carry out financial audits. The Guild is very controlled, and our role is to attest to the seriousness of its management.” — Éric Chapus

What does Nexia S&A bring to La Guilde?

“First of all, a relationship of trust. We can consult them on a fiscal doubt, a strategic evolution. They know how to comfort us or alert us. And as we need to seek out more private funds, new questions will emerge... We need their eyes.” — Vincent Rattez

How do you perceive the evolution of La Guilde?

“When I arrived, the situation was fragile. I saw La Guilde grow and be structured. Governance is now more professional, while maintaining its adventurous DNA. It is this combination that makes it unique and explains the renewed confidence of funders.” — Éric Chapus

The Guild in a few figures

• €10 MILLION Of budget
• 73 countries with micro-projects
• 600 volunteers On a mission
• 32 employees
• 15 bursaries Of the adventure
• 120 jobs directly associated with the projects
• 8 public organizations partners