On Friday morning, our colleagues from RTL Radio spoke with Marc Thill, president of the Agence du Bénévolat, about the value of volunteering to mark International Volunteer Day.
Thill explained that quantifying Luxembourg’s volunteers is difficult, as volunteering often begins with informal acts of neighbourliness, like house-sitting or watering plants for others. Looking at registered organisations, he noted that the Luxembourg Business Register still listed over 10,000 non-profits (ASBLs) as of 30 September. However, he acknowledged this number likely includes many defunct associations.
“With the new ASBL law, these can now be gradually removed to tidy things up technically and administratively,” Thill said. He estimated this cleanup would reduce the number of active volunteering ASBLs to between 4,000 and 5,000.
However, Thill pointed out that the new ASBL law itself introduces a series of constraints that may be discouraging participation. He criticised the law’s narrowly defined categories – small, medium, and large – which determine an organisation’s regulatory requirements.
For instance, a “small” ASBL is limited to €50,000 in liquid assets, property worth up to €100,000, and a maximum of three full-time employees. If an organisation meets two of these criteria for two consecutive years, it automatically moves to a higher category.
This upgrade brings increased obligations, such as the requirement for a company auditor. “These formalities might have put a lot of people off,” Thill stated.
He identified another issue: only gross income is counted toward asset thresholds, not net revenue. For example, an association raising €10,000 at a festival but spending €7,000 on costs would still have the full €10,000 counted against its limit.
If given the opportunity, Thill said he would immediately raise the category thresholds and adjust how assets are calculated. “Those are things I would change straight away if I could,” he stated.
According to Thill, even in today’s fast-paced and individualised society, people remain willing to get involved – but increasingly on an ad-hoc basis. The traditional model of regularly attending committee meetings or training sessions has become somewhat rarer, he observed.
Yet, he insisted, the fundamental sense of community persists. “People don’t like being alone,” Thill stressed, noting that the challenge is to bring people together using modern tools.
Three years ago, the Agence du Bénévolat launched an interactive platform, benevolat.lu, designed to connect associations with potential volunteers. The site matches organisations needing help with specific, often short-term tasks – such as recruiting track marshals for a cycling event – with people looking to contribute.
“It’s a bit like Tinder for associations,” Thill said.
He argued that a society without volunteering would be a profoundly diminished one. “You can’t get paid for everything and professionalise it all,” Thill stated. Without volunteers, he warned, we risk losing a core element of our humanity.
That, he concluded, is why it remains essential to encourage everyone – including younger generations – to find ways to contribute.
