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In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, cooperation between associative actors and technological companies are strengthened to meet the challenges of digital transition. Latest example: the complete overhaul of the digital platform of the Notre-Dame des Sans-Abri household, a major Lyonnaise institution of solidarity. Supported by the digital agency Smartfire, this project illustrates the capacity of the local economic fabric to combine innovation, social utility and territorial commitment.
A digital project up to a major social player
Established in Lyon for over 70 years, the Notre-Dame des Sans-Abri household has accompanied more than 12,000 people each year in great precarious situations. Associative structure of general interest, it is based on a hybrid model mixing emergency accommodation, professional integration, social support, but also management of a resource, solidarity stores and an online donation platform. Its territorial impact is considerable, both in activity volume and in number of volunteers, employees, partners and donors.
To control this diversity of services, audiences and communication channels, the structure needed a new digital base, capable of reflecting its identity, fluidifying user experience and supporting its growth. It is with this in mind that she called on Smartfire, a Lyon digital agency specializing in projects with a strong societal impact.
An overhaul centered on accessibility and sobriety
The new website of the Foyer Notre-Dame des Sans-Abri, posted in early 2025, was designed as a unique platform bringing together the different activity centers of the association. The challenge: to make visible the richness of the actions carried out while facilitating navigation for the most diverse audiences, from the potential volunteer to the beneficiary, including institutional or individual donors.
Concretely, the interface has been redesigned to be accessible to everyone, including visually impaired or little comfortable with digital tools. Ergonomics have been simplified, clarified content, and the prioritization of information optimized according to user routes. In parallel, special attention was paid to the technical performance of the site: loading time, mobile compatibility, RGAA compliance, and energy sobriety are among the priorities of the specifications.
A partnership based on utility and complementarity
The collaboration between the home and Smartfire was not limited to a classic service. She has registered in a logic of skills patronage, in which the agency’s teams were invested voluntarily in certain phases of the project. This approach made it possible to strengthen the human and committed dimension of partnership, while optimizing costs for the association.
For the Smartfire team, this project is part of a broader approach to support the actors of the common good, who seek to modernize their communication and reach new audiences. It is a question of demonstrating that digital can be at the service of the most vulnerable, provided you are thought with ethical, sobriety and clarity.
Concrete tools to strengthen engagement
Beyond the graphic and technical redesign, the new site also aims to strengthen the association’s capacity for action. Specific features have been developed to facilitate donations, enhance the occasional campaigns, organize collections, but also disseminate job offers, volunteering and events.
Particular attention has been paid to modularity: home teams can now manage their content independently, launch new campaigns or update pages without specific technical skills. This autonomy is essential in an associative context where the resources are limited and the reactivity essential.
A solidarity digitalization model at the local level
The project led by Smartfire and the home of Notre-Dame des Sans-de-Brushing is an inspiring example for other structures in search of digital transformation. It shows that it is possible to combine technological requirement, sobriety and social impact, without sacrificing quality or proximity. By relying on locally available skills, it helps to boost the regional responsible innovation ecosystem.
This type of partnership also testifies to an evolution of relationships between associations and businesses. Rather than staying in a donor-biking logic, the two parties co-construct useful solutions, in a dynamic of mutual cooperation. For companies, it is a concrete way to enhance their know-how at the service of the general interest. For associations, it is an opportunity to set up skills, improve their readability and consolidate their support base.
Smartfire, a digital actor rooted in its territory
Based in Lyon, the SmartFire agency has specialized since its creation in impact projects. By integrating the Ceetadel group, it has strengthened its capacity to carry out major projects, while maintaining precious agility for its associative, public or ESS customers. Its positioning is clear: developing useful, accessible, efficient platforms, and aligned with the values of its customers.
This project with the home of Notre-Dame des Sans-Abri comes to consolidate an expertise already recognized in the solidarity sector. It demonstrates that the digital skills present in the region can meet concrete transformation issues, including for complex, multi-site structures and historically anchored in the local landscape.
A measurable and evolving impact
The first uses on the new platform are positive. Traffic has increased, online donations are more fluid, and user feedback is encouraging. But beyond the quantitative indicators, it is above all the internal appropriation of the site by the teams of the household which marks a significant evolution. More autonomous, better trained, they can now change their communication in real time, without systematically depending on external providers.
This skills rise is one of the major contributions of the project. It allows the association to strengthen its operational efficiency, to better mobilize its community, and to gain visibility in a saturated digital environment. She also prepares the field for future projects: mobile applications, volunteer management tools, good practices sharing platforms or interoperability solutions with social services.
A dynamic to continue for digital solidarity
By combining digital expertise and local engagement, the partnership between Smartfire and the Notre-Dame des Sans-Abri home is a concrete demonstration of what digital solidarity can be. It shows that with the right tools and good partners, even the most traditional structures can succeed in their transition, provided they register it in a long -term vision and to remain centered on the end user.
In a region like Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, rich in a dense technological ecosystem and an active associative network, such synergies are intended to multiply. They open the way to a new form of economic and social cooperation, based on the complementarity of skills, respect for values and real use.
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