Give money
Money pays for what nobody lends: visas, fuel, insurance. The association sends you a tax receipt.
Support
If this project speaks to you
There is no channel and no broadcaster behind Objectif Naturel. The project moves forward with grants, donations and, I hope, a few partners. Nobody has a say over what I will tell. If you would like to be part of it, a donation helps, so does a loan, and talking about it around you counts just as much.
What the money is for
Days on the ground
The main camera equipment has been donated to the association. The journey itself still has to be funded:
- the vehicle and its conversion (bed, storage, water, electricity), and what it takes to repair it on the road;
- fuel, over four months and several thousand kilometres;
- visas, customs and the carnet de passage, for each country I cross;
- insurance for the vehicle, the equipment and me, repatriation included;
- storing the footage, backed up in three copies every evening;
- after the return, post-production (editing, colour, subtitles, music), which will have its own budget.
The budget is public
Every item is listed: what is paid for, what has been donated and what is still to find. The amounts are estimates.
Donate
Donations go through HelloAsso and arrive in the association’s account. There is no minimum: if the project speaks to you, whatever the amount, it means something to me.
Objectif Naturel
French non-profit association (loi 1901) · RNA W731007243
contact@objectif-naturel.com
The association sends you a tax receipt. If you pay income tax in France, it goes down by 66 % of the amount given, up to 20 % of your taxable income. Why the association can issue this receipt
Corporate giving
You may already have what this project is missing
A vehicle, equipment, a service or time: for a company, this is often the simplest way to help. If your company pays tax in France, corporate giving entitles it to a 60 % tax reduction, and the association issues a tax receipt.
What is missing
The main camera equipment is already here. Still missing:
- a vehicle, a 4×4 lent or given for four months. A loan takes ≈ €10,000 off the budget (see the budget);
- parts and consumables: tyres, filters, tools;
- insurance for the vehicle, the equipment and me, repatriation included;
- data storage: drives, online backup;
- post-production time: editing, colour, subtitling, mixing;
- services: hosting, printing, translation, accounting.
And money, for what cannot be lent: visas, fuel, border fees.
What corporate giving provides
French corporate giving entitles you to a tax reduction of 60 % of the amount given. The annual ceiling is €20,000 or 0.5 % of your turnover before tax, whichever is higher. Any excess carries over to the next five financial years.
| Your gift | Tax reduction | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| €1,000 | €600 | €400 |
| €5,000 | €3,000 | €2,000 |
| €20,000 | €12,000 | €8,000 |
There is no minimum. Gifts in kind fall under the same article (238 bis of the French tax code): a good or a service is valued at its cost price and entitles you to the same reduction.
Why the association issues tax receipts
Issuing a French tax receipt needs no prior authorisation. The law sets the conditions; the association checks that it meets them and answers for it to the tax authorities. Objectif Naturel meets them:
- Its purpose is cultural, educational and scientific: a documentary, publications, talks in schools and a body of interviews for research.
- Its officers are volunteers, and it pays none of its president’s personal expenses.
- It is non-profit. The money it receives goes to the project, and the budget is public, line by line.
- It works for everyone: the film and the publications are made for the general public.
The tax authorities can confirm this in writing, through a ruling called a rescrit. It is optional, and they have six months to reply: an application sent this autumn would get its answer in spring 2027, after departure. So the association issues receipts from today, under its own responsibility. The rescrit application is being prepared, and its answer will be published here.
Four arrangements
Give, lend or sponsor
It depends on what you have to offer: money, equipment, a vehicle or visibility.
Give what you already have
A vehicle, tyres, tools, insurance, data storage, editing time. A gift in kind entitles you to the same tax receipt, at the same rate.
Lend
You make a vehicle or some equipment available, we sign a loan agreement, and you get it back when I return. There is no receipt and no declaration to make.
Sponsor
If you are looking for visibility, the association issues you an invoice and you put the spend through as a deductible expense. In return, something proportionate: your logo on the vehicle and on the site, your name in the credits, a screening at your company when I get back.
What I give back
- Footage shot in real conditions during the four months
- Your name in the credits of the documentary and on the partners page
- A screening at your company when I get back, and the photographs from the ground
- An account of what your support made possible, with the receipts
- Talks in schools and libraries, which you are associated with
What you will not get
A say over what I will tell: nothing is submitted for sign-off before publication.
It is one of the project’s red lines, and it also protects your image: a film a partner could have corrected would be less credible.
P.S. You do not need a giving budget to write: a vehicle, a contact or a favour can count as much as a cheque. Tell me what you have, and I will tell you whether it helps.
Other ways to support
Helping without giving money
If the project speaks to you but a donation is not possible, there are other ways to help, and they count just as much.
Pass it on
Share a post, or mention the project to someone it might interest.
Open a door
A contact in West Africa, an association, a researcher, someone who knows a community.
Give in kind
A vehicle, equipment, parts, insurance, editing time. It is often easier to give than a sum of money.
Companies and public bodies
Become a partner
If you are not sure which of the four arrangements fits you, describe what you can do (an amount, an object, a service, a few weeks’ loan) and I will tell you which one applies.
If your company cannot help financially, write anyway: a contact in West Africa, the address of a garage along the route or a name to talk to can help a great deal.
I reply to every message, and I will tell you whether what you are offering helps. If you do not follow up, I will not chase you.
Objectif Naturel · French non-profit association (loi 1901) · RNA W731007243
Write to the association
In return
What I commit to
I will tell the truth about what I saw, including when it contradicts what I hoped to find. And I will give back to the communities I meet what they gave, by showing them what was made of their words.