Bergversetzer
A volunteer coordination platform connecting Swiss mountain communities with dedicated helpers for over 30 years. Supports dual-sided matching between beneficiaries seeking practical help and time donors offering their skills — in four languages, with contract generation, accommodation management, and full project lifecycle tracking.
Project Overview
Schweizer Berghilfe and SAB (Schweizerische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für die Berggebiete) have coordinated volunteer work in Swiss mountain regions for over 30 years. The existing platform needed a complete redesign to support modern workflows — multi-role access control, intelligent volunteer-project matching, trilingual contract generation, and accommodation management across all four national languages.
We built the platform from scratch: a dual advertisement system where beneficiaries post needs and time donors offer availability, with 5 user roles, automated project lifecycle transitions, PDF contract generation in German, French, and Italian, geographic matching using Swiss LV95 coordinates, and 36 email templates covering the full advertisement and project lifecycle. The backend comprises 52 NestJS modules with a GraphQL API, while the frontend delivers a responsive experience across admin dashboards, public search, and user onboarding.
Built with
Next.js
FrontendNestJS
BackendGraphQL
APIMongoDB
DatabaseFirebase
AuthPlatform at a Glance
30+
Years Active
Switzerland's premier volunteer coordination platform serving mountain communities
4
Languages
Full internationalization — German, French, Italian, and English
52
Backend Modules
NestJS API covering advertisements, projects, contracts, inventory, accommodations, and more
5
User Roles
Admin, Coordinator, Project Visitor, Beneficiary, and Time Donor with scoped permissions
Platform Features
Dual Advertisement System
Beneficiaries post needs, Time Donors offer availability — intelligent matching by location, skills, and dates with a structured proposal workflow and interest tracking.
Multi-Role Access Control
5 user roles (Admin, Coordinator, Project Visitor, Beneficiary, Time Donor) with organization-level management for corporate volunteer groups like Schindler and Mettler Toledo.
Project Lifecycle Tracking
End-to-end flow from Advertisement through Editing, Agreement, In-Progress to Finished — with automated status transitions via 4 daily cron jobs monitored by Sentry.
Contract & Document Generation
PDF contracts for beneficiaries and time donors with trilingual terms (DE/FR/IT), inventory packing slips, and CSV data export — all generated server-side via Pug templates.
Geographic Intelligence
Google Maps geocoding with Swiss LV95 coordinates, MapLibre GL map rendering, and canton-based filtering across all Swiss mountain regions.
Accommodation & Inventory
Housing coordination with proximity matching and catering planning for volunteer groups. Full equipment inventory with resource allocation and packing slip generation.
Platform Screenshots
Explore the volunteer coordination platform interface and key features
Platform Integrations
WordPress CMS
Blog posts and static content pages served via WordPress REST API, enabling non-technical staff to manage site content independently without developer involvement.
Mandrill Email System
36 Pug email templates covering the full lifecycle — advertisement creation, interest expression, contract delivery, project start reminders, and completion notifications in three languages.
Google Maps & Swiss Coordinates
Address geocoding via Google Maps API, coordinate conversion to Swiss LV95 system, and interactive map rendering with MapLibre GL for canton-based volunteer-project matching.
Firebase Authentication
Multi-provider sign-in supporting Google, Facebook, Apple, and email — with server-side token verification via Firebase Admin SDK and role-based access control across 5 user types.
Google Drive & Storage
Document management via Google Drive API for administrative files. Firebase Storage handles user-uploaded images and project attachments with EXIF orientation correction.
Sentry Monitoring
Error tracking and performance profiling across frontend and backend. All 4 cron jobs are monitored via Sentry Cron check-ins — failed or stalled jobs trigger immediate alerts.
Technical Stack
Frontend Technologies
Client-SideBackend Infrastructure
Server-SideBuild Tools & QA
Development & Infrastructure“To coordinate volunteers across Switzerland, we required a robust platform capable of operating in four languages. Ketler consistently delivers on our requirements with precision, and their remote collaboration has been seamless. They are a reliable partner in our mission.”
Alin Balmer
Schweizer Berghilfe
·
Project Manager
Project Impact
The complete platform redesign modernized a 30-year-old coordination system, attracting a new generation of volunteers while maintaining long-term participants. The automated matching and proposal workflow replaced manual coordination, and trilingual contract generation eliminated hours of administrative work per project. With 52 backend modules, 4 cron jobs handling automated status transitions, and 36 email templates covering the full lifecycle, the platform now runs largely autonomously — coordinators focus on relationships rather than paperwork.
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