The Dauphine Challenge: Transfer, Support, Transform
Launched in 2020, the Dauphine Challenge is the result of a long-standing partnership between Université Paris-Dauphine (Master 102 – Marketing and Strategy, Consulting and Research track) and Velvet Consulting.
In 2025, the program enters its fourth edition, offering students an immersive, hands-on experience of the consulting profession, while applying the Hyper Customer eXperience (HCX™) methodology to purpose-driven projects.
A Clear Objective
This initiative serves a dual purpose: to train students in the fundamentals of strategic consulting and to support non-profit organizations in structuring their customer-centric approach.
Above all, the Challenge is designed to be demanding, engaging, and aligned with the values of transformation and impact on a project described by participants as “virtuous from A to Z.”
Pedagogy Focused on Transformation
1. A Solid Methodological Foundation
Over several weeks, Velvet consultants trained students in the HCX™ methodology, a structured framework for driving customer-centric transformation projects.
This in-house approach is built around six key stages:
- Define the ambition
- Understand the target audiences and their expectations
- Structure the customer journeys and service offerings
- Identify the tools and architecture required
- Design the transformation roadmap
- Set up performance indicators
2. Consulting Missions Serving Non-Profits
The Challenge invites students to apply these tools and frameworks to real-world problems faced by non-profit organizations, selected in advance for their strategic relevance and collaborative mindset.
In 2025, three organizations were supported:
- Break Poverty Foundation, with the objective of securing its first IFI (real estate wealth tax) donations;
- Frequencies, to launch its first fundraising campaign despite low initial brand awareness;
- Planète Urgence, to optimize donor engagement and relational cycles.
Each group is mentored by a Velvet coach, ensuring methodological rigor and relevance throughout the project. Weekly check-ins create a continuous feedback loop between the students and their respective organizations.
3. Strategic Presentation Before a Multidisciplinary Jury
The Challenge culminates in a final presentation of the strategic recommendations developed for each organization. This closing session brings together a jury composed of Master program directors, association representatives, and Velvet Consulting managers.
Recommendations are assessed based on clarity, strategic relevance, operational feasibility, and potential impact.
The associations’ feedback reflects the quality and usefulness of the work delivered:
A Long-Term Partnership for Knowledge sharing
Renewed every year since 2020, the Challenge is part of a long-term commitment to knowledge transfer. It embodies Velvet Consulting’s desire to share its expertise while contributing to meaningful, socially-driven projects.
This collaboration with Université Paris-Dauphine goes beyond education: it is a true expression of mutual commitment between students, professors, consultants, and partner organizations.
This collective synergy fully reflects Velvet’s philosophy: an impact-driven, pragmatic approach, designed to create concrete, actionable solutions.
Giving Meaning to Transformation
The Dauphine Challenge is both a learning opportunity, a contribution effort, and a source of inspiration. It demonstrates how consulting, when applied with method, precision, and purpose, can create value far beyond traditional economic sectors. It becomes a lever for social, environmental, and human transformation.
Through this initiative, Velvet Consulting reaffirms its vision of consulting: to train, to transfer, to support, and to engage alongside those working toward meaningful and sustainable change.
