Tampa Bay may be a burgeoning tech scene, but there is a new class of entrepreneurs looking to give back.
"Maybe it's because I'm in that world — if you drive a Honda you see them everywhere — but I definitely have seen a large amount of startups interested in social good if not nonprofits," Danica Hoppe, co-founder of GIVVN, said.
Hoppe added she thinks the diverse "melting pot" of Tampa Bay contributes to the interest in giving in the region. Crystal Bailes, who has lived in the region since 1997, has a slightly more reserved but equally hopeful perspective on the Sunshine State's view toward philanthropy.
"I think we’re getting there," Bailes, the founder of Transition Candles, said. "We've been in this since 2016.There has been some social venture partners that exist in Tampa and they get it. It's starting to happen, where they're understanding the benefits. They're learning they don't want to just write a check. They're learning to sustain it beyond that."
To give you an inside look on the local philanthropic startup scene, we’ve rounded up five social impact startups helping Tampa Bay.
• GIVVN - The company began during Synapse Summit in 2018, where Metropolitan Ministries asked participants to help solve some of their issues they specifically faced as a nonprofit. Matt Spaulding created a chatbot specifically designed for nonprofits. He later met Danica Hoppe during Startup Weekend, who joined as a co-founder.
"The templates we use were built with (nonprofits) in mind to make it easier to engage with their followers and collect donations easier," Hoppe said.
The company now has close to 20 clients, including the United Nations and the Academy of Ballet Arts. It works two-fold: The chatbot helps make it easier to make donations online and through social media and it also helps the nonprofits cut down on costs for other donation asks.
"What I think is interesting is a lot of donors are interested in making sure nonprofits use the donation in a cost-effective way," Hoppe said. "With GIVVN, because it's online, it cuts down on the cost that they incur so the donor’s dollar goes a longer way."
• OnBikes - The company that started in 2011 partners with corporate partners to give as many bikes to at-risk and foster children as possible. Team members from corporate partners assemble the bikes straight from the boxes, which will then be delivered throughout the Tampa Bay area.
In the past, OnBikes has worked with EPSN, Adobe, Publix and Nielsen. For eight years, OnBikes has held the Winter Wonder Ride in downtown Tampa to raise funds for bikes and helmets.
• Diamond View Studios - While we have already written about Diamond View's Emmy-award winning videos, the company recently pivoted to a B Corporation. A B Corp is a for-profit company that receives a private certification from nonprofit B Lab, recognizing the company meets higher standards of performance, transparency and accountability.
"With increased expectations from consumers that businesses must operate with purpose in mind over profit, I'd imagine B Corp certified companies will become the new norm," Zoe Seroky, director of marketing for Diamond View, said in an email. "It's exciting knowing Diamond View, in part, is helping lead the way."
Their most recent philanthropic outreach event was a 100-person Thanksgiving dinner for city of Tampa, Hillsborough County and Florida Government first responders.
• Harness - Harness is a Tampa-based app that helps nonprofits "build, launch and grow" a subscription philanthropy program from the ground up.
The app breaks down "subscribe," "gratify" and "supercharge" or an activation process, messaging suite which communicates with donors through text messages and technology designed to drive repeat-donations.
• Transitions Candles - The company started in 2016 after Crystal Bailes, the CEO of Girls Empowered Mentally for Success, wanted to find a way to help support her nonprofit without constantly being at the mercy of grants. Transition Candles helps female high school graduates learn the candle business with a paid internship while also having access to help with resumes, interview skills and mentoring.
"We live in Hillsborough County and human trafficking, domestic violence, all the things that make us vulnerable — economic stability helps them to be reliant on themselves," Bailes said. "If they're more independent they're less likely to be victims."
The candles come in mini tins, travel tins and glass jars and are available online, at the WireGrass mall in Wesley Chapel and at candle parties. Each candle is named to recognize a time of transition young girls may be experiencing, ranging from "Friendship" about a falling out to "Breaking Free" which was made after one of the participants broke free of continuously receiving emergency services for mental health issues. The program has helped roughly 12 girls so far, with each cohort growing larger.
"I'm not in the candle business," Bailes said. "I'm in the business of changing lives."
