Charitable Giving Made Easy, Fun and Impactful!

Let’s face it.  The world these days can be downright scary and depressing.  Every day we are faced with a steady stream of natural disasters, conflicts resulting in deaths and massive displacement of people, lives wrecked and taken by the opioid epidemic, poverty, homelessness, pollution, deforestation and other habitat loss, extinction of species, and not to mention the innumerable cancers, diseases, and other health issues that take far too many of our loved ones far too soon.

The vast scope of the problems facing the world is mind-boggling; seeming to fill the 24-hour news cycle and our social media feeds.Luckily, the altruistic side of humanity compels many of us to want to help, to want to make a difference, and to have an impact.  Hence, the 1.5 million charitable organizations registered in the U.S. alone that address just about every conceivable problem or issue (per the National Center For Charitable Statistics).

We want to help.  But how?  How do we sift through the clutter and find where we can make the most significant impact? recently sat down with one of my clients, Joe Phoenix, a founder of Givinga.  Please let me share Givinga’s story with you.

What is Givinga?  

Givinga is a “philantech” company dedicated to helping each and every one of us be a more impactful giver.  Like other “tech” based entrants (think fintech, edtech, adtech), Givinga is designed to provide account holders of all sizes access to products and services that offer amazing features and functionality to create unbelievable efficiencies that used to be available only to the largest, most well capitalized stakeholders.  We make “giving” to charities easy, fun, and maybe even cool...for everyone.

What was the driving force behind founding Givinga?

The founding of Givinga involved a confluence of events.  When I turned 50 and celebrated my 25th anniversary with my former company, I remember thinking to myself, “Is this it?”  Soon after that, my mother-in-law passed away after a long battle with colon cancer.  My wife wanted to do something meaningful for the hospice center that took care of her mother, yet the process completely broke down.  Let’s just say that it was really difficult and inefficient from start to finish.  What should have been an empowering experience of leaving a lasting legacy in honor of a loved one instead left her feeling empty.  That’s when the proverbial light bulb went off for me.

What problem does Givinga aim to solve?

What I love about the space we’re in right now is that so many companies and individuals are searching for ways to make a difference.  They want to get involved.  They want to be able to leave a legacy.  Yet, without a ton of money to begin with, it has just been really hard to get things rolling.  Useful tools have not been available, and many avenues for giving have been closed.  On the other side of the spectrum, companies have been searching for ways to more effectively engage, inspire, and empower their employees.  Today, employees demand more accountability and transparency from their employers, and companies are coming to realize that the old ways of communicating no longer work.  Tech changes all of that.  It fosters democratization of systems and opportunities.  It levels the playing field.  And in our case, it gives donors of any size the ability to really make an impact.  Early adopters of the Givinga platform have been amazed at the tools that we share with them and how easy it can be to have a meaningful impact.  We are super excited to watch and learn as people interact on the platform and start to leverage their personal, professional, and social media relationships for altruistic means.

Would you introduce us to the Givinga team and explain why you are the best people to solve that problem?

Givinga was founded by three partners.

Chris Shields is the brains behind the tech.  Chris has 15 years of experience, most recently as co-founder of a software dev/support and data architecture company.  Sean Taylor also cut his teeth in the technology industry, yet focused on consulting.  His work over the past 15 years with many businesses across a wide variety of industries has given him invaluable insight into the challenges, needs, and opportunities that Givinga will encounter as we launch and expand the company.

I am a 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, where I built and expanded asset management businesses in the US and abroad.  I love thinking about ways to grow Givinga and to get people excited about the platform.  I am 100% dedicated to making sure that we, as a team and as a company, give every person access to a world-class platform that will organize and totally amplify their charitable giving...so no one has to feel like my wife did when she struggled to find a meaningful way to honor her mother’s memory.

Who are Givinga’s customers, and why do they pick Givinga?

We have two primary customer bases:  corporations and individual donors.

Givinga benefits corporations by providing a flexible, turn-key platform that allows them to “monetize” their corporate social responsibility budget while simultaneously creating a new employee benefit program.  We do this by providing employees with tax deductible giving (or “Givinga”) accounts that can be funded by the employer, the employee, or both.  Employers can contribute directly or through “matching” programs, and employees can set-up automatic payroll deposits into their accounts.  In addition, employers can control not only who participates but what charities are supported as well.  The employee is empowered to direct funds to charities of their choice, while the employer receives comprehensive reporting on all grant activity.  Employees are empowered and engaged, and the employer is given the ability to project social contributions externally.

Givinga benefits individuals by providing them with a free, full-service giving platform that allows them to proactively manage and track all of their charitable activity in a single location.  The crowdfunding aspects of the platform allow them to further amplify any grant by running a personalized “campaign” that they can link directly to their social networks.  The platform provides full charity research and consolidates tax deductions (no more searching for misplaced receipts come tax time!).  Givinga offers anyone who has at least $10 to give with a comprehensive giving vehicle that until now has been reserved for only the wealthiest of donors.  And, it does all of this on a platform that charges no annual fees.

In addition to those two primary customers, Givinga also benefits 501(c)(3)’s by providing them access to a platform of individual and corporate donors.  Givinga enables charitable organizations to interact and engage directly with donors.  Our technology platform greatly reduces the cost of new donor acquisition, and allows charities to develop and maintain relationships with younger donors more efficiently.

Think about it.  Most charities spend the bulk of their time, energy, and fundraising dollars targeting the “black tie” donor or the next viral “ice bucket challenge” type campaign.  These charities completely overlook the $100-$200 per year donors who are absolutely critical to future success.  Givinga brings all three of these groups together on one collaborative platform, and provides the tools that each group needs to interact, leverage, and maximize its collective impact.

What important lessons have you learned so far in building Givinga?