Social donation platform Givey has announced that it has raised $960,000 to recruit new staff and help more charities, businesses and event organizers to create new fundraising events.
The latest round of investment came from the Innovation in Giving Fund, an initiative created by the UK government and managed by the independent charity NESTA. Northstar Ventures, the IP Group and a number of UK-based investment angels were also involved in the round.
Givey, based in London and Newcastle, is a service that allows people to donate to charity at any time through Twitter or a text message. Users simply register on the Givey website and link their profile-specific hashtag to a PayPal account. Once the two are linked, you can donate at any time by referencing the recipient’s hashtag in a text, tweet or website message.
The community aspect is designed to make it much easier not only to find worth causes, but also promote your own. Givey also processes donations through the PayPal Giving Fund, formerly known as MissionFish, which means that 100 percent of the donation goes to the charity.
As the global recession continues to bite, charities are looking at new methods to try to attract fresh donations. The UK Giving 2012 Report found that donations dropped by 15 percent in 2011/12 – a trend that Givey founder and CEO David Erasmus hopes can be reversed.
“No one in the charity sector has successfully combined the wallet and social communication,” he said. “People want to find out what their friends and family are doing for causes. They want to find out what matters to the people that matter to them, and they want to be able to help them without jumping through hoops.”
Givey graduated from the ignite100 accelerator in Newcastle last year, and has been teaming up with a multitude of events and charities to try to stimulate donations. These have included a campaign with Chasing Zero on World Aids Day 2012, called #FreezeAids, as well as a 24-hour fundraiser for UNICEF in March called StickAid.
On the technology side, Givey is working on a new partnership with fitness app RunKeeper called ‘The Burner’, whereby friends and family can bet against someone taking part in a charity challenge. If the challenge is completed, all of the money goes to the person’s charity of choice, but if they fail – it’s rerouted to the backer’s preferred charity instead.
The company says ‘The Burner’ is the first of a number of Givey apps coming soon, including an upcoming Windows 8 app.
Image Credit: Juan CARLOS/AFP/Getty Images
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