Member Article

Charitable tech startup looks to crowd-fund £500k to change the face of donating

A technology startup with Newcastle roots is aiming to change the way people give to charity and disrupt established charitable giving platforms.

Givey allows businesses to automatically match money that employees give or raise for charity, with no commission deducted.

The team behind the technology platform are now looking to crowd-fund £500k investment to take it to the US and ramp up operatings in the UK.

Givey’s ‘instant matching’ engine means anytime someone donates, it is matched in real time by their employer or by their desired consumer brand.

The transaction can then be shared to social media networks, with messages bearing the company brand.

Instead of taking a percentage from donations like existing platforms do, Givey charge businesses £1 per match.

Givey’s CMO, Di Gates, said: “The company’s mission is to change the way people give. We want to make it part of everyday, little and often.

“People are buying products through mobile all the time, and we want to make giving just as much a part of that.

“There’s a massive evidence base that a company’s charitable giving is a great way to drive employee engagement. Givey is a really neat way for companies to make sure they get that moment with their staff.”

Givey is looking to appeal to companies who not only want to outwardly boost their Corporate Social Responsibility credentials but also want to appeal to their workforce.

Di added: “There’s research to suggest that when the term ‘matching’ is used in conjunction with fund raising or charitable giving, there is a 71% increase in the number of people who want to get involved, as well as increases in the amount they want to give.

“We’ve been working with transport firm LondonMidland. A survey of their staff showed 48% thought the firm was a socially responsible employer. That was before using Givey. In less than six months after Givey was introduced, that proportion went up to 88%.”

Givey founder David Erasmus is based in London, however the business is an alumnus of Newcastle-based technology accelerator programme Ignite100.

The team are looking to reach their £500k target on Crowdcube by April 19. Check out the investor page here, and a video with David Erasmus here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .