SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 3, 2013) - Givelocity, a portal for shared giving, announced today (Giving Tuesday) the launch of its proprietary crowdsourcing platform. At Givelocity, donors can pool their dollars with other people who care about the same things they do and vote on which charities receive their collective support.
"Givelocity disrupts the philanthropic model by tapping into a new era of connectivity, allowing individuals to more easily seek out and build connections based on natural affinities," said Susan Cooney, founder and CEO of Givelocity. "Our platform brings 'givers' together, increasing their ability to effect change for the things they are most passionate about, like poverty, hunger or access to clean water. By building online communities for shared giving, we feed our human desire for impact and connection." Cooney believes people want to give, but don't know where to start, and fear their limited funds won't make a difference. At Givelocity, members gain leverage by combining small donations with others in online giving circles, or "Neighborhoods," for greater impact.
This innovative platform fosters a powerful new ecosystem for giving. Anyone can build or "move in" to public or private neighborhoods to pool funds for specific types of causes that they are passionate about, starting at as little as one dollar. Animal lovers can "move in" to the Animal Kingdom Neighborhood and know that their monthly donations will only benefit animal causes. Members focused on children's causes can "move in" to the Children's Network Neighborhood and be assured that their dollars will only support children. Once settled in a neighborhood, members vote on the causes that will receive their collective support at the end of every month.
The model offers a more sustainable and less intrusive way to give to charities, which spend an average of 10% of total donations on fundraising and often sell lists of donor information. At Givelocity, contributing members create recurring payments through the subscription-based giving feature, and can rest assured their donations remain anonymous. Through Givelocity's partnership with Charity Navigator, America's largest independent charity evaluator, members will choose from charities with "high credibility" ratings, reducing the worry over where their contributions will be distributed.
Corporations can even use the platform to set up private communities and allow their employees, customers or followers to vote on the charities they feel the corporation should support. Corporations can now place their giving decisions into the hands of their employees or fans instead of making these decisions behind the closed doors of a boardroom. This new transparency builds trust when engaging employees in social impact initiatives.
About Givelocity
Givelocity is a shared giving portal that puts the donor in charge. Individuals and businesses vote on where collective donations are sent every month. Givelocity is a unique online platform designed to harness the power of crowdsourcing, allowing individuals to create theme-based giving circles, or neighborhoods, for shared impact. Corporate giving is also supported, with tools to engage employees and build transparency. The platform fosters a sense of community, reinforcing social and economic equality, with the advantage of offering anonymity and better mapping of credible, accountable charities. With more scalable and sustainable donating, Givelocity is changing the way people give back, as their shared giving model increases the impact on beneficiaries and lessens the impact on wallets.