Give Social
North America

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Give Social unites local communities around impactful projects. Give Social facilitates funding for nonprofits, increases visibility for businesses, and provides information and transparency for individual donors.

Standings & Awards

422 out of 422 in North America
206 out of 206 in Technology
935 out of 935 in Design
992 out of 992 in Charitable
4003 out of 4003 Overall
Businesses, Nonprofits, and Individuals collaborate to maximize their collective impact in local communities.

Give Social’s mission is to empower local stakeholders to strengthen their communities through collective philanthropy and service. Our website (www.givso.org) facilitates local giving and challenges community members to improve their neighborhoods through its unique donation-matching structure. Give Social addresses these needs: Individuals want to see where their donations go and know they have made a difference. They want to donate to effective nonprofits, but do not have the time or resources to thoroughly research them. Nonprofits have fewer resources and have to compete for funding. They are shouldering a larger burden as more social services are needed. Businesses want to attract local, repeat customers, and they seek opportunities to generate goodwill.
How it works:
1. Solicit Project: Give Social solicits impactful projects from local nonprofit partners that are pre-vetted by existing information providers. Give Social confirms nonprofit’s ability to complete the project. Nonprofit submits projected budget.
2. Identify Business Partner(s): Give Social finds one or more local business partners to sponsor half of project cost if individuals donate other half within a set time period. Businesses participate to foster goodwill, engage new customers, and publicize charitable contributions.
3. Activate Ask: Give Social puts the project "Ask" on its website and individual partners make donations. Individuals also encourage their social networks to give.
4. Reach Tipping Point & Donate Funds: Because a successful Ask depends on individuals donating half the fundraising goal (tipping point), Give Social uses an all-or-nothing mechanism to hold the pledges and not process them until the tipping point is reached. At that point, the business’ match is released, effectively doubling individuals’ donations, and the nonprofit receives the full amount for project. Donors and business’ employees can volunteer for the project.
5. Highlight Impact: Nonprofit shares with donors the measurable impact of their giving. Nonprofit submits to Give Social the actual budget, photos, videos, and testimonials. Over time, Give Social’s collection of information on projects will be an online scrapbook of community impacts.

Roadmap to Success Optional (1 - 3 minutes to upload)

Roadmap to Success: 
application/pdf iconroadmap_to_success.pdf

FIVE PROJECT QUESTIONS Required (60 - 90 minutes)

1. What is your innovation? 
We adapted the daily-deal Internet model to help individuals get a deal for their communities. The Give Social process is to identify a project, attract a matching business partner, activate the online Ask to start fundraising, reach the tipping point by a deadline, distribute the funds to nonprofit partner, and share the impact with the community. Our impact comes from uniting the individuals, the business and the nonprofit. Ultimately, the entire community benefits from this collective impact.
2. Who gains the most? 
We created Give Social to provide an innovative environment where value and gains are widely spread amongst all stakeholders. Through Give Social, the community gains the most by having an impactful project (e.g., playground, garden, etc.) to which individuals, businesses, and the funded nonprofit have all contributed. The collective efforts of these stakeholders, who are now connected on a social level, will continue to enhance the community well into the future.
3. Who pays? 
Give Social will be funded by grants and prize money in its early stages. As we grow, we will adopt an earned revenue model in which participants pay a nominal fee to cover our operating costs. In exchange, nonprofits receive critical funding and a showcase for their impact. Businesses receive exposure to local customers, who factor corporate social responsibility into their buying decisions, and individuals benefit from the community-enhancing project in their neighborhood.
4. What is your success? 
1 yr: We have successfully completed Asks (donation drives) throughout the DC area. Our website is set up so nonprofits, businesses, and individuals can seamlessly create and contribute to Asks. 3 yrs: We have facilitated the fundraising of $1,000,000 for community projects. 5 yrs: We are operating nationally. Give Social has built brand reputation; our nomenclature is now adopted into common vocabulary (“Ask” and “I GivSo…”); we are the go-to site for local fundraising and project updates.
5. How will you do it? 
Give Social will build on the momentum from our first online Ask, completed earlier this month, to achieve six more Asks in 2012. All team members are committed to Give Social, with two committing to Give Social full-time upon graduation. They seek additional staff to work with them to make Give Social a member-driven website where businesses, nonprofits, and engaged individuals can initiate and work together to create and complete new Asks with the help and oversight of Give Social.