The amount of money U.S. nonprofit organizations bring in has stagnated over the last decade. And the problem, according to one expert, is that technology is lagging behind.
“There are a lot of old technologies that are not effective for today’s fundraising environment,” says Justin Wheeler, cofounder of Funraise.
His solution? Funraise, an all-in-one fundraising platform that could shake up the industry, à la Netflix, Airbnb, or Uber.
“The problem we want to solve is the entire fundraising process,” he says. “We are on a mission to really reinvent the way nonprofits are raising money.”
Launching two years ago, Funraise now has hundreds of clients, including nonprofit powerhouses like Comic Relief and the National Wildlife Federation. The company just closed a $3 million round of funding, which Wheeler and team used to double staff to 20 employees.
Wheeler has based the company out of WeWork spaces since the beginning, first at L.A.’s WeWork Gas Tower and now at WeWork Long Beach. He says the flexible space makes it easy to add desks whenever they’re needed.
Wheeler and his cofounders, Jason Swenski and Tony Sasso, all came from the nonprofit world themselves and initially developed the easy-to-use tools of Funraise as an in-house workaround. When they realized what their ideas could do for their industry, they set out on their own.
Comic Relief (which operates out of New York City’s WeWork 79 Madison Ave) started working with Funraise in late 2016. Meagan Kirkpatrick, vice president of marketing at Comic Relief, says Funraise added extra touches that made the software easier for their staff, but more importantly, easier for the donors.
“Their tools are beautiful and so, so simple,” Kirkpatrick says. “This led to many more fundraisers getting started and staying engaged.”
As the company continues to build out its services, Wheeler says his stress points come from deciding which features to tackle first.
“Staying close to our nonprofit roots allows us to be in touch with what’s trending at the moment which helps us prioritize which tools to include in our next release,” he says. “It’s a tight circle and we’re committed to maintaining that connection.”
The company is now challenging nonprofits to see how much more they could be doing with a $1,000 Challenge. If a nonprofit signs up and raises $1,000 online in the first month using Funraise, the company will match it using grant money.
“Hopefully we can make you a more effective and intelligent fundraiser,” he says.
