A Movement to Achieve Philanthropic Goals
I recently told you about a company called Selfless.ly on Giving Tuesday and I got a lot of questions from members of the #MovementMakerTribe so I rewrote the article to include a more information on this social enterprise. In case you missed it, Selfless.ly is a new platform founded by Joshua Driver and Lisa Mitchell making it easier for companies to achieve their philanthropic goals and for nonprofits to grow and connect with passionate volunteers.
Founders Josh and Lisa
I met Lisa at an event for On the Dot, a women’s empowerment organization (it’s amazing, and you should check it out!) and was so excited to learn about this platform. She gave me the scoop on Selfless.ly and how it’s helping propel charitable giving—right on time for those who are planning activities for the new year!
“Both Josh and I have experience working for nonprofits, and in that line of work, you see how much time gets eaten up trying to find the right resources, whether it’s finding volunteers with the right skill set, sponsors, people who can provide in-kind support,” said Lisa. “That all takes away from the mission. And then, on the other hand, there are companies who want to do good and would do even more, but managing their philanthropy is just unwieldy. It takes up a lot of time.”
Closing the Gap
The idea for Selfless.ly came from that gap on both sides of the philanthropic equation. I see it every day in my work with the American Heart Association and the organizations I volunteer for. As a corporate social responsibility platform, Selfless.ly takes away the pain on both sides, making donating time and resources that much easier and connecting organizations with critical resources. The platform takes care of everything around volunteerism and donations, from the financials to impact reports. Employees have dashboards that show volunteer hours completed and donations, along with a robust database to search for organizations working on the causes they’re passionate about. This is philanthropic matchmaking.
Another cool thing about Selfless.ly is that it’s accessible to companies of all sizes. “Oftentimes, people think you have to be a big company to make an impact,” said Lisa. “Selfless.ly gives companies of all sizes the ability to maximize their giving by taking care of all the administrative heavy lifting for them.”
The easier it is for companies to give and work with nonprofits, the bigger impact they’ll have. The easier it is for employees to see how they’re making a difference, the more they will want to do and give. I especially like that idea of doing the storytelling for companies and their employees. Lisa calls this, “making it easier to tell the story of good.” It is very exciting to see this kind of innovation in the corporate social responsibility sector.
While writing this article I thought of a couple of resources I want to share with you #Firestarter—
- Lisa Mitchell is a powerhouse. Not only is she the founder of a tech company, but she is a non-profit executive and a consultant. Lisa specializes in coaching people who want to communicate with more confidence through their body language. Check her out!
- Do you have an idea for a social enterprise like Lisa and Josh but don’t know where to start? You might be the perfect candidate for StartingBloc, a fellowship for those who are interested in social impact. Many people go with an idea and leave with a new partner, more detailed planned or perfecting their pitch.
- I met Lisa through an On the Dot Women‘s Empowerment Summit. On the Dot is your destination for daily inspiration, career resources and a directory for women who get things done.
For more tools and tips like these be sure to join my insider group on Facebook. It’s a wonderland of information, promise!
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