Everyday Things, Greater Purpose: Purpose Should Not Require More Work From Nonprofits

Nonprofits already have enough on their plates.

They are delivering programs, supporting families, managing volunteers, reporting to funders, applying for grants, cultivating donors, planning events, keeping the lights on, and doing all of the administrative work that comes with running an organization. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, they are expected to constantly find new ways to raise money.

That is the part we think deserves a rethink.

At GivMoo, we believe creating greater purpose should not require nonprofits to take on more work. A new source of revenue should actually be a new source of revenue, not another program to administer, another campaign to build, or another vendor they have to pay. That belief is one of the reasons GivMoo was built the way it was.

Another Revenue Source, Not Another Fundraising Program

Traditional fundraising asks a lot of nonprofits. Someone has to write the appeal. Someone has to organize the event. Someone has to recruit sponsors. Someone has to manage the campaign, follow up with donors, create graphics, post on social media, send emails, track results, and start thinking about the next fundraiser almost as soon as the current one ends. Even many fundraising “solutions” still require an organization to spend money or devote significant staff time before they have the opportunity to generate revenue.

GivMoo is different. We are not a fundraising service that nonprofits hire. We are not a consulting company. We are not selling organizations software, subscriptions, fundraising packages, or marketing services. GivMoo is another revenue channel designed to work alongside the fundraising nonprofits are already doing.

The idea is surprisingly simple: people are already shopping every day. They are buying things for their homes, families, pets, schools, holidays, hobbies, and themselves. What if some of that existing spending could also create revenue for nonprofits?

That is the opportunity GivMoo was built to create.

We Built the Marketplace. Nonprofits Do Not Have to Run It.

One of the most important distinctions about GivMoo is what we do not expect nonprofit partners to do. We do not expect them to source products or to purchase inventory.

We do not expect them to pack boxes, manage shipping, process returns, answer customer service inquiries, operate an ecommerce website, negotiate with suppliers, or figure out which products consumers might want to buy.

That is our job.

GivMoo manages the marketplace, including product sourcing and selection, ecommerce operations, fulfillment, customer service, marketing, and the infrastructure required to turn ordinary purchases into an additional source of nonprofit revenue.

Our nonprofit partners can certainly tell their communities about their GivMoo storefront and participate as much as they would like. But the model is intentionally designed so that participating does not mean building another business inside their nonprofit because they already have a mission to run.

Partnership Should Not Begin With an Invoice

There is another distinction that matters to us.

Nonprofits do not pay GivMoo to participate.

• There is no membership fee.
• No subscription.
• No inventory investment.
• No requirement to purchase a fundraising package before an organization can potentially benefit.

That is intentional.

We do not believe the first step toward helping a nonprofit generate additional revenue should be asking that nonprofit to spend some of the money it already has. Our role is to build an opportunity that works with nonprofit organizations, not sell another service to them. It changes the relationship.

Instead of asking, “What can this nonprofit buy from us?”

We ask, “What can we build that creates another way for this nonprofit to earn?”

That distinction is at the heart of GivMoo.

The Goal Is Addition, Not Replacement

Donations matter. Grants matter. Sponsorships matter. Major gifts matter. Fundraising events matter. They will continue to play important roles in how nonprofits finance their missions, but they do not have to be the only tools available.

We believe nonprofit funding can become stronger when organizations have more ways to generate revenue, particularly revenue that does not always depend on asking the same people to make another donation. Shopping represents an enormous part of everyday life. People are going to buy groceries, gifts, apparel, household products, school supplies, pet products, personal care items, and thousands of other things whether a fundraising campaign exists or not.

GivMoo simply asks whether some of the economic activity already happening every day can work harder. Instead of asking consumers to spend more, we can give them an opportunity to make the spending they are already doing matter more and instead of asking nonprofits to take on another fundraiser, we can create another revenue channel that works alongside them.

Everyday Things Can Carry Greater Purpose

There is something powerful about making impact ordinary.

Purpose does not always have to arrive through a gala, a giving campaign, or a special day on the calendar. Sometimes it can arrive in a box containing something a person needed anyway. That is the larger idea behind GivMoo. We want people to come to the marketplace because they find quality products they need, want, and were already planning to purchase. The bonus is that their purchase does more. A lot more, and for the nonprofit receiving the benefit, it should not require adding another job to an already very long list.

Everyday things can have greater purpose. We just have to build systems that allow them to. That is what we are working to do at GivMoo.

Know a nonprofit making under $1M annually that could use a financial boost?

If you know a nonprofit organization with less than $1 million in annual revenue that could benefit from a new source of funding, we’d love to hear about them. Organizations can get started by emailing us at hiya@givmoo.com or by submitting an application online. It only takes a few minutes to introduce the organization and take the first step toward becoming part of the GivMoo marketplace.

If you want a peak at what the organizations on the marketplace have, check them out!