Funding Change Raises $1 Million to Disrupt Philanthropy
Strategic investment transforms online giving and “Friend-raising” WINNIPEG, MB--(May 4, 2017) – Ian Smith, Nicholas Tenszen and Dan Major, co-founders of Funding Change, announced today that they’ve closed a $1 million-dollar funding round led by a strategic investment from David Asper and a consortium of local investors.
Funding Change enables non-profits to raise money faster and with less effort than any other approach currently available in the market today. By offering the first purely online, mobile responsive raffle platform available in North America, Funding Change gives non-profit organizations anywhere the ability to apply for, plan, design, deploy, and draw winners completely online. As a fundraising solution provider that specializes in scalable, innovative, interactive gaming solutions for the non-profit sector, Funding Change offers non-profit organizations a new model of fundraising built for the digital and social media age that connects organizations with the information, knowledge, and leadership that drive business results.
“We help level the playing field for any non-profit organization trying to raise funds online," said Ian Smith, CEO of Funding Change. "There's a massive opportunity for non-profit organizations to leverage technology to drive donations and fundraising easily reaching the supporters of their cause anywhere in their Province using our online and in-person platforms. Our platform can completely transform how groups fundraise. This strategic investment will help Funding Change grow and continue to build essential technology for a market that's more than ready for it."
Funding Change’s technology allows organizations to extend the reach of their raffles beyond immediate resources, allows for revenue sharing with engaged stakeholders to benefit from sales they help produce, and can track sales and reward sellers. Online raffles eliminate the need to rely on volunteers to plan the raffle, sell paper tickets, administrate the work of accounting for all tickets, collect money and report to a governing authority, while increasing the reach of the raffle beyond what a traditional paper raffle could offer. Now buyers purchase solely online, then share the raffle with their social networks or with an email list so those individuals can buy tickets to the same raffle and propagate further sharing. Through unique opt-in tracking, organizations can run one raffle and empower stakeholders (affiliates, staff, partner businesses or agencies for example) to become a sales force.
“Philanthropy needs to change with the digital times and Funding Change moves on this in a smart way,” shares Mary Beth Taylor, fundraising expert and owner of the Creaddo Group. “Disrupting philanthropy means removing barriers to giving, and makes giving shareable via social media for millennials and GenX who live with their phones and are digitally savvy.”
“With this investment in Funding Change’s infrastructure, I’m excited that we will enable implementation of the corporate strategy and also strengthen the local innovation ecosystem to provide this company with the ability to scale efficiently and meet demand,” said David Asper.