Founders Pledge’s Post

Pledging to Founders Pledge:   From the start, philanthropy has been an integral asset to Lockdown Liquor & Co and remains so moving forward. Following on from its financial support to the NHS Charities Together throughout the pandemic, Lockdown Liquor & Co, Co- Founders formalised their collaboration with charitable community, Founders Pledge.   Natasha Thomas and Jack Durling decided to pledge to Founders Pledge which demonstrates their commitment and their willingness to donate back. Founders Pledge is a global community of entrepreneurs and investors who have committed to donating a portion of their personal proceeds to effective charitable organizations. With a meaningful % of their personal stake in the business pledged, they are excited to be part of this exciting charitable organization.   By joining Founders Pledge, they commit to donating to high-impact charitable causes. They hope their forward-thinking approach allows other Founders with similar ambition to create a ripple effect of positive change, addressing critical issues and supporting funding solutions to research companies and charities aligned to their business’s brand DNA, with a focus on pandemic and COVID-19 related initiatives.   Founders Pledge provides a platform to collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs and investors who share a common vision for a better world. Through Founders Pledge members, Natasha and Jack can leverage collective expertise, resources, and knowledge to maximize the impact of their charitable giving.   Furthermore, their pledge demonstrates their dedication to transparency and accountability. Founders Pledge ensures that the donated funds are directed towards evidence-backed and cost-effective interventions, ensuring that each contribution has a tangible and measurable impact.   "We are excited to join Founders Pledge's community of like-minded entrepreneurs who are passionate about creating positive change." said Natasha Thomas, Co-Founder Lockdown Liquor. "Through this pledge, we aim to not only contribute to funding research but also inspire others in our industry to embrace philanthropy as an integral part of their business thinking and by partnering with Founders Pledge, we are taking a proactive step towards effective philanthropy. By joining forces with other entrepreneurs, we can amplify the impacts of our philanthropic efforts and drive meaningful progress together.   Co-Founder & CEO of Founders Pledge, David Goldberg, said: "As an organisation, we exist to support entrepreneurs to do the most good possible with their charitable giving. Creating social impact is good, but maximising that impact is what we aspire to do. We're thrilled to welcome Natasha and Jack to our community."   #FoundersPledge #SocialImpact #Entrepreneurship

nonprofit fundraising

Super great article on where DAF's are headed & the philanthropy sector!

It's Friday. I received this great post by Seth Godin 🌔which I'd like to share. I have run four non profits such as the Wireless Innovation of BC (WINBC), DigiBC - The Creative Technology Association of British Columbia, Sanotron and INTERFACE HEALTH SOCIETY. It was a challenge, an opportunity and "a work of love" as many said about INTERFACE Health. This post explains very well the work done by non profits and the constant pressure they are on to raise money, do galas, and serve their community - all the time. If you are an executive running a non profit, a board member or sponsor of a non profit or a community member benefiting from the work of a non profit then you should read this post. Maybe share it? Robert Forget Brian Krieger Roger Kuypers Andrew D. Taylor Brad Popovich Parminder Singh Alan Winter Sally Greenwood Purnima Tyagi Rizwan Kheraj Serban Georgescu, MD, MBA Allison Sekuler Garth Smith Robert McMaster Sylvain Moreno Elicia Maine Diane Gromala Kathy Kinloch Lisa Chu Paul McCullough FCG, Acc. Dir. Kirk LaPointe Neil D. Fraser Ibrahim Gedeon Christine Bergeron Jonathan Lutz John Nosta Gil Bashe Lynda Brown-Ganzert Michael Fergusson Suzanne Grant, CD Geof Auchinleck Rich Osborn Natalie Dakers Dennis Chenard Here's a short excerpt: "When someone starts a business, they spend a bunch of time with a business plan, working to raise funds and get it off the ground. After that, though, the purpose of the business is completely aligned with the idea of not running out of money. We run a business to make money, not to spend it. If done well, there’s no more fundraising after a startup period. On the other hand, nonprofits sign up to do at least two things." P.S. Support non profits because it's worth it. P.P.S. After 17 years of serving the community, including 9 years of running #Canada's 1st truly virtual #digitalhealth accelerator, we'll be closing down INTERFACE HEALTH SOCIETY. Thank you to my team, our board, our public and private sponsors and supporters, more than 750 of the world's best entrepreneurs in digital health, and all of those who supported our purpose and mission. It's time for MYND Therapeutics Inc. #notprofit #fundraising #digitalhealth #accelerator #purpose #community #impact

Caught up with my dear friend Patrice Brickman today, who is walking the walk dismantling the barriers to investment in companies led by people who don't look like Marc Zuckerberg or Elon Musk (that goodness for them). The article below describes the creative structure of her new organization, Inspire Access. Thank you for your leadership, PK! #leadership #equity #capitalraising PS For anyone tempted to yell, "reverse discrimination is still discrimination," the reality is that there is plenty of money available to "traditional" founders. In 2022, Black and Latino founders received only 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively of total US venture capital (VC) funding. Women-founded teams received 1.9 percent of VC funds, and only 0.1 percent of VC funds went to Black and Latino women founders.

In a world where charitable donations are drying up faster than water in a desert and archaic fundraising methods are still worshiped like sacred cows, many charities find themselves a hair’s breadth from financial ruin. • Spiraling donations? Check. • Outdated dogmas? Double-check. • Blind faith in archaic methods? You better believe it. As much as we'd love to think generosity will always rain from the heavens, the reality is quite the opposite. Charities can't just stand around, shaking metaphorical tin cans, hoping that something magical will happen. That's akin to playing checkers in a chess game—it’s just not cutting it anymore. And let's be brutally honest: change is not just imminent but necessary. Some organizations have begun thinking outside the box, seizing upon new strategies to keep their heads above water. Diversifying income streams, leveraging social media effectively, adopting innovative digital fundraising approaches—there’s a whole new toolbox out there. Call it the survival of the fittest or whatever Darwinian term you like, but those who can't evolve will go the way of the dodo. This prediction isn’t feel-good fluff; charities will either innovate or disintegrate. I've seen a few bold moves recently that give a glimmer of hope. Embracing: 1. Crowdfunding not as a Hail Mary but a well-executed campaign. 2. Partnership models with businesses for mutual benefit, instead of one-way symbiosis. 3. Leveraging micro-donations at scale, proving that small can indeed be powerful. Let's break another entrenched myth: high operating costs aren't the enemy. In fact, they might just be part of the solution. Many of these spiraling charities must consider investing in top-tier fundraising talent, cutting-edge digital tools, and smarter strategy planning. Overhead isn’t your villain; inefficiency is. So, let’s not put another band-aid on a gaping wound. The reformation of fundraising philosophies has to start happening ASAP, or we might witness a mass extinction event in the philanthropy sector. Buck up, folks, it’s time to stop romanticizing the ‘good faith’ of yesteryears and start forging a far more tactical and shrewd blueprint for sustaining charity missions. Because compassion and strategy aren’t mutually exclusive—they are, now more than ever, two sides of the same coin. Check out compelling strategies at https://lnkd.in/emdgfXDV

I got to experience leading a campaign under Rafi Matthews coaching and I can confidently tell you that he's the GOAT. (If you don't know what this is - ask me) Here's some of his wisdom: Question: Do you believe that peer-to-peer fundraising is a passing fad or is it something here to stay? Answer: There are four pillars of peer-to-peer fundraising. These pillars are rooted in basic human psychology. They apply far beyond the arena of fundraising, touching the roots of human decision-making. The more you appreciate the role they play in your life, the greater control you have over your choices. The first pillar is: Everyone wants to be on a winning team. When campaigns begin to succeed, more people join the cause. It’s why we encourage organizations to “soft launch” before the campaign goes public. That way, they amass 20%, 25%, even 40% of their goal before they launch in earnest. If donors jumped onto a page that was stuck at 0% or 5%, they’d feel discouraged from the get-go. Crowdfunding campaigns are all about broadcasting success. The beauty of this approach is that it extends well past donors. Organizational leaders set more ambitious goals and exert more effort and enthusiasm when they feel success within their reach. One of our recent campaigns highlights this beautifully. I was coaching an organization and discussing their fundraising goal. After I suggested an ambitious goal, they asked me what would happen if they did not succeed.  I responded that we have an amazing track record of organizations surpassing their goals. Fire and brimstone won’t rain down if they don’t meet their goal, but they would enter my own personal “loss column,” a category of organizations no one wants to join. As soon as I said it, they immediately committed to the ambitious goal and declared that they would reach it, which they did with plenty of room to spare.  Why? Because success breeds success. If you’re on track to “win,” your team won’t let you down. #fundraising #crowdfunding #nonprofit #charity

There's $230 billion and counting in charitable capital parked in donor-advised funds (DAFs). With the Social Finance Impact First Fund, we're making it easy for DAF donors and sponsors to put this capital to work as impact-first investments. Check out the other innovations happening in the DAF ecosystem in Drew Lindsay's recent piece in the The Chronicle of Philanthropy: https://lnkd.in/efQd9sdr #donoradvisedfunds #impactfirst #catalyticcapital  

Today, I have undertaken the Founders Pledge promise – a promise to donate a significant portion of any future proceeds from my BrewDog equity to help drive positive change in our world.   Since starting BrewDog in 2007, I have always steadfastly believed that business should be a force for good and my commitment to the to the Founders Pledge is the latest step on this journey.   For those of you who are not familiar with it, Founders Pledge is a ground-breaking global community of entrepreneurs and investors committed to using their collective resources and brain power to address the world’s most pressing problems.   As a group, Founders Pledge they are fully focussed on delivering maximum positive impact in everything they do by advising on, facilitating and maximising the impact of their member’s charitable giving.  Their team team use extensive research, science and detailed evidence to help identify the best-run, most effective organizations in all fields of charitable giving. Helping entrepreneurs maximize the impact that their giving has.   I especially love the Founders Pledge commitment because it means society is invested in enterprise, and enterprise is invested in society, and I fully believe that that the people who create wealth have a responsibility to society that extends well beyond paying their taxes.   My Founders Pledge commitment is also in addition to the 20% of my equity in BrewDog which I gifted to our amazing team members 2 years ago.   Furthermore, I will also look to commit to Founders Pledge in any of my future ventures too.   For any founder wondering how to get started with philanthropy or be more strategic with how you give, I highly recommend connecting with the brilliant visionary David Goldberg, and you can join this now 2,000 strong global community.   Let’s build a better world.

Donor Advised Funds (DAFs)- charitable savings accounts- are becoming increasingly popular and evolving. I'm excited to see workplace-giving accounts and grant-maker collaboratives. Does your organization use DAFs? #corporategiving #fundraising #DAFs