givz Raises $3M Seed Funding - Donations as a Marketing Tool

Givz Secures $3 Million in Seed Funding for Donation-Based Marketing Platform

Givz, the company behind an API-driven platform enabling brands to transform discounts into charitable contributions, has successfully completed a $3 million seed funding round.

The financing was jointly led by Eniac and Accomplice. Further investment came from Supernode Ventures, Claude Wasserstein of Fine Day, Phoenix Club, and Dylan Whitman.

From B2C to B2B: The Evolution of Givz

Founded in 2017, Givz initially aimed to simplify charitable giving for individuals. However, in March 2020, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company strategically shifted its focus to a B2B model.

This pivot leveraged the existing technological infrastructure to create the current e-commerce marketing platform that defines Givz today.

The core concept revolves around encouraging full-price purchasing behavior. Consumers are presented with the option to donate the equivalent value of a potential discount to a charity of their choosing.

Early Traction and Notable Clients

Before securing this funding, Givz had already established partnerships with over 80 retail and e-commerce businesses. These included prominent names like H&M, Tom Brady’s TB12, Seedlip, and Terez.

The platform has also attracted more than 40,000 individual users. Since the B2B transition, Givz has facilitated over $1 million in donations to 1,100 different charities, as reported by CEO and founder Andrew Forman.

Shopify Integration and Future Growth

A recent launch on the Shopify platform is expected to significantly expand Givz’s reach. This integration provides access to Shopify’s extensive network of 1.7 million retailers.

Givz’s operating model is based on the belief that donation-driven marketing consistently surpasses traditional discounting in effectiveness and cost-efficiency.

“We are creating a new marketing category and generating the largest sustainable charitable giving platform in the process,” Forman stated in an interview with TechCrunch.

Real-World Results: The Tervis Example

Tervis provides a compelling example of Givz in action. They offered customers the opportunity to donate $15 to a charity of their choice for every $50 spent.

By utilizing Givz’s technology, Tervis enabled consumers to select their preferred charity and streamlined the donation process to hundreds of organizations. This initiative resulted in a 20% increase in website conversion rates and a 17% rise in average order value.

Team Expansion and Strategic Priorities

Currently, Givz employs eight individuals, with plans to more than double its workforce within the next year.

The newly acquired capital will be allocated towards hiring efforts and internal marketing initiatives.

Furthermore, the company intends to explore the potential of the consumer behavior data it collects.

In the immediate future, Givz is prioritizing growth within the Shopify ecosystem, focusing on direct-to-consumer brands.

“But we have successful use cases and huge potential with enterprise retailers and financial institutions,” Forman explained to TechCrunch. “In the future, we have our sights set on restaurants, the gaming industry and global expansion. I believe that using personalized donations to incentivize consumer behavior has endless application across industries, verticals and continents.”

Investor Perspectives on Donation-Driven Marketing

Vic Singh, a partner at Eniac, noted a growing trend of brands seeking innovative ways to connect with socially conscious consumers.

“We believe Givz’s donation-driven marketing platform offers brands the best way to attract the socially conscious consumer while elevating their brand, moving more inventory and driving increased order value rather than simplistic traditional discounting,” he added.

TJ Mahony of Accomplice drew parallels to previous successful investments in the SMS marketing space, such as Attentive and Postscript.

“We both saw a similar opportunity with Givz,” he wrote via email. “Discounting is a well worn marketing muscle, but it’s detrimental to the brand, margins and customer expectations. We believe continuous impact marketing becomes the alternative to discounting and marketers will begin to build teams and budget around thoughtful and persistent giving strategies.”