In under six months, one-to-one giving application GIVA has completed 500 "gives" to individuals in need. The monetary tally of these charitable contributions now exceeds R100 000.
Developed by The Safety Lab in partnership with Y&R, the platform utilises mobile technology to connect people who want to make a contribution to individuals with specific needs. The app assists charities/non-profit organisations (NPOs) to broadcast the specific needs of individuals within their care on the GIVA Need Feed.
By purchasing the platform's currency - GIVAbucks - users are able to donate to a legitimate individual need. The money is then used by the charity or NPO to pay for the fulfilment of the specific need. All the charities and NPOs on the GIVA platform have been certified by Western Cape community development initiative, Community Chest.
Part of the GIVA experience is providing users with updates on the progress of their chosen cause, with real-time feedback on the results of each "give".
For example, 29-year-old Nceba wants to be a tour guide but could not afford the R1 470 needed to pay for the First Aid course he needed to complete as part of his training. Nceba's story was loaded onto the GIVA platform and enough money was raised by the community to pay for his training.
According to Gil Lang, GIVA co-creator, Nceba is well on his way to achieving his dream. "Our main goal upon launching the platform in October 2014 was to ensure easy micro-giving to individuals in need and be able to provide feedback and pictures of needs being actioned," notes Lang.
The average give is around R150 and the GIVA team have successfully met 50 needs through over 500 gives from app users, he continues.
Not only does GIVA target individuals looking to give back to people in need, it also encourages corporates to get involved and promote a culture of "giving back" within their business, notes Lang, adding the response from big business has been positive.
He describes the concept as being different from generic crowdfunding platforms in that there is complete transparency as to how the money contributed will be spent, which gives people peace of mind that their efforts are legitimately bearing fruit.
While the concept of channelling donations to individual recipients is not new, Lang believes allowing people to witness the outcome of their contribution makes the act of giving more personal.
Looking to the future, he hopes GIVA will become the "go to place" for intelligent giving.
"GIVA is live, it's a proven innovation and is poised to change many individual lives."
Share