Liz Deering and Mark Courtney, co-founders of 121Giving—pronounced "one-to-one giving"—said they were "flying solo" when they introduced their unique nonprofit funding concept March 18 to South by Southwest Music and Media Conference bigwigs.
"What we are doing is innovative, and there is no better place than SXSW for getting visibility," Courtney said.
Although 121Giving is not a nonprofit by federal regulations, the digital marketplace pairs donors with the nonprofit organization that can use their materials or funds, Courtney said. Studies show philanthropists are concerned about how organizations use their donations, he said.
"This generation of millenials has struggled with the idea of philanthropy online," Courtney said. "[121Giving] creates more trust and accountability [for how these donations are used]."
For example, one of the company's campaigns is designed to help an agency that is dedicated to ensuring low-income residents have safe, healthy homes, he said. The crowdfunding campaign raises money for building supplies to renovate local houses and a supplier offered to sell his supplies at a discount through the 121Giving marketplace, he said. Rebuilding Together Austin can buy these products directly from the supplier or raise money through 121Giving's crowdfunding platform to purchase what it needs.
"Nonprofits get the products they need, donors can see the impact of their giving, companies can make a profit while being good corporate citizens and communities benefit from campaigns that tackle issues, solve problems and change lives all around them," Courtney said.
"We wanted to make the entire giving process more efficient and transparent."
Liz Deering, co-founder of 121Giving
121Giving's campaigns help provide nonprofit groups with supplies from clothing to computers.
"We launched 121Giving because we wanted to improve the way that nonprofits, consumers and charity-minded companies can all work together for the collective good," Deering said. "We wanted to make the entire giving process more efficient and transparent."
