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Donorsee
Type of site
Crowdfunding
Available inEnglish
Founded2016
HeadquartersFairfax Station, Virginia, United States
IndustryCharity
URLwww.donorsee.com
Current statusActive

DonorSee is a humanitarian crowdfunding platform that is intended to allow donors to quickly and easily help people in the world's poorest countries. The platform lets donors see how their money makes an impact through raw video updates.[1] The company is based in Fairfax Station, Virginia.[2]

History

The company was founded in March 2016 by Gret Glyer, in response to what he saw as poor management of aid money by large aid organisations.[2][3] Glyer raised $150,000 in seed funding to build the platform on web, iOS and Android and launched it on 26 September 2016.[4] Two weeks after launch, Glyer appeared on the Tom Woods show to talk about DonorSee.[5] In October 2016, DonorSee was listed in USA Today as one of the best ways to give to those affected by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.[6]

On January 26, 2017, the Peace Corps issued a ban preventing their volunteers from using DonorSee.[7][8] Glyer subsequently initiated a Change.org petition asking that President Trump intervene and lift the ban.[8]

On June 24, 2022, Glyer was found shot dead in his home. Police were investigating the shooting as a homicide.[9]

Business model

DonorSee allows aid workers to build a donor base by posting a feed of projects specific to the country they are serving. During this process, members post a picture or video of the potential recipient and a story explaining how the money will be used, along with the amount of money needed.[10] They also have the option to say which country the project is in, and whether or not they want to raise money on a monthly basis. After posting, people can donate directly to projects using a debit or credit card, which is processed by Stripe. Stripe charges a fee averaging 2.9% per donation and DonorSee takes 0% on most projects.[11] After the project is funded, aid workers are expected to post visual follow-up, which often includes the donor's name in the video.[1][12]

While DonorSee is not a 501(c)(3) organization, certain projects are still 100% tax-deductible. Additionally, DonorSee has implemented an extensive vetting process, through which they claim to reject over 90% of submitted projects.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "DonorSee: How We Work". DonorSee. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Business Entity Details". sccefile.scc.virginia.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  3. ^ "How teaching math in Malawi inspired this local guy to start a crowdfunding company - Technical.ly DC". Technical.ly DC. 2017-01-27. Archived from the original on 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  4. ^ "137: How I Raised $150,000 to Build My Own App". The Inner Tube!. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  5. ^ "Ep. 751 Help People Around the World by Going Over the Heads of Governments and Aid Groups - Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  6. ^ "How you can help Haiti after Hurricane Matthew". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  7. ^ "Ep. 837 Peace Corps Declares War on Philanthropy App Built by My Guest - Tom Woods". tomwoods.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  8. ^ a b "This crowdfunding platform for international aid is beefing with the Peace Corps - Technical.ly DC". Technical.ly DC. 2017-02-06. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  9. ^ "32-year-old CEO of online giving platform found shot to death in Fairfax home". msn.com. WUSA-TV. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  10. ^ "DonorSee Lets Givers See the Impact of Their Gifts - Opportunity Lives". opportunitylives.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  11. ^ "About". DonorSee.com. DonorSee. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  12. ^ Sawchuk, Sam (21 December 2016). "Meet Gret Glyer - Learn How He Is Adding Transparency To The Way We Give". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". DonorSee. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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