Two years ago, I was watching the local news when an interesting and perplexing story took hold of the airwaves.  I looked up from my computer and read the headline on the screen:  “Girl Scout In Hot Water for Using Net to Sell Cookies.”  The news reporter then went on to discuss why this young girl was in such trouble.  As it turns out, the Girl Scouts of America strictly prohibits any sales method of the cookies that does not involve face-to-face interaction, citing the importance of that particular experience in the development of a young lady.  And that’s when it hit me:

What about those organizations that do not have those rules?  What about the organizations that are still relying on door-to-door sales?  Is door-to-door even really that safe anymore? Is door-to-door even scalable?  These questions, along with a hundred others, flooded my mind.  Despite this epiphany, though, I went back to my computer, the news rolled on, and like so many times before, I stored away these thoughts and forgot about them…that is, until about six months ago.

After graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, I accepted a position at a boutique marketing strategy consulting firm.  It was here that I met a very important person: my business partner.

Next to my office was a guy by the name of David Adams.  David had graduated from Babson College after a rigorous curriculum of entrepreneurship and strategy consulting.  Full of energy, enthusiasm, and always big dreams, we immediately hit it off.  We’d hang out, grab a beer, listen to music, and probably most importantly, discuss business ideas.  David was one of those classic entrepreneurial inventors.  In addition to all of his early, successful endeavors while at Babson College, David had entrepreneurship in his blood.  His dad: a successful online floral retailer.  His aunt and uncle: the owner of a wildly popular coffee roasting operation that retails coffee in major grocery chains.

One day, David had casually mentioned that he was excited about an idea he had regarding the selling of artisan products from around the globe, with an overall goal of boosting the standards of living in many of the third world countries from which these products would be sourced.  To me, it sounded quite familiar:  the selling of goods online to raise money and benefit good people.  Conjuring up that Girl Scouts story two years ago, I immediately relayed to him the need that schools, organizations, and non-profits had for an online fundraising solution.  Suddenly it clicked for us at the same exact moment: “What about an online fundraising platform for worthy causes and non-profits?”  And thus, our start up, CauseShare.com, was born.

Since that day, CauseShare has evolved into a robust platform that not only allows people to raise money for a good cause through direct donations, but also through the sale of popular products, including chocolates, flowers, and many others.  With complete social media integration, and easy sharing capabilities, CauseShare empowers users to rally the support of their friends across their social networks. As we like to describe it, CauseShare is the first “people-powered fundraising tool.”  And what’s better, it exists completely online.  The reason for this? Well, with the ever-increasing number of people using the internet, and the increased role that the internet has in our day to day activities, the need for fundraising to adapt to this behavioral pattern is real.  But even more importantly, with more than 1.8 million non-profits (not including “worthy causes” as we like to call them here at CauseShare), the need for an affordable (CauseShare is free to use!), yet powerful, online fundraising tool is of the essence.  Few non-profits have the budget to afford the overly priced, overly fancy services that companies like Blackbaud offer.  The ones that cannot afford these services are part of the massive long-tail of non-profits and good causes that need a friend and partner in the constant struggle to raise money.  But yet, the big guys like Blackbaud ignore them.  One look at their product offering for smaller organizations, and you will see that Blackbaud has no interest in spending money on developing effective tools for the little guys.  Is that fair? Do the small non-profits’ causes matter less because they have a smaller budget?  We certainly don’t think so.

CauseShare is 110% committed to the little guys; to the small non-profits, the small causes, the 5k race in a town of 1,000 that benefits breast cancer, and the scholarship foundation set up in a boy’s name who was killed in a tragic car accident.  We aren’t for the big budgets, the fat wallets, or the big wigs.  We are for the everyday person, the head of fundraising for a small-town chapter of the SPCA, and the young girl raising money for her mom’s masectomy.

We fully intend to transform the way people raise money for causes that matter to them, and we are not afraid to say it.  CauseShare is the number one champion for small non-profits and independent causes, and we will never stop striving to provide good people with exceptional tools that help them reach their fundraising goals.  It’s time the little guys are given access to a tool that was custom built entirely for them.  And that tool is CauseShare.com.

And to all of our small friends out there: Consider the playing field leveled.

To learn more about CauseShare, we encourage you to explore the following sites:

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/CauseShare

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/CauseShare

Website:  http://www.CauseShare.com

Founders:

David Adams (@dmadams2)

Mike Kiser (@michaelkiser)