Giventure
GiventureWe caught up with the founders of Giventure to learn more about how the idea came about and where it’s headed. Giventure recently competed and placed in the top 5 ideas of the Ideator May Challenge and had a chance to present to the Ideator May Challenge judges so they had a lot going on.
Finding volunteer opportunities in college can be a daunting task. Conducting online searches rarely return relevant opportunities that also fit into one’s schedule.
Giventure is your personal assistant for volunteering. Get customized recommendations for volunteer opportunities in your area based on your skills and interests, and sign up with just one tap of a button. By connecting real volunteers with real community service opportunities, they eliminate the logistics behind volunteer coordination so you can focus on what really matters: making a difference. Giventure helps anyone volunteer anytime, anywhere.
How did you come up with the idea, Sneha?
“I volunteered over 300 hours in high school, and it was such an incredibly rewarding experience. I gained career skills, met amazing people, and learned more about the issues facing my community and how to combat them more effectively. Once I came to college, however, it was much more difficult to find opportunities to give back. Online searches either returned opportunities that weren’t relevant to me, or didn’t fit into my schedule. I recruited a few other friends in the computer science department, and together, we began researching and developing a platform to solve this problem.”
The team is made up of 12 rockstar University of California, San Diego students.
What’s been the hardest challenge you’ve faced & how have you overcome it?
“The hardest ongoing challenge is developing a lifestyle platform that fits seamlessly into people’s lives. Volunteering is something that almost 80% of people say they want to do, but only 25% actually follow through annually. It’s part of the reason why it took a team of 12 three years and two beta test periods to develop. The problem is a human problem, not a technical problem. It’s like weight loss: you can convince someone to buy a gym membership, but how do you encourage them to actually go to the gym? It’s an issue that we will always face, but we have combated it so far by conducting really thorough user research and always putting Giventure in front of volunteers for feedback. The more information we have on how people use our platform, the better equipped we will be when trying to roll out this platform nationwide.”
Where do you see your company in the future?
“We want Giventure to be the first name that comes to mind when people want to find a way to get involved or contribute to a cause. By making it a household name, we hope that more people will feel encouraged to contribute to their communities. Our ultimate goal is to double the number of volunteers in the United States by the year 2020, for a national volunteer rate of 50%.”
How are you using Ideator? How did being a finalist help you?
“Ideator is a great platform to keep track of short-term goals and collaborate with other teams. I love that we can comment on other projects and make unique collaborations across the world. Being a finalist was a great opportunity to put our company in front of an experienced panel of judges and hear their feedback.”
Giventure recently launched a Kickstarter campaign! If you believe that anyone should be able to volunteer anywhere, anytime, please support them by clicking here.
Giventure is your personal assistant for volunteering, designed to help anyone volunteer anywhere, anytime. By connecting real volunteers with real community service opportunities, we eliminate the logistics behind volunteer coordination so you can focus on what really matters: making a difference. Keep track of their progress, request to join their team, or just to learn more.
