Overview: The entrepreneurs behind GiveForward.org wanted to forever change the way people raise funds and donate money. Their premise was simple - everyone has the ability to change someone's world and give to their community, and even small donations can add up to make a huge difference. And then came the hard part. Communicate that message to the world.
Challenge: Our challenge was to harness the power of the web and develop an interactive website that would not only communicate the GiveForward vision but also allow people to effortlessly and immediately get involved.
Solutions: We started by designing the GiveForward identity. The logo had to be a timeless symbol of forever giving forward. The colors were carefully chosen with thought and precision representing the power of giving throughout the world. (See the logo) Once the identity was just right, the real challenge began. We developed a highly interactive website that allowed users to easily create personal fundraising pages for any cause. At the same time, we made it just as easy for donators to a find fundraiser and instantly give forward with a simple online payment. We gave each fundraiser a page of their own with a multitude of different options to really get their message accross. Fundraisers can upload video, photos, descrptions, wish lists and more. The website even tells donators how close the fundraiser is to meeting their goal. Honesty, the best way to describe this website is to see it for yourself at Giveforward.org. The functionality goes on and on, taking the online philanthropy concept to the next level.
Results: GiveForward.org has turned into a full online community full of different people with different causes. The website receives over 20,000 visitors a month and has been featured in numerous online and offline publications, popular charity blogs, local magazines, and even several TV programs. With thousands of successful fundraisers (and more being posted every day), GiveForward.org has become one of Chicago's most remarkable social entrepreneurship stories, with users taking advantage of the power of the community to raise funds for everything from voluntourism to kidney transplants (read the story in the Chicago Tribune).
