Feeding a Community

Louis Davis, Jr. and Desmond Trufont had big dreams growing up in Tacoma, Washington. Both wanted to play in the NFL. Desmond made it. Louis did not. But in spite of that divergence in their NFL dream, the two never gave up on another dream – giving back to their Tacoma neighbors in need.

As Desmond said to us when we interviewed him for a longer story, “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror if I didn’t give back to my city.”

Turkeys for Thanksgiving

As part of their mission to give back, Louis and Desmond founded Tacoma Kidz, a 501c3 in Tacoma that supports needy kids and their families. When Givio first met Louis, he was busy figuring out how to buy dozens of turkeys in order to serve Thanksgiving meals.

With the generosity of friends and family, Louis and Desmond wanted to serve as many meals as possible in their hometown. They had found space to host the event, and plenty of volunteers to help. Last year they had raised about $2,500 for the community meals. This year they wanted to do more.

Removing the Barriers to Fundraising

But as Louis would remind us, “Raising money is hard work, and I want to spend my time helping people.” So we jumped in to help out.

Good news. As with any charity or school in the country, using Givio, a lot of the fundraising campaign work is already done. Every 501c3 org in the country is in the Givio database, with descriptions, addresses, EINs, missions, financial info and more. Tacoma Kidz didn’t need to fill out a form or apply to be part of Givio – they just needed someone to start raising money for them.

In a matter of minutes, we created a campaign for Tacoma Kidz called Feed the City with Tacoma Kidz.  “It’s that easy?” asked Louis. Yes, it’s that easy.

Now, Let’s Share

Next, Givio makes campaign promotion a snap by using the many sharing options already available on your mobile device. Louis and Desmond had great networks of friends, but they had not “put them to good use” from a fundraising perspective. That was about to change.

With an encouraging message from Desmond to his Twitter followers, and another iPhone message from Louis to his Tacoma contacts, their turkey drive took off. With Givio, one campaign can be shared across a wide variety of social media platforms, text devices, emails and more.

The Results Speak for Themselves

Tacoma Kidz hit their goal day one. “What do we do now?” asked Louis. “Double the goal,” we said. In another two days, they met that goal. So they increased it again.

Then Louis did a quick inventory check to see how many turkeys he could actually get his hands on in the Tacoma area. “We’d better cap that goal and stop accepting funds,” he told us. “I can’t buy anymore turkeys.”

With the power of social media messaging – and with a helping hand from Givio – Louis and Desmond quadrupled their original goal and had their most successful Thanksgiving event ever. Donors receiving the campaign invite simply had to tap on the message and give. It really is that simple.

All that success then gave Louis another great idea. Christmas fundraising drive for winter coats … using Givio!

For More Information

For more information about Givio’s apps for mobile giving, Slack, or digital banking, please reach out to hello@giv.io, or visit www.Giv.io.

And to read Desmond’s and Louis’ full story, click here.

Thank you!