Hey there Product Hunt!
Our team is really excited to share our first product with you. We’re a bunch of nerds and jocks that wanted to build a solution to help teams and athletes raise money for their favorite cause in season, when players had the highest visibility and the least amount of free time.
Our product is a performance based fundraising platform that enables teams and athletes to raise money for their favorite cause through their gameday performance. Fans can pledge any dollar amount for every touchdown, goal, or point scored. At the end of the game, pledges automatically turn into donations. We’re working with pro athletes, collegiate programs, high schools, youth teams, and charities.
From the entire PLEDGE IT team, thank you so much for listening. If you have any questions, please let me know! I’ll be around all day to answer questions.
@_mfrench_ Matt, thanks for reaching out!
Yes, I've heard of FantasyHub. They are doing an excellent job of combining the fantasy sports experience with charitable giving. They've made it really easy to set up your team and give to your favorite charity. I love their flexible policy on the percentage that goes to charities. Big fans.
Re acquiring pro athletes, it's a lot easier than we assumed it would be. You'd be surprised with the results of simply picking up the phone. We try to work with players who have a history of charity work, it's a no brainer for them. The feedback we've received is that it's a perfect solution for them because it occurs during the season when their visibility is the highest and there's very little they need to do (a few social media posts throughout the season).
Side note, we have direct relationship with every pro athlete on the site and make sure everyone is committed to the campaign before it launches. This includes the player, his or her agent, the charity benefiting from the campaign, and their organization. It's a team effort!
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@johnpaulhq do you then just take a %age of what's pledged? or what's the business model?
@_mfrench_ Yes, we take a % of what's been pledged. Pledges convert into donations after game results are finalized. Triggered emails are sent to anyone who has pledged with a summary of their donation. There's no cost or obligation to create a campaign.
In addition to the percentage fee, we collect fees from for consumer brands and marketers who want to sponsor campaigns. Hope this helps!
An excellent idea that appears like it engages donors and provides a reason for them to attend sporting events. More often than not, donors are often unengaged despite providing substantial financial support.
How does this work for a team perhaps in the rebuilding phase where they might not have great stats? Are there metrics that one could still raise money with?
@santoshsankar Thanks for the kind words! Appreciate your feedback. You nailed it on the head about unengaged donors. It's becoming increasingly difficult for charities to engage their donors in new ways. Even the most loyal donors start to reduce their donations when asked to give the same way year after year. We're receiving a lot of positive feedback from charities that this is an alternative way to ask their donors to give. The cool stat is that 75% of people who pledge to a campaign are new donors to the charity. It's great a tool to engage current donors and acquire new ones!
Teams in a rebuilding phase can use it in the same way a team that is established and scores a lot of points would use it. The only difference is that the team in the rebuilding phase would need to collect more pledges per stat. In terms of metrics, we recommend picking a stat that an average person would know. For example, if your team sport is football then we would recommend picking team touchdowns, points, or wins.
Does that answer your questions?
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Great idea, this is a neat product for coaches and players! I'm excited to track their progress!
@lreapsome Thanks for the kind words, Lacey!
Yes, our goal is to allow coaches and players to spend less time fundraising and more time coaching and playing. Coaches are increasingly being asked to lead fundraising efforts at their schools in order to keep their programs running – on top of already being expected to be a winning coach, great role model, and strong mentor. Players love it because they can track how much a touchdown or goal is worth for their favorite cause. It's a little extra motivation but more importantly a great way to teach kids how to give back and still work hard and compete.
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Great idea. Definitely more inviting than all of the fundraisers I remember in high school. How do you guys measure metrics on campaigns?
@jaredthesquire Jared, thanks for the kind words!
We track the total amount raised, total amount pledged, # of pledgers, donor information (name, email, and amount pledged), social media shares, and traffic to the campaign. Was that helpful?
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Oh man, what a great idea! I love that is sports oriented instead of a generic indiegogo or something like that. I hope to see this in play in my lil hometown soon! I think it could benefit them well!
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