Banner with the words Gotham gets giving Tuesday. Giving New York Style.$16,000 raised by Give NYC. Finalists awarded $5,000.

PRESS
GivKwik and Giving Tuesday in Gotham

December 18, 2015

Source: GivKwik

New York, NY - December 17, 2015 - On the days before and after Thanksgiving, local nonprofits across New York City actively competed for a chance to pitch their cause to a live audience on Giving Tuesday, December 1, and win a $10,000 grant.

Givkwik, which hosted Giving Tuesday, Live in NYC 2015 (known as "GIV.NYC"), raised over $16,000 through corporate grants, public donations, in-kind donations, and event registration fees. Corporate sponsor Vodafone Americas Foundation donated $5,000, event partner Impact Hub NYC donated the space, and Foursquare provided promotional support.

Of the top ten nonprofits that presented, Life Vest Inside received the most audience votes that night and earned the first place grant. Orly Wahba, Founder/CEO of Life Vest Inside said, "$10,000 will allow us to further develop and expand our virtual Kindness Ambassador program that is currently reaching over 6,000 members spanning across 120 countries; inspiring, empowering and training people of all backgrounds to lead a life of kindness." The remaining grant money was donated to other nonprofit finalists and in-kind prizes were offered by Impact Hub, Catchafire, Community Boost, and AdvoWire.

"Our partnership with Givkwik for the GIVNYC2015 event helped to showcase the meaningful work non-profits like Life Vest Inside are driving in the New York City area," said June Sugiyama, Director, Vodafone Americas Foundation. "By encouraging our Vodafone employees to get involved with the program and engaged in their local community, Vodafone Americas Foundation and Givkwik provided grants to each finalist to continue their social good initiatives."

"Our goal was to produce an event that was quintessential New York City- convening a diverse group of causes, companies, and people in the room to connect and support one another. It was so inspiring to learn of all the important work being done across the city," said Jason Rosado, CEO of Givkwik.

Held in a salon-style format, GIV.NYC brought together causes, companies, and communities to inspire charitable giving in a unique way, as part of the broader #GivingTuesday movement. The scope of GIV.NYC's impact can be seen in detail at #GivingTuesday "By the Numbers." To relive the event, watch this video, produced by Malka Media Group. Other generous event partners included Foossa, Good Scout Group, Impact Assets, Neqtr, OneHope Wine, RadishLab, Rocketure, and TVP.NYC.

During the months leading up to Giving Tuesday, Givkwik registered 58 nonprofits from across the five boroughs to participate. They represented a broad range of causes and missions. See the top ten nonprofit finalists below. Donations are being accepted through the end of the year.

Top Ten Nonprofit Finalists

Border Crossers empowers educators to dismantle patterns of racism and injustice in schools and communities.
Citiview Connections Clubhouse works with 140 members in Queens with psychiatric disabilities achieve social, financial, educational and vocational goals.
Digital Citizen Fund helps women and girls in developing countries gain access to technology.
FoodFight revolutionizes how people eat and think about food by serving school communities, helping students, teachers and parents be more informed to make healthier choices.
Life Vest Inside affects real and positive change in the world through media, technology, education and social engagement.
New York on Tech (NYOT) prepares the next generation of technology leaders emerging from New York City providing support to low-opportunity students.
Showered with Hope serves the homeless with the means to improve personal hygiene and achieve self-sufficiency through mobile units.
The River Project is a marine science field station founded in 1986 at Pier 26 in Tribeca, on the lower west side of Manhattan, in New York City.
TriLatino Triathlon Club provides a comprehensive approach to developing our South Bronx youth, not only training them to do a triathlon but also engaging them in academic improvement and tutoring programs, a healthy lifestyle workshop series, and a mentoring program.
Word Up is a multilingual, general-interest community bookshop and arts space in Washington Heights, committed to preserving and building the neighborhood through reciprocal education and dialogue.

Givkwik is a purpose-driven software company, with a mission to connect companies, causes, and communities. Learn more at http://givkwik.com.

Impact Hub NYC, a certified B Corporation, is a coworking and events space for a community of entrepreneurs, activists, creatives, and professionals taking action to drive positive social and environmental change. Learn more at http://nyc.impacthub.net.

For more information contact:

Jason Rosado, CEO, Givkwik Cyndie Burkhardt, Marketing/PR, Givkwik
(646) 785-7853 (212) 581-5044
jason.rosado@givkwik.com cyndieburkhardt@me.com