Calgary-based Benevity saw a record-setting Giving Tuesday this year, as $112.6 million CAD was donated to over 43,000 causes via the firm’s platform, more than double the amount given last year.
According to Benevity, this total represented “the highest single-day [donation] amount” in the corporate purpose software company’s history. Benevity CEO Kelly Schmitt said the firm was “blown away” by these results.
According to Benevity, this total represented “the highest single-day [donation] amount” in the company’s history.
“At a time when more employees are seeking purpose at work, and more consumers are evaluating brands on their commitment to social and environmental issues, it is inspiring to see companies step up and be a force for good,” said Schmitt, adding that she was also proud Benevity’s platform “was able to handle these record-breaking volumes without issue.”
Notably, these Giving Tuesday figures came despite a nearly 20 percent decrease in charitable activity through Benevity in 2021 compared to 2020, when the firm saw a “huge shift” towards companies, employees, and customers acting on pandemic and social and racial justice-related issues.
Founded in 2008, Benevity is a certified B Corporation that offers an integrated suite of community investment, employee, customer and nonprofit engagement software solutions. The company has over 700 corporate clients, ranging from big players like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, RBC, Visa, Coca Cola, and Starbucks, to smaller brands.
Giving Tuesday is a charity-focused day that takes place the Tuesday after American Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. This rise in charitable giving through Benevity this Giving Tuesday follows a record Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend for merchants on fellow Canadian tech platform Shopify.
This year, 498 companies participated in Giving Tuesday campaigns on Benevity, an increase of 23 percent year-over-year.
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The rise in Giving Tuesday donations was fuelled by an 83 percent increase in the number of people that contributed to these campaigns. According to Benevity, this $112.6 million total will support a total of 43,396 causes across 108 countries.
In addition to an increase in financial donations, Benevity said 165,000 volunteer hours were logged on its platform this year, 46 percent more than Giving Tuesday 2020.
To date, Benevity claims it has processed nearly $8 billion in donations and 43 million hours of volunteering time, supporting 326,000 nonprofits across the world. The company also says its solutions have facilitated 530,000 positive actions and awarded 1.2 million grants worth a combined $12 billion.
Between January and September 2021, Benevity said it added nearly 100 new customers, including Hootsuite, Lenovo, and Instacart. Over half of these customers were mid-sized businesses, indicating growing demand for Benevity’s corporate purpose solution in the mid-market.
In December 2020, British private equity firm Hg acquired a majority stake in Benevity, bringing on two celebrity-backed impact and sustainability funds “as new strategic minority investors” — The Rise Fund, which was co-founded by Bono, and Generation Investment Management, which is chaired by Al Gore.
Schmitt took over for Benevity’s founding CEO Bryan de Lottinville earlier this year. Since then, the company has made a number of other leadership changes, adding former Adobe executive Scott Lee as chief product officer, former Shopify VP of Talent Janeen Speer as chief people officer, and Jane Moran as chief data officer, as the company looks to fill out its executive team and hire for 300 roles in 2021.
Feature image courtesy of Benevity
