GiveGab

Whether it’s through lending time, donating money, offering services or one of countless other activities, there is no shortage of ways to give back. Chris Beeman, ’00, along with three partners recognized this and founded GiveGab, a social network for volunteers designed to help connect like-minded volunteers and organizations, foster discussion and ultimately increase volunteerism. 

GiveGab was founded in 2011 after Beeman was approached by a fellow founder while working at a local printing business in Pennsylvania. “We were both very active volunteers and realized a lot of the enjoyment of community service came from meeting new people and being introduced to unfamiliar organizations. However there wasn’t an online presence to share stories and do those things,” Beeman said. Two years later, GiveGab employs 20 individuals and has over 11,000 online users, with a goal to reach 86,000 users by the end of the year. The platform also allows volunteers and volunteer managers to create and manage events, track volunteer hours and determine the valuation of volunteer hours.

Earlier this year two other Richmond alumni joined GiveGab’s efforts; Dominic Finney, ’99 and Jed Shireman, ’07. During an annual trip to the beach with his Richmond classmates, Finney saw a listing on Richmond’s Alumni Association LinkedIn page for a corporate social responsibility position with GiveGab. “After I spoke with Chris and others at the organization I knew it was a great fit and started right away,” Finney said.

From joining a spring break volunteer trip to Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and spending afternoons as a college student at the Boys and Girls Club of Richmond, to serving on the planning committee for the Santa Parade and supporting LGBTQ initiatives, Beeman, Finney and Shireman are all very active members of their communities.

“We really want people to find places where they belong and can meet new people and invite their friends to get involved. Research shows that volunteering is more engaging and enjoyable if you can give back with a group of friends, and GiveGab provides a platform to do that and more,” Beeman said.

While GiveGab is headquartered in Ithaca, N.Y., the organization’s employees can be found all over the U.S. “We have employees from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles which can present challenges, but it also allows us to each get out in our respective communities,” Beeman said.

“I have never worked with such a collaborative and creative team,” Finney said. “That is also what I see in the volunteer world. Each day I am more excited that GiveGab is growing and touching more people.”

In its first few years, GiveGab has enjoyed much success. In April the organization closed on $1.5 million of Series A funding, led by several New York-based organizations, which they will use for business development efforts and expansion of the website. One investor even matched GiveGab’s ability to increase an individual’s volunteering efforts with the career advancement potential on LinkedIn. In the next few months GiveGab is looking forward to attracting new investors and supporters, including opportunities with organizations on both the national and international level.