I met with a friend today who is also a member of Common Angels here in Boston (Waltham). We’re too early here for Common Angels to invest in Givvy, but part of the process is getting to angels before you’re ready to ask for their money (that way they can see all of the progress you are making ;-).
Anyway, “Don” (not his real name) is a pretty passionate person about charitable giving. He’s also one of the smartest guys I’ll likely ever know. In any event, Don has tried for years to find a better way to manage his donations. He’s subscribed to a couple of newsletters from highly-credible sources, he’s looked online and more. The bottom line is that nothing that Don has tried has yet met his needs. So, I told him about what we are up to at Givvy.
Bingo!
Givvy is “what I need” and “I want to use it… when will you be in beta?” You don’t get a better endorsement that that! Especially from a smart, sophisticated and decidedly not “Gen Y” guy.
This parallels a similar conversation I had last week with another young baby-boomer who will call “Mary”. Mary is a banker with grown children and a fairly measured and deliberate way about her. She’s not the kind to chase the “new new thing” and waste a lot of time. Her response was almost identical to Don’s - “Wow, I would use this.”
Another potential user I spoke with recently is John (his real name). He’s a painter, in his late-40’s, rarely goes online, kinda-sorta knows how to get his email, etc. A real salt of the earth guy and one of the nicest and most conscientious workers I’ve ever had in my home. I asked him about if and how he gave and his response was very interesting. Basically, he really wants to give a lot more but doesn’t want to waste his money. He won’t give to telemarketers no matter what group they are calling from.
I told John what we were doing and his response? “This may just be the one Web site I actually would use!”
If that doesn’t fill me with motivation, nothing will.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Better Giving, Feedback, Research
