How can we serve you?

This past week marked an important step in the start-up processes here at Pass the Plate. What is that you may ask? Validation.

Let me explain…

When we started Pass the Plate, we made several hypotheses:

First, we believed that there would be a slow adoption rate of our new technology directly from non-profits. Second, we believed that people who attend church have donating or tithing on their minds on a weekly basis and thus make up the ideal target market. Third, we believed that cash donations place several limiting factors on both donors and the non-profit.

So what has happened this past week?

The 1st hypothesis, while still having plenty of time to prove itself correct, may in fact be wrong! This is very good for Pass the Plate.

This is what we have found…

Large established non-profit organizations are entrenched in “the old ways of doing things,” however they are starting to realize that they must keep up with the times to stay relevant and attract new donors who will eventually carry the financial burden of financing the non-profit. They are starting to experiment with different ways of equipping their donors. This fact is demonstrated by the increased adoption rate of services like text to give among larger established non-profits.

While in concept “text to give” is a great service, it is still inefficient and cumbersome for several reasons to the donor and to the organization. Furthermore, because this industry is still in its infancy in terms of technology, there is little competition and any large providers would have to pivot their business model to compete with Pass the Plate.

We believe it is a matter of time before larger non-profits begin to utilize the technology behind Pass the Plate – our solution is easier.

Smaller non-profits and new non-profits are willing to try new things. For these organizations, their adoption cycle into using new technology seems to be shorter. Many smaller organizations have explored options like PayPal because of their low or no monthly service fees, but are unhappy with parts of their service. Others are not happy with the monthly fees, some as high as $70 per month with only $100-$200 in online donations.

Because of these findings, we now believe that the business to business strategy is a relevant part of our go to market strategy as there seems to be much less resistance than anticipated.

While building Pass the Plate we focused on the donor, each decision that we made was donor driven, what we have found is that we have addressed many of the consumer needs as well.

This leads us to the second hypothesis.

Since we launched “Open Beta” early January 2016, we have taken on several customers and have formed relationships with organizations that will use the Pass the Plate application regularly, it will be interesting to see the penetration levels and use when promoted locally. Will users be encouraged to make monthly donations or will it be on a weekly basis? We made Pass the Plate so simple to use that it could be used as the offering plate was passed.

Quick, we need a data scientist!

The third hypothesis has been validated. Multiple conversations with strangers from across the country who are in the business of collecting donations agree. Cash does not have a name, address, email address, and therefore a method to follow up or track. By encouraging Pass the Plate over cash or check, non-profits can have access to valuable information that other payment forms do not provide.

In conclusion, our goal to make giving easy is paramount in everything that we do. This is the reason for the title of this article “How may we serve you?”

Pass the Plate wants to eliminate as many boundaries to giving as possible.

This past week at the NRB convention, we received confirmation that our mission is needed by both non-profits and donors. The feedback that we received from donors and non-profit organizations was positive across the board. We were even interviewed for a radio segment by Called2Action.

People want a solution that makes giving easier, a solution that makes record keeping easier, and a solution that increases efficiency. Pass the Plate is this solution. Pass the Plate is #GivingMadeEasy.

As a start-up we have found it valuable to request feedback from users and potential business partners. This started with TechBreakfast in several locations and then to IdeaTap and IdeaSlam. Each time we have tried to learn more. As such, if you read this article and have questions, please post them. We would love to hear from you.