November 10, 2020
Today, Giving Map received an $80,000 grant from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund to continue its work on Giving Map, a data-driven grassroots philanthropy web portal currently focused on COVID-19 relief.
“We are excited to begin work on Giving Map 2.0,” says Tess Gadwa, Program Director of Giving Map. “We had tremendous success with the initial release this summer. People really gravitated to the core concept of the map, whether to learn more about areas of the country affected by COVID-19 or to make charitable donations.”
All funds raised go directly to the nonprofits listed through the site. Giving Map is a pass-through organization and does not take any commissions or fees. The next release of Giving Map will include a more refined user interface to select nonprofits, as well as more opportunities for featured organizations to tell their own stories. It is expected to launch in early 2021.
“Looking at the types of online experiences that are available for e-commerce and for-profit crowdfunding, we feel the same tools can give people truly meaningful ways to connect with and learn from organizations doing important work,” says Gadwa. “Nonprofits have lost many of their key revenue sources, even as demand for their services has skyrocketed. Many are in danger of closure. We believe Internet-based grassroots funding is one way to help close the gap.”
The Giving Map web app draws on case data compiled daily by Johns Hopkins University to show the areas hardest hit by Coronavirus. Donors can contribute in any of ten categories, including Mental Health, Food Insecurity, Shelter Insecurity, and Parks and Environment. It is available for all web browsers on tablet, personal computer, and phone. The code base is open source and freely available on GitHub.
Giving Map is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit initiative created in partnership with Portland, OR data visualization startup Lotus.fm LLC, Ctrl-H PDX, Charity Navigator, and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, and a core team of dedicated open source volunteers.
Our mission is to connect caring people with grassroots organizations working for equity, healing, and sustainability across the globe.
Media inquiries please contact:
Tess Gadwa, Program Director, 971.412.2493
