Local Community Advertising
Make it easy and fun for people to do good — now that’s an idea we can get on board with.
It’s also the mission of Trellis, a Kelowna-based startup, who is using technology to disrupt philanthropy and simplify the way that charities connect with people who care about their causes. The online event management platform allows charities and nonprofits to create and grow their events and campaigns.
“Trellis is uniquely positioned to offer both the back-end functionality required by today’s charitable organizations and an easy-to-use interface for ticket purchasers and donors,” said Justin Goodhew, Founder and CEO of Trellis. “Trellis is the event platform for good and is commonly talked about as the Eventbrite for charities.”
“We believe, when equipped with the right tools, people can be profound forces for change,” added Goodhew. “We are passionate about empowering individuals, charities and nonprofits with straightforward, impact-focused technology to strengthen events and community initiatives.”
Goodhew’s hope is that Trellis will increase impact within our communities. He decided to start Trellis after establishing a few other software companies, and realizing that what he really wanted was to create something that made a difference.
“You have to love what you start a business in. The social enterprise space — the purpose space of selling goods or services to help achieve social, community or environmental initiatives — is where I wanted to be because it allows me to keep going that extra mile in achieving beneficial social objectives,” said Goodhew. “Focusing on purpose over profit really allows me to do that.”
Trellis has already been helping causes reach their goals. For example, a local restaurant organized a gala dinner using the platform, and raised $20,000 for the Central Okanagan Food Bank. As well, the Maxine DeHart Drive-Thru Breakfast in October raised a record-breaking $110,053 this year, 18% of which came from their online campaign powered by Trellis.
Part of Trellis’ success is due to their participation at ChangeUP, sponsored by Purppl and Valley First, a division of First West Credit Union, which took place on February 28th. The annual event has taken place in the Okanagan since 2013, and continues to grow.
“ChangeUP is a pitch-style event for social enterprises,” said Andrew Greer, Co-Founder of Purppl. “Featured social enterprises share their business model and their impact model for solving some of the toughest community, social and environmental challenges. They also share different ways the community can help them grow.”
“It was started to create a platform for social enterprises to share their story, to get some help from the community and to educate and inspire other changemakers in the community,” added Greer.
The judges were impressed when Trellis presented their case this year, and awarded them a spot in Purppl’s six-month acceleration program to help them grow and achieve their goals.
“Justin and the team at Trellis not only saw a gap in the marketplace from a business perspective, but also saw a way they could help create impact for nonprofits, charities and philanthropists,” said Tracy Clark, Marketing and Communications Business Partner at Valley First.
“One of the best things about ChangeUP is not just the event, but after the event when we get to sit alongside the three organizations that go through the accelerate program and to watch their organizations bloom and grow,” added Clark. “We have been sponsoring this event since 2013 and it just keeps getting better every year. There will always be social entrepreneurs who need to take their organization to the next level and there will always be those who can do that for them. And we are so proud to be part of that.”
For Trellis, the ChangeUP event was not only inspiring, but the support that they have received allows them to continue to grow and maximize the positive impact they have on the community.
“Having support through Purppl’s accelerator program, Valley First, and KPMG means that Trellis can increase our impact and initiatives as we increase community engagement through fundraising events, bringing charities and nonprofits into the modern age,” said Goodhew.
Keep your eyes on Trellis, because they’re just getting started and have big plans for the future. Their enthusiasm to create an easy-to-use platform for causes and charities is quite inspiring.
“Trellis will be encouraging impact in unique ways and not just enabling charities to manage their events,” said Goodhew. “We are about to launch a new product to connect champions — individuals that want to do more than donate — to charities. Our Champions product will empower everyday people to create fundraisers for their favourite charities easily from their mobile phones.”
You can learn more about Trellis here.
Local Community Advertising