What fundraising to fight coronavirus taught us about who’ll lead the new economy
Coronavirus is a lesson; there’s no doubt about it. In fact, it is a handful of lessons that span from the way we relate to each other and to our planet, to our role as people, citizens, workers, employers or leaders.
A lot of talk has surged since the beginning of this crisis about this being an opportunity to avoid going back to the old business-as-usual, a sort of a rehab or, if you’re an optimist, our chance to create a “new economy”, one that is more responsible and more respectful of people and our planet.
In this article I want to use our experience in leading the first and largest crowd-based fundraiser in Portugal to fight Covid-19 to elaborate on how the behaviours of different types of donors show the part they can play in the construction of a new responsible economy.
Our fundraiser for Coronavirus, StopCovid-19, lasted for almost three weeks and was part of the Tech4Covid19 movement that I co-founded with 25 other Portuguese entrepreneurs. This movement became a huge initiative and, in only one month, we grew to over 300 companies and more than 5000 volunteers.
Even though the goal was 100.000€, we raised more than 210.000€ from over 6.400 people and companies. We have already purchased more than 108.000 masks and more than 2.000 protective glasses that were donated to Portuguese hospitals in coordination with the Public Health authorities (many more are on their way).
1. People will take the lead
Individuals were the first to donate to our campaign, most of them without even knowing who we were, but they knew about what we were doing. In total, 6.389 people donated through our platform in less than 2 weeks, adding up to 161.214€.
This was our largest organic campaign ever. People did not only rush to donate, they also spread the word about our campaign a lot. We did everything spontaneously and under a lot of pressure but it seems we got a lot of it right. Even communication-wise, we got coverage from TV to online media and succeeded in engaging influencers and referrals.
Of course, planning is important but this also shows that, as long as you’re doing something good, people will join you.
2. Small and medium companies will follow
41 organisations donated. They raised just over 51.000€.
As cliché as it may sound, startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) really can be like families or communities. There’s often a very thin line between who we are and what we do, and the same goes for SMEs.
SMEs are often referred to as the backbone of the economy — in Europe, according to the European Commission, they represent 99% of companies and provide two-thirds of the employment in the private sector.
Day-to-day activities tend to be very close to the owners, managers and shareholders, meaning that they are agile, fast to act, react, adapt and, more importantly, create.
Even in times of struggle and threatening crisis, 30 out of these 41 organisations made direct donations to the campaign while 5 small businesses quickly started donations-per-sales schemes, where a certain percentage of their sales or a fixed amount per unit sold would be donated to the campaign. They included an artisanal chocolate company, a fashion app, a restoration group and two different wine producers.
This also tells us a lot about the SMEs’ willingness to collaborate in the creation of a fairer and more sustainable future.
3. Large companies make a big difference (and the giants risk being late)
Despite the leadership role SMEs play, large companies had a very significant impact on the campaign. While we only had a small number of donations — only 4 large organisations donated — they represented 81% of all of the corporate donations received. They account for the bigger steps in the 50k€ “ladder” of corporate donations.
This speaks to the potential of large companies (not giants or multinationals) and their capacity to make a difference: they’re powerful enough to make a difference and agile enough to act from the heart.
The two more relevant representatives in this are Critical Software and INDASA, with around 800 and 450 workers, respectively. Dare I say that companies from 250 to 1000 workers (no longer an SME and not yet a giant) are in the sweetest spot to lead by example.
We were also approached by several multinationals, a good example being 3 out of the big 4 consulting firms, but none converted from leads to donors within the campaign’s duration.
This brings me to another point addressed below: the importance of trust.
4. The role of trust
As with any starting business or project, trust evolves with time and so does what you can do to improve it. Some start by questioning who are the people behind them and, if they know them from before and trust them, they’re likely to get involved. Others ask “Do I know anyone that took part already?” or “How much have you achieved?”. Sometimes the question “What’s in it for me?” also comes up. Unfortunately, this campaign was no exception. Make sure you have good answers to all of these and you should be good to go.
The AGEAS Foundation was the first corporate donor in our campaign and it was so for a reason: we have been close since 2018 and have already partnered in funding a solar power project for a charity in Portugal, a project we are very proud of.
Trust is also why UPTEC was second to donate: they’re Porto’s University Science and Technology Park and have a very close relationship with the Portuguese startup community. As soon as they knew what we were up to, they wanted to take part.
Critical Software, apart from being an early donor, did something even more impressive. Early in the campaign they invited their workers to donate with the promise of tripling their donations. And they stood by their word. Nearly 1/3 of their employees donated around 7000€, the company donated more than 21k€.
5. Collaboration and setting the example is key to a brighter future
Several other organisations have donated to our campaign, collaborated and spread the word about it. You can check them out here and I want to leave a big THANK YOU to each and every one of them. The same goes for our amazing team at GoParity, who worked almost non-stop during the first two weeks of the campaign and to the volunteers who joined the project.
The importance of collaboration is, for me, the most important lesson of all.
Can we identify the one person or company that was more important than the others? Is it the more than 6000 people who donated because they represent the biggest share? Critical Software because they made the biggest donation? Or AGEAS because they were the largest organisation to donate? We only know this much: every donation or support was a valuable contribution. It doesn’t really matter who impacted the most, as long as we’re all aiming towards the same goal.
The new democratic economy might be difficult to achieve but one thing is certain: we all have a unique opportunity to show the world where our money goes by doing something good with it.
Disclaimer: we continue to receive donations on a daily basis even though the campaign has closed. As promised, we’ll use all this money to purchase personal protective equipment for medical professionals.
All the data used in this article refers to the 9th of April 2020 and doesn’t reflect any donations, sponsorships or events after that date.
