Interviews with purpose-driven leaders who are dedicated to helping others and making a positive impact in the world.
August 9, 2023
Emily Rasmussen | Grapevine
Emily Rasmussen is the CEO & Founder of Grapevine headquartered in New York. Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and learn more at grapevine.org.
TELL US, WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
Hi, I’m Emily Rasmussen, CEO & Founder of Grapevine. Grapevine gathers like-minded people to donate to a common cause. It is the only platform dedicated to Giving Circles – where people come together, pool their donations, and amplify their impact. With more than 800 Giving Circles, 55,000+ total members across the U.S., and $25M in donations to date, the growing Grapevine community is on track to hit $100M in total donations in the next few years. Grapevine is connecting people to grow the greater good via Giving Circles. Additionally, Grapevine is the first crowd-granting platform. Unlike crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and others that support one-time campaigns for a specific cause, Grapevine helps people come together to pool their donations on a recurring basis, and then collaborate to decide where to give the total amount. Grapevine is more than just a site for collecting donations, we help bring people together with tools for communicating, member invitations, collaborative decision-making, and more.
HOW DID YOU GET HERE?
In 2018, I started Grapevine alongside former Google Giving Week co-founder, Jessan Hutchison-Quillian, with one goal in mind: to create a more purposeful giving experience for everyday people. Early on, this actualized into a community-based model where donors could connect with each other and collaborate to support small, local nonprofits in their communities and work on the causes they cared about. Jessan’s and my combined expertise in microfinance, fundraising, engineering, and nonprofit development led us to build technology that could democratize access to finance from and for people around the world. This ultimately led to Grapevine, a more purposeful, community-based giving experience that goes beyond the transactional crowdfunding campaign.
Emily Rasmussen is the CEO & Founder of Grapevine headquartered in New York. Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and learn more at grapevine.org.
WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? WHY IS THIS WORK IMPORTANT TO YOU?
Grapevine’s core values are: Open. Collaborative. Intentional. Spirited. We created Grapevine with the mission of democratizing philanthropy. We believe that we can all be changemakers, together. And that we can make a greater impact when we collaborate. We love the Giving Circle model because it gives communities the chance to come together, foster meaningful relationships, and give to causes that are meaningful in their communities.
WHAT IMPACT ARE YOU MAKING?
We’re empowering everyday people to become changemakers in their communities by helping them collectively give back to smaller, more diverse nonprofits where their dollars go further. In the last 20 years, small donors have decreased on average, while donations from wealthy donors to nonprofit organizations have increased. This imbalance can hurt small nonprofits with important causes, such as the ones in your community that you care about since they often don’t have the resources to market themselves to ultra-wealthy donors who often live outside of their immediate communities or networks. Nearly 30% of U.S. nonprofits have an annual budget of $100,000 or less, so every dollar counts. Giving Circles provide an excellent opportunity for everyday donors from diverse backgrounds to contribute to small-budget local nonprofits where your dollars go further.
WHAT (OR WHO) INSPIRES YOU TO DO THIS WORK?
Sara Lomelin said it best, “Strong democracy needs strong discourse…in a giving circle, it’s not about me or YOU, it’s about US, TOGETHER.” We’re inspired by the power and change we can create when we come together.
WHAT’S YOUR VISION, YOUR BIG DREAM FOR THE IMPACT YOU WANT TO MAKE?
Grapevine exists to connect people to grow the greater good. We are on a mission to democratize and diversify philanthropy in order to build thriving communities where everyone is a changemaker.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?
Giving USA recently reported that charitable donations dropped in 2022 for only the fourth time in four decades. There’s a bigger wealth disparity than ever before and the number of people giving back is declining. This means that in less than 50 years, there will not be any donors for impactful nonprofits serving local communities. Now more than ever, it’s imperative that individuals have access to crowd-granting infrastructure in order to support grassroots efforts to make sure small nonprofits serving local communities don’t cease to exist in 50 years’ time.
WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CAUSE AND/OR THE WORK YOU’RE DOING?
Everyone can be a changemaker. It should not be gated to only those who have status or millions of dollars. Giving Circles amplify the giving of one individual, so even if you can only give a few dollars, this increases quickly when you come together with your community. Giving Circles also provide you with the opportunity to help decide where funds go. We know that different people with different lived experiences give in different ways, so your involvement is critical in making sure the causes you care about get funded. No matter who you are or what you’re passionate about, you can find your community and make a difference.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE OR WORDS OF INSPIRATION TO SHARE?
“When we shift the power of philanthropy into all of our hands we shift who gives, how we give, and ultimately, what gets funded. Giving by, for, and with the communities we represent is the future of philanthropy, and each and every one of us belongs in this movement.” – Sara Lomelin, Giving Circles Ted Talk
HOW CAN OTHERS SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR CAUSE?
You can learn more and join our existing Grapevine Giving Circles here. If you’re an individual donor, giving circle, foundation, company, or nonprofit interested in setting up your own Grapevine Giving Circle, you can get started here.
At Orapin, we believe those who are working for the greater good should be known, supported, and celebrated. We help purpose-driven organizations launch or up-level their PR program by giving them the strategy, resources, and support they need to increase awareness and expand their impact. If would like to be featured in INSPIRED IMPACT™, reach out to hello@orapin.co.