iGivefirst Inc.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COMPANY

INITIAL LIGHT BULB Sharif Youssef spent 15 years in technology, consulting for firms like eBay, Amazon and Citigroup, before deciding to focus on philanthropy and start charity-centric iGivefirst.

"The very definition of philanthropy is the love of humanity," Youssef says. "I realized there was a total disregard for humanity in corporate America."

To this end, iGivefirst offers a means for nonprofits to raise money online. "We created a 'give' button," Youssef says. "It sits right next to 'share' and 'tweet."

Youssef is CEO of the seven-employee company. He envisioned iGivefirst as a nonprofit before settling on "a hybrid model" that includes both a 501(c)3 charitable fund and a for-profit company.

IN A NUTSHELL "There isn't a trustworthy giving brand online, and that's what we aspire to be," Youssef says. "The goal of iGivefirst is to increase charity worldwide and give youth an easy way to donate online without fear of fraud."

With the "give" button next to relevant stories, iGivefirst puts a fundraising vehicle in the best possible spot. "Emotion leads to action," Youssef says. "We wanted to take searching out of the process." Donors simply click and get a list of 10 relevant nonprofits; one more click and they are donating to a cause. iGivefirst's technology searches the article text and matches it to relevant charities.

Donations go to the iGivefirst Charitable Fund (the aforementioned 501(c)3), which passes them on to the charity of the donor's choice, minus 8.5 percent that goes to iGivefirst Inc. Noting that even the most efficient charities usually spend more than 10 percent of their budgets on administration and fundraising...