WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GiveCampus, a leading fundraising platform for nonprofit educational institutions, announced today that it has closed a $50 million minority growth equity investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm. Several individual investors also participated in the financing including Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel, Stripe’s Claire Hughes Johnson and founding HubSpot team member, Mike Volpe. As part of the investment, Silversmith has committed significant additional capital to provide GiveCampus employees with liquidity through a tender offer. The financing marks the first time the bootstrapped company has raised capital since raising less than $1 million from family, friends, angel investors, and Y Combinator in 2015. The capital will be used to accelerate product development and hiring across the organization.
GiveCampus was founded in 2014 by Kestrel Linder and Mike Kong to advance the quality, affordability, and accessibility of education by providing non-profit educational institutions with a modern platform to reach, engage and mobilize their communities. The GiveCampus platform supports educational fundraisers’ most mission-critical priorities, from providing donors with a frictionless online giving experience, to identifying and engaging alumni with significant giving capacity, to scaling the impact of volunteer programs. Since its launch in 2015, the platform has facilitated more than $2 billion in charitable giving to more than 1,000 colleges, universities, and K12 schools.
“We founded GiveCampus because we believe it should be easy to make a gift to your school and that fundraisers at schools deserve cutting-edge technology designed specifically for them,” said GiveCampus Co-Founder and CEO, Kestrel Linder. “As we embark on this next chapter, we will continue to obsess over the needs and priorities of our partner schools while integrating additional capabilities, data, and insights into our platform in order to drive even bigger impact.”
“From the start, we sought to build a sustainable business that prioritizes long-term success and value creation,” continued Linder. “That’s why we’re thrilled to have Silversmith as our first institutional investor. As we have gotten to know the Silversmith team over several years, it’s become clear they share our belief in capital efficiency and long-term outcomes. Silversmith brings deep experience working with software and payments businesses that will be invaluable as we begin our next phase of growth.”
Since GiveCampus launched in 2015, the company has achieved major milestones including:
- Facilitating more than $2 billion in charitable giving to more than 1,000 colleges, universities, and K12 schools in 48 U.S. states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, as well as internationally
- Surpassing a revenue run-rate of $20 million
- Six consecutive years of profitability and positive cash flow
- Growing the team to 75 employees in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
- Donating $1 million in free fundraising support for programs that help low-income students, first-generation students, and underrepresented minorities through The GiveCampus Social Mobility Initiative (go.givecampus.com/social-mobility)
“Fundraising is a critical component of school budgets. Without effective fundraising, schools face a choice between cutting budgets or increasing tuition and fees, both of which harm students and especially students from less advantaged backgrounds,” said Jim Quagliaroli, Silversmith Managing Partner. “GiveCampus is a game changer, helping schools of every shape and size advance their missions through significantly improved fundraising outcomes. “It is rare to find software companies that deliver so much real, measurable value to users and society as a whole. We are excited to work with Kestrel, Mike and the entire GiveCampus team as they continue to play a vital role in ensuring that a high-quality education is accessible and affordable for everyone.”
The GiveCampus platform provides educational fundraising teams with the solutions they need to fundraise more effectively, including:
- Social Fundraising: peer-to-peer advocacy and streamlined giving experiences for giving days, crowdfunding, senior gifts, and reunion campaigns
- Giving Forms: frictionless online giving experiences that make donating easier and more personal, driving increased donor conversion
- Spotlight: personalized video communications and stewardship
- Volunteer Management: empowering volunteers to engage and solicit other alumni and parents at scale
- GC Wealth: identifying high-net-worth donors and surfacing actionable real-time insights for engagement
- GC Connect: mobile “point-of-sale” for seamlessly accepting in-person donations
As part of the investment, Silversmith’s Quagliaroli has joined GiveCampus’s Board of Directors alongside the company’s co-founders. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Silversmith Capital Partners and Wilmer Hale served as legal counsel to GiveCampus.
About GiveCampus
GiveCampus is the world’s leading fundraising platform for non-profit educational institutions. Trusted by more than 1,000 colleges, universities, and K-12 schools, our mission is to advance the quality, the affordability, and the accessibility of education. We provide software, services, and expertise that help schools raise more money, from more people, at a fraction of the cost of other fundraising methods. For more information, please visit go.givecampus.com.
About Silversmith Capital Partners
Founded in 2015, Silversmith Capital Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm with $3.3 billion of capital under management. Silversmith’s mission is to partner with and support the best entrepreneurs in growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Representative investments include ActiveCampaign, Appfire, DistroKid, impact.com, Iodine Software, LifeStance Health, and Webflow. For more information about Silversmith, please visit www.silversmith.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
