Taylor Sharp embodies the spirit of giving.
“To know the amount of families that are going to wake up to Christmas or holidays to presents they wouldn’t have otherwise had, that’s kinda the reason we do this,” the UNC-Chapel Hill student says.
Sharp’s talking about the company he started with three friends last year. CommuniGift is an online giving service that lets non-profits upload family profiles and wish lists and donors adopt those families and choose items to purchase directly from the CommuniGift site.
CommuniGift is bootstrapped and run with sweat equity, says Sharp. Founded by four UNC juniors, Sharp is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies—Philosophy and Business of Sport. He is joined by computer science major Jake Bernstein, public policy major Thomas Doochin and business major Jack Wohlfert. Communigift now has a team of 11 based out of UNC’s 1789 co-working space and an office in Chapel Hill. The CommuniGift men were named social track finalists and people’s choice winners in the Carolina Challenge last year.
After a small launch last November serving 40 families, CommuniGift has relaunched this month with 1,483 families. Nearly $10,000 in gifts were purchased through CommuniGift in the first week. It serves local non-profits as well as others across the country in places like California, Delaware and Ohio.
Bernstein says donors are attracted to CommuniGift because of its ease.
“What’s really neat is to get an email from a donor saying, ‘I gave this much more,’ or ‘normally I only give one toy, but this year I gave three or four because you guys made it so easy,’” he says.
The full story can be read online at ExitEvent.
(Note: ExitEvent is a news partner of WRAL TechWire.)
