Gingo becomes Better: Digital philanthropy for all

Degroof Petercam - Marketing & Communication Specialist

Gingo, the first digital platform for philanthropy, evolves and becomes Better, a digital solidarity subscription to make donating easy and accessible.

As you may recall, in 2015, three Degroof Petercam employees launched gingo.community, a digital platform that aims to make philanthropy accessible to everyone through collaborative financing - so-called crowdfunding.

Five years later, gingo.community had raised 1 million euros for 67 projects. It was time to think about its future.

Marie Logé, founder of Better and Silvia Steisel, founder of Gingo and administrator of the Gingo Foundation

The technology needed modernization. Our volunteer-based model was beginning to show its limits, demand was high, and we saw the growth potential.

Silvia Steisel, founder of Gingo

In 2020, it was decided to take Gingo a step further. We had the ambition to transform our digital start-up into a 'Tech 4 good' but always at the service of philanthropy. With that in mind, we hired a new team, bet on advanced technology based on artificial intelligence, and tinkered with the concept.

And gingo.community became Better.

Today, Marie Logé and Thomas Carton de Wiart, two young entrepreneurs determined to put technology forward to make an impact in social and environmental matters, are taking up the torch. You will learn more about this transformation in this article.

Interview with Silvia Steisel, co-founder of gingo.community and director of the Degroof Petercam Foundation, and Marie Logé, co-founder of Better.

What was the philosophy behind Gingo and how did it evolve?

Silvia Steisel: Gingo was founded to boost philanthropy and prove that anyone can be a philanthropist. After all, many people want to! But donating to a cause close to your heart is not so obvious: you first have to choose a suitable organization. After you are convinced that it can be trusted and will make good use of your gift, you must think about effectively transferring money. Because most people have a lot on their minds, that's where things tend to go wrong. Gingo has eliminated many of these obstacles by, on the one hand, making donating easy, fun, and transparent. And on the other hand, by working with a shallow threshold. You can donate as little as one euro.

The philanthropic landscape has evolved six years later, and the technologies dedicated to gifts have significantly progressed. But there is still the constraint of time, information, trust, and motivation. Joining a project that genuinely resonates with you is the key to becoming - and remaining - a philanthropist. Our ambition? We want to boost philanthropy and bring as many benefactors on board as possible. That's the guiding principle in every project. It entails making philanthropy discovered, loved, and more accessible. With this vision, we were also perfectly in tune with Marie Logé and Thomas Carton de Wiart.

Marie Logé: In Belgium, more and more donors make modest gifts. However, this trend does not affect certain groups, such as young people (More information is only available in Dutch or French; check Barometer van de Filantropie or Baromètre de la philantrophie). We hypothesize that young people don't know about the thousands of associations, and they have no affinity with classic philanthropy. So they don't know how to get started. I should rather say that we didn't know how to start. Because their problem was also ours, like them, we wanted to do our part and help find solutions to social challenges. Initially, we didn't have the right tools to do that. Until we put our heads together and found the answer: a digital solidarity subscription, it is the first subscription of its kind in Europe.

A digital solidarity subscription

The Better subscription allows to discover and support a new association selected on strict criteria each month.

Supporting social change is possible from as little as 5 euros per month. In one year, you will discover 12 associations that offer concrete solutions.

The Better subscription makes donating a simple, accessible, and rewarding gesture.

You donate in confidence. Better works with experts to verify the seriousness of the proposed associations.

You donate collectively and continuously. With your gift, you help associations that often don't have the time or resources to do fundraising.

You are making a 100% philanthropic gesture. Thanks to the support of the Gingo Foundation (public benefit foundation) all donations go integrally to the associations. The foundation takes care of all the costs of the Better platform.

What opportunities with Better?

Silvia Steisel: Better brings about a true revolution. Because of its cumbersome structures, procedures, and old-fashioned communication tools, traditional philanthropy had a rather corny image. Better changes this and offers a modern approach characteristic of startups. The result? Simple, automated processes, engaging communication, and robust measurement techniques to generate statistics applicable to the industry.

Marie Logé: Power comes from large numbers. Better shows that donating is no longer reserved for a select circle with a lot of capital. We are convinced that every collective, regular gift makes a change. Through this subscription, we want to democratize philanthropy and proclaim that donating is a pleasurable, inspiring activity.

Follow us on better-app.org, LinkedIn and Instagram.

How does the Better subscription work?

1. Go to Better.
2. Determine the causes you care about (environment, education...).
3. Choose the amount of your monthly commitment (from 5 to 50 €).
4. Together with experts in the field, Better compiles a list of reliable associations. You can watch an information video of each association.
5. Each month Better will check which organization will receive your gift and introduces that organization to you in a 2-minut
6. Approve or disapprove of this decision.
7. Thanks to the collaboration of the King Baudouin Foundation, your gifts are 45% tax deductible.

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Better is a Belgian non-profit association founded by the Gingo Foundation (a public benefit foundation) and Bank Degroof Petercam. The founding members are part of the board of directors and support the operational team in defining Better's policies. This initiative fits in with Bank Degroof Petercam's mission to promote modern, effective philanthropy.

Image on top

(from left to right) Marie Logé, Thomas Carton de Wiart, founders of Better; Silvia Steisel, founder of Gingo and administrator of the Gingo Foundation; Xavier Van Campenhout, administrator of the Gingo Foundation and coach of the Better team.

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