ioby

As a researcher on complexity and systems change in community development, I feel that ioby exemplifies a true understanding of how systems are transformed; is committed to authentic community leadership, power and agency; is willing to take risks (after careful consideration) that many other funders and partners are unwilling to do; and demonstrates a long-term commitment to the communities in which they work. There aren't many organizations that I can speak of in this fashion, and I am proud to be a supporter of ioby.

ioby has provided the support we have needed to fund our annual project in northern Manhattan year after year!

Great organization doing good work, helping people do good work in their own neighborhoods. Awesome!

I was initially skeptical of crowd funding being from the old school of direct solicitation. We have successfully used IOBY for two projects and I would wholeheartedly recommend IOBY to any nonprofit. I particularly like that we were eligible for matching funds. My only suggestion is the ability to send a personalized thank you email to donors.

Our experience with ioby.org wasn't just about funds; it was about people and stories. The coaching they provided transformed our campaign and, more importantly, helped us craft our community story

What I appreciate about ioby is that they not only recognize and celebrate the power of community leadership/leaders, they walk alongside them. Their staff are dedicated to making sure that leaders feel seen and heard, providing coaching, resources and a platform to share their ideas. And they do this in a way that honors and acknowledges that community leaders are experts in their own right. When you bring together groups of people who genuinely care, magic happens. This happens within the ioby community.

And I love that they provide fiscal sponsorship for leaders who may not be attached to a nonprofit but are seeking to access grant dollars. This is SO important because great ideas exist outside of the 501c3 structure. At my job, we've appreciated having them as a resource for our grantees.

There is great value (in the mission and margin senses) in Ioby's ability to bring in matching funding for campaigns. My organization has depended on this fundraising mechanism as an integral part of our strategy, and it has directly translated to serving our community members.

ioby is a wonderful nonprofit! They provide great crowdfunder support and match funds for community projects.

We have used ioby a couple of times to raise funds for our programs. This has included match campaigns.

I think everyone wants to support an organization who shares their values and is doing valuable work in areas they believe are critical. After working for years in the field of community development research, I was delighted to find ioby, an organization that not only embodied the community development goals and principles I supported, but one that had innovated practices and tools and developed the necessary resources to realize these goals. There are many organizations that purportedly support community engagement, community decision making, local power, and mutual aid but none in my mind do it as well, as consistently, and as thoroughly as ioby.

Ioby serves with purpose within their communities and beyond. This organization not only help to establish high level relationships, serve as a voice for the art community, train and coach nonprofit changemakers, they also help by way of securing much needed matching funds. Nonprofits can produce events and provide services in a more affordable way to their communities by calling on their donor base. I salute the folks at Ioby and thank them for a job well done!

ioby helped our small food pantry and mutual aid project raise money. They gave us an appealing and easy-to-use fundraising platform, and as our fiscal sponsor, gave our donors the ability for their donations to be tax exempt. They have been extremely helpful with helping us accept small grants and matching funds, alongside the crowdsourcing which are the main purpose of their platform. And they've even been able to offer us matching funds when our programs aligned with their programs. Working with ioby enabled us to get our nonprofit off of the ground, fundraising, and operating from day 1, so instead of having to worry about the complexities of fundraising, we were able to focus on helping our community.

It has been a pleasure to collaborate with ioby. We first joined forces for post-COVID response efforts and more recently, funding to support environmental access and restoration of Brooklyn and Staten Island shorelines.

What a wonderful way to help our event, Makers Mart, support more people in our community! By offering fiscal sponsorship, along with fund-matching, a lot of the extra work has been lifted off our shoulders and we can focus more on making the event successful through marketing for the makers, and hiring local artists to create pieces for the space. I was so glad to hear that IOBY exists for all of us smaller event producers! What a great resource! I also like how available their team is to answer questions on the phone! It is so nice to get to hear real voices and get answers right away! Thank you, IOBY !!!!

The IOBY platform and IOBY team has played a critical role in numerous community service projects across New York City and New York State. The platform is very easy to utilize and fundraise on. The team has been incredibly supportive, as they guide us towards reaching our goals for local stewardship and ecological projects. IOBY's focus on community has been tremendous and an important unique value-add compared to other platforms.

I work for Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of the NYC Parks Department and the nonprofit City Parks Foundation, and have personally collaborated with ioby for nearly seven years to develop resources and programs that connect grassroots community groups to utilize their crowdfunding platform and build fundraising skills. As a fellow program that supports the 'deep roots', as ioby describes, our goal at Partnerships for Parks is to equip community groups with the skills and tools they need to steward and care for their local parks and green spaces in New York City; building fundraising skills and tools is a core piece of our work that aligns with that goal. ioby's technical assistance, amazing customer service, one-on-one support, and general fundraising knowledge and expertise are a perfect complement to the small grants we give out annually at Partnerships for Parks. We created a matching opportunity with ioby that allows groups to leverage matching funds to maximize their fundraising potential, expand their reach and network, and amplify their project. ioby has been an incredible partner over the years and we are honored to work with them. ioby also has the lowest fees compared to other crowdfunding platforms, which allows community groups to take home more money for their projects. They also provide project-based fiscal sponsorship, center racial equity, and have the friendliest staff. I would recommend ioby to any group looking to start a crowdfunding campaign, or funder looking to partner with an amazing organization.

ioby is our go to platform for fundraising. ioby provides the necessary framework needed to help small community based organizations like our reach our fundraising goals. Our work focuses on building sustainable grassroots projects that address the needs of marginalized and underserved communities around sustainability, community gardening and food insecurity. We've successfully raised funding for many of our projects through ioby campaigns that have helped us purchase necessary supplies and provide stipends to our stewards, thus ensuring that we continue remain viable.

ioby is a mission-driven organization that uses crowdfunding to empower local grassroots groups to get the funding they need to make good change. A truly innovative civic tech nonprofit!

My name is Amir Saleem. I am forever grateful to IOBY for their support of community, and newer non-profits. I first found out about IOBY in about 2018. Wasn't successful coming out the gate, and I believe I came into the understanding of IOBY during a change in leadership.

Dawn Arrington became my IOBY person. Dawn and I have found success not only, success for By Leaps And Bounds. But because of our countless touch points, several non-profits and projects have seen its fruition. We look forward to 2022 and beyond working with IOBY system of leaders and community. Here is one of our videos from and IOBY sponsored project: https://youtu.be/4HzWPaj5FlM

We met our fundraising goal (and then some) with our first crowdfunding campaign with Ioby! Really appreciated the personal touch and support around strategy from Ioby staff. I would recommend them to any grassroots organization.

A nonprofit I volunteer with had our first ioby project this fall, and the platform was really successful! We've had other fundraisers online in the past, but none had ever raised as much money. But with their help to create a concise ask, and their ability to leverage matching funds, it really made a difference and now we have new funds and new donors.

ioby is the best! Their team is wonderfully supportive and thoughtful, and they give great fundraising advice.

Ioby has been an incredible support and partner over the years to the Wyckoff House Museum and Farm. Their success strategists have been exceptional over the years. As a small nonprofit Ioby has given us access to corporate and foundational matching grants that simply wouldn't have been possible given our organizational capacity. Their innovative model and leadership focuses on people over profits and we are grateful to get get to learn and partner with them.

IOBY is the PERFECT platform for neighbors who want to make a change in their communities. Who else knows what's best for the neighborhood than YOU? NO more waiting for "somebody" to come to the rescue and solve the problem, only to wait and wait and wait and ultimately nothing happens. IOBY has come alongside me in several different efforts when I highlighted the problem and IOBY presented resources to enlist other like-minded people and a platform to raise money and offered "matched" funding to double our efforts. IOBY has helped us with addressing food insecurity, voting rights and access for the marginalized and providing resources for families living in a food desert.

I continue to be inspired by IOBY's mission and am always impressed with transparent communications and updates from leadership.

ioby is the national non-profit every community needs locally. Small projects can create big impact when local resources are marshaled towards the empowerment of trusted residents and advocacy organizations. I've watched and supported the growth of the organization for more than a decade now and can say proudly that national democracy is better off with ioby making exciting local projects possible.

They have been collaborative, responsive, and transparent as serving as a fiscal agent, as well as identifying resources to support community work.

Ioby helped me fund a student community project in Raleigh, NC. This was my first attempt at raising money online through crowdfunding, or as ioby calls it crowd-sourcing. I am grateful to ioby for being an easy to use platform that made it possible to share and fund our dream community project.

Partnering with ioby was a wonderful experience. Ioby’s staff are incredibly responsive and proactive! It was easy to reach staff whenever I had a question. Also, staff provided helpful support resources, time, and enthusiasm to maximize the likelihood of our success.

I would highly recommend ioby to anyone looking for a positive community building experience.

Thank you ioby! We couldn’t have done it without you!

We have a very close working relationship with ioby as we have worked together to roll out their program and platform in Memphis neighborhoods. It has been very rewarding to help our grassroots leaders take their ideas from concept to funding to implementation. Like others I believe ioby is advancing the world of philanthropy as well as that of capacity building for neighborhood leaders.

Ioby helps connect people with their place, weaves together neighbors and communities, helps repair our relationship with the Earth and build our relationships with one another. It is so good - in the way that garden-grown tomatoes are good, or riding a bike on a sunny day is good, or watching children play in dirt is good. Ioby provides those of us who are easily overwhelmed with a manageable and real way to make this world a better place.

Ioby was born out of a desire to empower people to create the change they hope to see in the world by being able to help support projects in their own backyard. In the few years since its founding, it has facilitated the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars of citizen philanthropy into local projects, and amassed wonderful support and following from city governments, non profit and for profit entities, and communities all over the country.

This idea that citizens can have a hand in shaping their local communities in a meaningful and tangible way ignites a passion in people that is palpable in Ioby's community. That passion is met by the staff's commitment, talent, and skill for identifying and supporting projects, taking them from start to funded, making sure that participants are well resourced with tools and a cohort, and a deep understanding the issues projects are trying to address. This along with their smart and measured approach to measuring impact, makes ioby a unique and well positioned organization that can help to facilitate this new and powerful form of civic engagement.

ioby is truly a unique and remarkable organization. the founders do not just care for the cause, but are extremely passionate. at the end of the day, ioby is really trying to help change communities and make them better for all citizens. the service it provides to those who want start a project to volunteers is above and beyond.

ioby is an incredible organization that I am eager to see develop a more national presence of the deep need for this approach to social change in other parts of the country. ioby's bold, innovative yet humble approach to citizen driven philanthropy hence citizen empowerment is refreshing in an environment of tremendous need but shrinking resources and high levels of risk mitigation from traditional funders and investors. ioby's SMART approach is also refreshing seeing the number of new nonprofits often started with the best of intentions but lacking deep analysis and strategic planning to understand how they will carry out thier work to meet the needs of the people they are trying to serve. Finally, ioby has distinguised itself as a crowd-resourcing platform by providing high quality training and tools and support of particularly populations of color and women to empower them to make change in thier communities. Kudos to the staff of this incredible organization for thier vision, bravery and committment to change.

ioby's team is incredibly passionate and their project leaders are even more so. what a great organization.

ioby helps to seed and grow local civic engagement, neighborhood action, and environmental change. They facilitate all of this work with a strong commitment to grassroots action, social justice, and diverse participation (including women, people of color, and low income people). They bring the 21st century tools of internet based crowd-resourcing to local neighborhood leaders. I've seen firsthand the difference that they made in their first pilot city (New York City) and am excited to watch them transform to a national organization. Block associations, community gardens, school groups, and informal groups of friends and neighbors are the people who power the projects behind ioby (composting, bike sharing, investigatory journalism, toolshares, rainwater harvesting gardens, play spaces -- you name it). Sometimes all these leaders need is an internet platform, some sound advice, and a network of peers -- ioby provides all of this.

ioby has it all: smarts, humanity, energy and a sustainability-driven goal. By providing an easy-to-use project "crowd resourcng" platform, ioby builds community leaders, strengthens neighborhoods, and enables projects to raise needed funding to carry out important local work. Not only that, EVERYone attracted to this valuable organization brings fresh vitality and great energy - qualities that ripples out and amplify the chorus of voices for greater sustainability locally and beyond.

Ioby provides a platform for bringing ideas into reality. The ioby team is innovative and dedicated to supporting community environmental projects. We've raised over $20,000 on the ioby.org website and for projects small and large. By making fundraising for projects easy, flexible and social, we have been able to grow and succeed in our projects, mission and goals.

As someone that has donated both money and time to ioby's various projects, I have seen vacant lots turned into thriving community gardens, rundown parks turned into vibrant recreational areas, and every day citizens transformed into community leaders and activists. With the help of ioby, people are able to take an idea and create something that has an immediate, real world impact on their surrounding community. ioby makes it easy to place donors and volunteers with environmentally-related projects they care about in their neighborhoods, and I will continue to support the work they are doing in any way I can!

ioby has provided numerous opportunities for me to create my own environmental projects, AND has taught me how to become an effective leader. I cannot thank Erin, Brandon, Cassie, and David for their constant support over the past couple of years!

Ioby has a real shot at making a difference in our neighborhoods.

Their platform is one of the best uses of pairing technology with local community growth.

Their team is one of the most passionate in this space and have worked tirelessly to help hundreds of local ideas turn into dreams for local members.

ioby is a very easy and direct way for people to create the change they would like to see in their neighborhoods, by raising funds and volunteers, crowdsourced by their community members.

ioby provides crucial support for community leaders working to improve their communities from within, by helping groups to find volunteers and raise greatly needed funds, in small amounts, from their neighbors -- spurring civic participation and enabling local solutions to global issues. And ioby makes it easier for people looking to support compelling projects in their own communities.

I've worked for over a decade to help local groups create positive change in their communities, and I have seen firsthand how few sources of support exist for small neighborhood groups. ioby provides an answer to that tremendous challenge -- helping local groups connect to and grow a sustainable source of funding and volunteers.

The real way to change the world is by small actions, taken by groups of neighbors working together, across cities and neighborhoods all over the world. ioby supports and kickstarts these actions by giving a fundraising and crowd-resourcing platform to these groups, giving communities a tool to make ideas into actions. From community gardeners to LGBT high school activists to entrepreneurs, ioby supports the diverse set of heroes who make our lives better, one backyard at a time.

ioby went from a NYC-based program to a national one in 2012 and the result has been hundreds more projects supported all over the country. it provides a platform for small groups and small projects to find resources. It also provides accessible philanthropy for the 99%. Donors know that their gifts, no matter how small, are critical to the community groups they support.

I have been on the board of ioby for 2 years now. Coming from a grassroots perspective, I felt a personal commitment to funding programs in inner cities and in low income neighborhoods. I am extremely proud that ioby looks at and sponsor's organizations that are doing work that directly impacts local neighborhoods and communities. This organization is not top down, but support is from the bottom up, recognizing that community people build leadership. If we are going to change the way people think about funding resources, it can not be done by writing big grants. This is not sustainable. What is? Is people power, individuals willing to give their own personal donation and time to a project in need of resources.
This is why I am a board member of ioby; we have created an online funding platform that supports community initiatives not only locally but now nationally as well.

ioby is an incredible organization that might well change the nature of philanthropy.

It tackles larger issues by encouraging projects on a local level. By making everything local, issues become personal; impact can be seen immediately; and people become more engaged with their communities.

The staff--comprised mostly of founders--is smart, efficient, and relentless. Technology is core to how they help communities, but they are unafraid to use modern tools to stay lean.

ioby is an organization that solves problems in a systemic way, rather than purely focusing on symptoms, and for that reason and many others too numerous to list, I am a committed supporter

IOBY has gotten better with age and more community support. When i first started with them the site was just getting started. Now there are great projects from all over the 5 boros and as more and more small NPO's hear about it, more projects are listed. I love that many gardens and compost projects are on board now. Its great to see how many other people are doing things to make NYC greener and cleaner-all with help from ioby.org

I volunteer with ioby and have been so impressed with the vision and professionalism of its founders. They are definitely not only changing the way citizens engage in environmental action in their communities, but also how nonprofits utilize technology to better achieve their missions and to reach their audience.

I had an idea but didn't know where to start. I asked Ioby - how can I make this happen? They reached out to their network and found the people I needed to talk to. Ioby not only helped get my project started but they also attended the cleanup I organized. The folks at Ioby are a great group of people making a huge difference one project at a time!

I've had a great experience interacting with IOBY both online and in person at their events. It's truly an idea (empowering folks to work towards positive environmental change within their local sphere of influence) who's time has come! I've personally donated and volunteered at a few local projects and found the experience personally rewarding and I'll certainly participate again.

I really like IOBY because I felt overwhelmed by the task of finding a green cause to support; I didn't have a lot of money to give, but I wanted to give a series of smaller donations to a cause that would benefit the neighborhood I love. I knew I wanted to give at the grassroots level, but I didn't know where to start looking. A friend pointed me to IOBY and their easy to use website. I liked seeing photos of the different projects and knowing exactly where my $25 would go. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to help keep their neighborhood and all of New York clean.

I'm so glad to see micro philanthropy coming to U.S. (so much is focused in other countries). What a great concept IOBY is! I'm really excited to see it replicated in other cities/states.