IOBY has been a fantastic partner for Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School in so many ways. Not only does the organization provide us with a crowdfunding platform and the opportunity to raise money for programs that help us lead positive change for our students and community, but IOBY also provides us with resources, webinars, and a dedicated coach. As a small middle school with a big sustainability mission, IOBY has helped us find partners and resource funding that we never would have been able to find on our own. And through crowdfunding, we've also been able to build stronger relationships in our own community. The IOBY team is quick to respond, offer advice, and believes in the possibility of small organizations to build stronger, greener, and healthier communities. Please keep doing all you do!
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.
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.
We have used ioby a couple of times to raise funds for our programs. This has included match campaigns.
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.
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.
Review from Guidestar
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 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.
Review from Guidestar
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