Next month will mark a full year since lock-down in Jersey City, a FULL year. A concept hard to grasp. Our lives in the last year has changed forever, some for the worst and some for the best. It is apparent that we all had to pivot in one way or another to this new normal. That is why I have so much love and respect for people like Shazia, who took this opportunity to create something great, to create something that solves problems.

Charities are among the hardest hit as people aren’t able to volunteer due to COVID restrictions and they aren’t able to fundraise as they normally would. In comes Giving Digitized, an online platform that allows charities to share their needs and people like us to donate and give back.

Genius.

What’s your name and what do you do?

Hey, it’s Shazia Peeran.  I help charities thrive in a virtual environment with their donors as the Founder for Giving Digitized. 

What is giving digitized?

Giving Digitized is a virtual meeting place for charities and the community to continue to serve those in need in a socially distant way. Here we have charities gather and add the needs of those they serve in the community. In the community, this allows you to participate in virtual giving that will focus on, and address issues worsened by the pandemic, including but not limited to hunger and homelessness.

At this time, there are organizations in the community, from local homeless shelters, transitional housing to community centers, that have leveraged the platform.

How did you come up with the idea?

Giving back is an essential component of my life.  When the pandemic happened, I realized that the charities like those I volunteered for over the decades would be the hardest hit while serving those who need it most.  To help charities thrive in this environment and help them with all the logistics they manage, we built a digital giving platform. 

What problem/need does it fulfill?

Giving Digitized is committed to enabling our community to support each other and continue to help those suffering from the impacts of Covid. Our virtual giving platform connects those in need with those who can provide. It cuts down the planning process for those who want to do good individually and in groups.

For charities, it provides a transparent view of the requests from the community. Charities use it to request and receive in-kind resources and distribution with verification where it’s required. We built the application to help the community and charities continue to support those in need in a socially distant way.

What is the biggest challenge for non-profits nowadays?

A massive challenge for charities is the need to function efficiently in a virtual environment that keeps the donors safe and provide for families and children in their care.

How has COVID changed the future of non-profit organizations?

In the pre-pandemic environment, charity managers and volunteers work closely together to serve the community.

Now, with a lot fewer volunteers, fewer resources from vendors, and even more people who need help — a central virtual space is needed to link charities with the community of supporters, creating transparency between the need and those who can provide.

Can you tell us how it works?

Charity coordinators from – local homeless shelters, transitional housing, to community centers – add in the exact needs for the families, women, children that they serve. 

Those in the community, login, and within three steps make an impact on the community! You log in:

1. Find the basket of needs to send.
2. Purchase and send to the charity it from any place of your choosing (for your ease, one optional basket link has been built).
3. Then head back to the site and let the charity know when to receive your contribution.

Simple as 1, 2, 3.

When the charity receives the gifts, the onsite manager or volunteers can mark it received and send those who sent a note. And finally, the charity manager can distribute it to exactly who needed the supplies!

Our goal is to help one million individuals through our site. In 2 short months, 17 charities in 4 states were linked with hundreds of donors in 9 states across the country to get resources to help the community. All during the winter toy drive, winter coats and more drive, and shelter refresh items. 

Here are the remaining preset virtual drives you can get involved with:

• shelter cleaning drive, going on now
• Evergreen programs held quarterly, Food Drives, Groceries
• March Health and Hygiene Basket
• April – October: Natural Disaster Relief Basket
• August: School Supply Drives

Join hundreds of others who help nonprofits using the platform, all in a socially distant way.  Share this opportunity for socially distant giving with others in your network as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKB-aG3jw5Z/

I heard you were included in the Inauguration website. Can you tell us more about it?

We were listed on the site – when we all came together on the National Day of Service from all 56 states and territories, with over 250,000 individuals participating in service projects.

It is such an honor to be a service partner on the Inauguration site, Day of Service.  We are on the site alongside other national organizations such as United Way, American Red Cross, and many more. 

We connected volunteers from all walks of life to help –

…a family who was in a fire, and got them resources for their day old newborn.

…an unemployed Californian connect with a local nonprofit for a coat donation

…volunteers in California, who lived in Jersey City, reconnect with local nonprofits

…Realtors and small companies connect with nonprofits to serve the community

…LQBTQ+ Community of Hudson County to get all the coats they needed for the at risk community

…children with disabilities in New York State through the largest provider of education services for preschool children

…children in temporary housing

and the list goes on and on.

Some of the Testimonials we’ve received so far:

• Head of Employee led volunteerism at a fortune 500 company Giving Digitized is a one stop giving experience for the donors, nonprofit community coordinators, corporate community partners, and community and employee led volunteerism groups. We appreciate that you created an application to solve all these needs that were difficult to manage while working virtually!  
• Community Liaison at a nonprofit  Giving Digitized makes it easy for donors to register, shop links with items that are needed, or shop around and ship it directly to the charity, let the organization know what they purchased and when it should be delivered. This process is a nonprofits dream! 
• Head of Employee Engagement and Volunteerism Corporate Global Philanthropy  What an amazing effort to connect needs to folks who are able to give at a time when so many nonprofits are struggling to meet client needs.. 
• Repeat Donor on the application : This was so easy to use! I was able to contribute in minutes! Giving Digitized has made it easy to shop for a cause! Thank you!

Any upcoming events you would like to talk about?

The current active drives through the end of January are:

• Winter gear baskets for homeless shelters, transitional housing, community centers, and other local organization are available for you to help.
• Family baskets for those in or leaving shelters for homes to equip families with necessities that are generally taken for granted.

Coming up later in the year:

• Evergreen programs held quarterly, Food Drives, Groceries
• March Health and Hygiene Basket
• April – October: Natural Disaster Relief Basket
• August: School Supply Drive.
• November – December Holiday Toy baskets: to help parents and children in need celebrate the holidays by granting wishes.

What’s next for you?

There is a challenge that charities are facing with linking food from food banks to those who need it most.

The main challenge is transportation between the two and matching up the wants and asks.  We can solve the logistics transparency issues using the application as well.   That way, those who need the food can get it more easily.  We need a strong partnership with city innovation groups, local corporations, and food banks to solve the issue. 

Anything else you would like people to know about giving digitized?

Again, I want to say how much we appreciate and love you and the rest of our generous community of givers and charities. All of you inspire us, and we are here to serve and help provide a virtual place for you to heal the community.

We welcome new charities and those in the community wanting to help. Head over to the site, and we will see you there. https://givingdigitized.com.