Tivix

Tivix is a San Francisco based technology startup.  They have an interesting proposition for nonprofits:  easy to use tools that tap into two of the largest social networks delivering over 450 million active, passionate users and featuring no software to buy, install, or manage + added benefit of saving the environment (plus other hard costs) by decreasing reliance on expensive direct mail campaigns.  

Tivix's suite of social media applications help nonprofits connect to their supporters for both fund raising and advocacy purposes.  The ability to centralize your social media communication efforts within the largest social media network - Facebook - is also extremely appealing...after all 63.3% of American Adults 25+ spend over an hour on Facebook daily.  Tivix's applications give nonprofits the ability to centralize and integrate their social media activity into Facebook (Twitter, YouTube, RSS feeds, etc.), allows for sharing with supporters' social networks for advocacy and donor relationship purposes (Support Us) and features a strong call-to-action for fundraising (Donate4Good, Shop4Good).

The majority of nonprofits survive on some mix of grant + foundation monies along with individual contributions; some are lucky to have a few high net-worth individual donors but for the most part it's a very insecure existence.  A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy poll reported that consumers are giving less, with one-third of the 395 charities it surveyed expecting donations to fall by 10% or more.  But the work that Nonprofits do is vital to our local and global communities and they are "failing to connect with potential givers using the communication media those givers increasingly are using" (seehttp://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/charities_missing_out_on_digital_giving/

Bret Waters, a Silicon Valley executive with a passion for social entrepreneurship, is the founder of Tivix.    He was co-founder of Metagraphics (an early leader in web-based publishing), Founder and CEO of Artmachine (acquired by eMotion, now OpenText, NASDAQ:OTEX).    As a current board member of the Stanford University School of Education he is involved in driving a major new $75 million fundraising initiative for the University, and he has also led major fundraising initiatives in his previous roles as Chief Operating Officer for Stanford New Schools and as Executive Director of the Woodside School Foundation (both 501(c)3 organizations dedicated to K-12 education improvement.

 

Sumit Chachra is an expert in engineering hosted, on-demand software applications. Most recently he was Technical Architect for Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR), the leading provider of hosted applications enabling marketers to optimize their efforts online. He came to Omniture via the acquisition of Offermatica by Omniture, for $65 Million.  Previously he was a Software Engineer with Yahoo!, where he worked at the Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN).

Sumit holds a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Technology Degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), where his thesis was awarded the best thesis in his class. He taught C Programming and the Principles of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Arizona, and has authored several peer-reviewed research papers on a variety of topics such as Distributed AI and Multi-agent Systems. 

Tivix's business model is the SaaS model with a combination of monthly hosting/subscription fee coupled with a per transaction fee.  We charge a standard, 1x fee if our client wants the application to be fully customized and branded, or white-labeled.  We also do project-based application development which is quoted.

Our applications can run both in the Facebook environment, as well as, on the open web as a microsite, or as part of our client's existing website; applications and campaigns are efficient and cost-effective; offer a fully white-labeled platform 

Founder & CEO Bret Waters brings extensive knowledge of enterprise software applications along with unique insights into the challenges and needs of the nonprofit sector based on firsthand industry experience.  This, coupled with his passion for social change and a fervent desire to help nonprofits achieve a sustainable and viable operation, has resulted in useful and necessary applications to help nonprofits in their day to day operations as they relate to fundraising and advocacy.