Gift-giving startup Ziftit recently helped kids in the Hurricane Sandy-stricken Rockaways get the presents they really wanted for the holidays, a project that had an impact on the children and Ziftit’s CEO, who plans to make charitable giving a larger part of his Web site.
Ziftit’s month-long online toy drive recently culminated in a massive celebration at the Belle Harbor Yacht Club on January 26.
“I’d say it was the happiest day since [Sandy] in the Rockaways,” organizer James Brennan said. “Moms and kids were hugging and sobbing and still kind of surprised.”
All of the presents were purchased, with an anonymous San Diego donor chipping in for the last $60,000 worth. Brennan even wound up with extra gifts that he was able to give out.
“[The kids] got what they wished for, and they were told to shoot for the stars,” Brennan said.
Brennan says this sort of project wouldn’t have been possible, and he wouldn’t have even tried, without Ziftit.
Meanwhile, Ziftit CEO Paul Buss, a friend of Brennan’s, was inspired by people’s reactions to allow other charities to carry out similar projects on his site.
“What people have said to me was, ‘If contributing was like this, they’d give more.’ Direct-impact gifting, that sort of emotional connection, produces a very strong response,” Buss said.
He plans to allow verified charities to create their own wish-list pages for gifts and is already talking with Make-A-Wish and the San Diego children’s hospital and police department.
Ziftit plans to leave beta and launch for real this month.