Razoo Announces Record-Breaking Year for Charitable Giving

SAN FRANCISCO & WASHINGTON --(Business Wire)--

Razoo, the fastest growing crowdfunding platform for causes, today announced 2012 was its biggest year for charitable giving to date. Razoo raised more than $135 million dollars for 16,000 nonprofits across the country since inception with more than half raised in 2012.

Razoo's localized approach to giving has been a key success factor; its industry-leading Giving Days account for a large portion of the funds raised. Giving Days are 24-hour online fundraising competitions that combine gamification and deep social interaction to bring communities together for local causes. In November, Razoo's partnership with GiveMN broke a world record by raising $16.3 million for Minnesota charities in just 24 hours. 53,000 individuals contributed to the Giving Day and 4,300 nonprofits and schools received critical funding.

Razoo's 2012 Giving Days included:

14 targeted communities nationwide
336 hours of continuous giving
$25 million dollars raised from over 96,000 unique donors

"Giving Days are effective ways to bring communities together and highlight the great work that local nonprofits are doing. They create a sense of urgency and the gamified elements make Giving Days fun," said Lesley Mansford, CEO of Razoo. "Giving begins at home. Through Razoo's platform of localized giving we plan to exceed the number of Giving Days in 2013 with 8 already scheduled in the first quarter."

In addition to breaking records in 2012, Razoo is also a pioneer in the crowdfunding space by using sophisticated, real-time data visualization to drive social change. This video of the world-record Giving Day in Minnesota displays hour-by-hour donation activity.

This year also marked the inaugural nationwide #GivingTuesday - a day following Black Friday and Cyber Monday (News - Alert) devoted to giving back to those in need. Razoo partnered with a power house of corporations and nonprofits as an official giving platform to launch this inspiring new movement focused on philanthropy. The successful launch of #GivingTuesday resulted in a 50% increase in charitable giving through Razoo compared to the same date in 2011.

On #GivingTuesday, Razoo announced findings from its first annual snapshot of giving survey conducted by Harris Interactive (News - Alert). As shown in this infographic, "Donating to Others" ranked as number three following "Being in Love" and "Hugging Their Children" as "feel good" activities for the 2,000 American participants.

Razoo's own company growth matched 2012's explosive growth in giving. Razoo, originally headquartered in Washington DC, added a second headquarters in San Francisco this past summer. The executive team also expanded with the key hires of Jeremy Burton, Chief Technology Officer and Robert Carter, VP Product Development.

"2012 was a momentous year for Razoo and the many organizations we work with to increase the spirit of charitable giving year around," said Mansford. "We look forward to breaking bigger records and positively impacting even more communities with crucial funding needs in 2013."

About Razoo

Razoo is a venture funded social enterprise committed to transforming people's lives through meaningful giving. Its online platform facilitates crowdsourced fundraising for individuals and nonprofits. Razoo is also the leader in community giving days, whose platform has enabled the raising of millions of dollars for local communities around the country. With offices in San Francisco and Washington, DC, Razoo is seed funded by the Legatum Group. The name Razoo is of Australian and New Zealand origin. It refers to a coin of little value: when combined, these small contributions make a huge difference. For more information on Razoo, go to www.razoo.com; follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at @Razoo, or like us on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/razoogiving.