A Denver-based web and mobile development company is providing its technology services to nonprofit organizations at cost. Ceylon Solutions recently added a new service offering called Good Web Development Services (GWDS) to help organizations that help others. This new service is a part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts.
The first client to reap the benefits of this service was New York City-based PVBLIC Foundation, an in-kind grant-making organization that harnesses the power of unused media assets to drive social change. Rachel Gerrol, Executive Director at PVBLIC Foundation, said that the affordable technology services provided by Ceylon Solutions have been “extremely valuable” to the organization.
“Ceylon Solutions is helping us achieve our mission of supporting key non-profits at the local, national and global levels,” Gerrol said. “We couldn’t be happier about this partnership.”
Since its founding in 2005, Ceylon Solutions has provided web and mobile development services to more than 500 clients ranging from large associations such as The American Library Association, to large companies, and small local businesses. The company is also currently working with several tech start-ups in the areas of social networking, public safety, crowdfunding, cloud-based point-of-sale utility software, and more.
Ceylon Solutions created the innovative real estate mobile application called TrackTi, which was acquired by a large company shortly after launching in 2013. Ceylon Solutions also developed the technology for SoRewarding.com, “the social network for for philanthropy,” which won the “Next Big Thing” award at Denver Startup Week in Fall 2013.
Ceylon Solutions utilizes a combination of on-shore and off-shore staffing. Executive staff and client services roles are based in the U.S. while the technical development staff is in based Sri Lanka. This model allows for exceptional cost savings for the company, which in turn is passed along to the clients.
More needs to be done from a CSR perspective and this is one example of how things are headed in the right direction.
For more information, contact: info@ceylonsolutions.com.
Dear family, friends, colleagues and SoRewarding community,
Before the hustle and bustle of the holidays begins, I wanted to take a moment and thank each of you for your continued support of SoRewarding and our mission to spread goodness and integrate giving into people’s daily lives.
Today, an incredible man named Nelson Mandela passed away. As I read all the kind words and farewell posts on social media from around the world, I’m reminded that no matter how long a person lives (in Mandela’s case – a good long 95 years), our time on Earth is still limited. So the question is: What is it that you plan to leave behind? In Mandela’s case, he left behind a wealth of love along with examples of how to care for one another and promote peace.
His life is a good reminder that serving others, doing good, and spreading love is so much more fulfilling than only serving ourselves. I work a lot – almost 18 hours a day between the two companies I founded, SoRewarding and Demetrio Tequila. But recently, I’ve also tried to make more of an effort to appreciate each day and enjoy the people whom I’m fortunate to have in my life.
Many of you who know me know that my goals in life have been simplified over the last few years. I want to live a life that I can be proud of, try and never hurt anyone, help those in need, spend time with the people I love, take care of my family, and help as many people as I can without any expectations or needing anything in return.
I’m sure most of you aspire to some similar goals – and I’m sure you all know how easy it is to get distracted by “the daily grind” and forget about what you want to get out of life. I’ve struggled with it for years and continue to even today. But I’ve realized that when I truly stay focused on achieving these goals, I find myself to be a much happier and grateful person.
If you stop and think about it, most of us are extremely fortunate. If we have something to eat, a roof over our heads, the love of family and friends and the spare time to be reading this crazy rant of mine, then we’re doing better than most of the people in this world. But how often do we actually stop and feel grateful for all that we have? For me, it actually takes quite a bit of reminding each day and then only does my day start to really feel spectacular.
2013 has been an interesting year for SoRewarding, to say the least.
I knew when I founded SoRewarding that it was not going to be an easy road. Although social enterprises are somewhat of a hot topic today, five years ago, it really wasn’t. So trying to convince investors and even nonprofits and businesses that we were building something truly innovative and useful that would benefit communities as a whole was difficult. But with the help of a few investors and a great team, we headed towards making SoRewarding a reality.
After four years of tinkering around, research, development, re-development, etc., we finally launched our go-to-market site at the end of 2012 and we started off on full throttle, heading to the stars. Towards the middle of the year, we ran out of gas as one of our lead investors and friend of mine exited the company for personal reasons. This was an extremely tough time for the company and we had to lay off a good portion of our staff while we tried to figure out how to keep the momentum we had built up.
So, our lead investor leaves and there we were, trying to figure out what to do next. Do we close up shop? Do we sell it? What to do? Well, as it turns out, I was only good at doing one thing at that point. I’m terribly embarrassed to say, but I just moped around for a few weeks while feeling extremely sorry for myself. But more importantly, I felt horrible for having to let go of some of my colleagues who had also become good friends of mine.
So what did we end up doing? The few of us who were left decided that we were going to pursue our mission of making SoRewarding the stellar site we knew it could be – so that’s exactly what we did.
Today, I’m extremely thrilled to announce our latest and greatest release of our site. Our CTO, our Director of Ops and our development team have outdone themselves with this release and I couldn’t be more proud. Below are some quick highlights about the website, and some other exciting news from the past couple months:
- This week, SoRewarding.com hit its 1 millionth unique visitor – a big milestone for us.
- Today, we unveiled our newly designed site – a much cleaner and simpler experience with some really cool technologies. Have a look when you get a chance.
- With today’s launch, we also opened up our site for 3rd party integrations. (http://www.sorewarding.com/developers)
- SoRewarding won the “Next Big Thing” award at Denver Startup week in September.
- We recently announced a really exciting new partnership with PVBLIC Foundation. Together, we plan to make a lasting and meaningful impact in the philanthropic space.
- We are extremely proud to see a financial company like Janus Capital Group taking a leap into enhancing their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts. We are seeing more big names join us in making a positive impact in the community. Janus Capital Group has many cool initiatives planned, but one example of how they plan to work with SoRewarding is through the use of SoRewarding’s trackable “Spread Kindness” wristbands to promote kindness as a company – really awesome to see.
As 2013 draws to a close and we eagerly look forward to 2014, I’m truly energized for the future of SoRewarding and excited to watch as our platform continues to transform communities and make philanthropy and spreading kindness a part of people’s daily lives.
Remember that question I asked earlier about “What is it that you plan to leave behind?” Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, I just want to cut out all the superficial stuff and enjoy each day, each person, each moment as though it was the last thing I did. And when my time comes, I hope to somehow (not sure exactly how yet – I’m working on it) leave this world knowing that I hopefully made a positive impact in the lives of the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet, but also in the lives of those I didn’t.
People – that’s what life is about. Not material things, not our status in life, not ourselves, but others. As 2014 begins, let’s focus each day on how we can serve one another and make this life worthwhile.
Here’s to a happy life! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7uIG8KYhg
Marion
That is awesome, you guys look great!! #socialgood #philanthropy #dogood #fundraiser #nptech RT @SaraSpringerr “Party for the Pacific @SoRewarding 🎉🌊 http://ow.ly/o3Nbx
We got a Facebook message over the weekend that got my wheels spinnin’. We get facebook messages from time to time, all of which are typical. When’s your next event? Are you guys hiring? I didn’t see this one picture that you guys took? Etc. But this weekend, we got a message from a long-time twitter/facebook friend. And if this person posed this question, then I can be sure others are thinking the same thing. Respecting privacy, I’m going to copy/paste the question and response below:
So quick question, I’ve been following you guys quite some time on Twitter and Facebook and I was wondering how exactly do you guys help out non-profit organizations and local businesses? do they pay you to throw events and such?
Hello,
Thanks for writing. SoRewarding helps non-profit organizations and local businesses in a variety of ways, and events are one of those ways. The website, SoRewarding.com, is a robust social network and platform which helps Nonprofits fundraise. A nonprofit can request a discount to a local business that benefits their organization. A nonprofit can create an online fundraiser for their organization. A nonprofit can host events and sell tickets to benefit their organization. In addition to features for nonprofits, SoRewarding allows passionate individuals to make an impact, through donating or fundraising, purchasing event tickets or discounts.
To answer your second question, SoRewarding events partner a local Nonprofit and a local business. We select impactful nonprofits and socially responsible businesses. It’s free to both the businesses and the nonprofit. We collaborate. We theme a night, set a date, add some drinks/food to the mix, and create a ticket that benefits the nonprofit. SoRewarding hosts these events to introduce people to the website by showing them the functionality. We’re looking for people who support and will use our product, so at the events you’ll see us chatting with folks. I invite you to attend one of these fundraising events in your area, and if you know of a local nonprofit or business that would be interested, have them reach-out.
When you have a moment, please browse the SoRewarding.com, I’d certainly appreciate your feedback. Many, many thanks for the message and continued support. If I can provide you with more information, or answer additional questions, I happily will.
Facebook…
I know, you’re thinking… all that in a Facebook message?! You’re in luck, i’ve writen up a tl;dr.
tl;dr – SoRewarding Fundraising events/parties is our way of introducing businesses, nonprofits and individuals to SoRewarding.com. These events, which are held around the country, are an example of how SoRewarding can be used to fundraise.
SoRewarding eats, breathes, and sleeps fundraising. Rest assured that if you use your card on SoRewarding, you’re making a donation. What’s your opinion of SoRewarding? Have you used the website? Share your experience with us in the comments!
Nonprofit page with 501c3 designation.
I want to get involved with helping others. How can I get the ball rolling with SoRewarding? Sometimes our innovative and completely unique platform can be confusing or intimidating for individuals. Here are five simple and easy ways you can use SoRewarding to be kind and make a difference. In partnership with compelled individuals, cause-minded businesses, and passionate Nonprofits – SoRewarding has raised thousands of dollars for various non-profits alleviating city issues.
1. Be a part of it
You’re probably saying ‘How does creating an account help me give?’ SoRewarding is the only social network for philanthropy. So every individual, business, and Nonprofit on the site is there because they want to be. Creating an account is inherently positive. You’re taking a step to support causes, movements, and activities that are kind-hearted and philanthropic.
https://www.sorewarding.com/signup
2. Discount at a local business – Donation to a local Nonprofit
Browse local businesses in your area, read about them, and send a request for a discount & donation. Businesses on SoRewarding often times accept requests, as they know a portion (5%) of each discount sold will be donated to a 501c3 NPO. Even though it’s 5%, on scale, these micro donations do add up.
Discount Requested from Whole Foods to Benefit American Lung Assocation.
https://www.sorewarding.com/new-discount
3. Create a Fundraising Campaign
Anyone can create a fundraiser page in minutes on SoRewarding. Set a Fundraising goal, tell the story, add photos, videos, and invite your friends. Give updates and help your favorite nonprofit raise money so they can continue to do what they do. SoRewarding continues to grow in its widespread use and all donations to verified 501c3 Nonprofits are tax-deductible.
Create a fundraiser to benefit your favorite nonprofit. Or create a personal fundraiser.
http://www.sorewarding.com/new-fundraiser
4. Post your event on SoRewarding… Donate to your favorite cause
You can create an event for any type of gathering; public or private on SoRewarding. From one centralized location, you can manage the attendance for your event and communicate with your audience. You can even sell tickets for your event! A minimum of $1 per ticket is donated to a 501c3 for every event on SoRewarding – but if you want to donate more per ticket, you can customize it exactly how you want. If you’re not selling tickets, instead of gifts, request your attendees make a donation to a nonprofit. Why not use a ticket platform that gives-back?
For every ticket sold on SoRewarding – at least $1 is donated to a nonprofit.
https://www.sorewarding.com/new-event
5. Gift someone a Kindness Band
Kindness bands were started as a way to encourage random acts of kindness and to create a chain of kindness that connects people from around the world. As each person receives a band, they document how they received it. Gifting someone a Kindness Band could start a domino effect that inspires kindness near and far.
Be kind, do good.
https://www.sorewarding.com/band
These are just a few of the ways that you can utilize SoRewarding to make a difference. Try a few of them and write your experience in our comments. In times of negativity and struggle, SoRewarding can be your place of tranquility and positivity. Restoring your faith in humanity, that there are individuals in this world, like you, who want to leave this place better than they found it.
$15 adults, $7 kids, including unlimited: food from local #colorado artisans and #microbrews. @colorado @wfmdenver http://www.sorewarding.com/deals/51ac11404063887d6347996d/show
My name is Kerstan Saylor and I am one of the Directors for Events here at SoRewarding. Each and every day I feel blessed to be able to come to the job that I have not only because of the wonderful team that I get to work with each and every day, but also because of the work we get to do!
As a college student I dreamt of being an Event Coordinator and never imagined that my 2nd job out of college would be my dream job. Working for SoRewarding as an Event Coordinator is my dream job because I get to be creative every day and I get to work with amazing non-profit organizations. It really is SoRewarding to come to work and know that the work you do each day is helping make a change.
I recently came across a nonprofit that I was inspired by and I wanted to share them with you, maybe you too will be inspired? The nonprofit organization is called Project Anti-Bully and they are based out of Naples, Florida. I had a few interactions with this organization though twitter and Facebook that developed into a conversation with the founder of this nonprofit.
I was touched by this nonprofit because I think that everyone of us has experienced bullying in one way or another. Whether it is something you have experienced personally or maybe someone close to you has. It might be something you went through as a child or as an adult. It may have been verbal or physical. Everyone’s experience is different but no matter how bullying has affected you, we all know how much it hurts. Bullying has impacted my live through family members and friends and the emotional impact I have seen by this is truly disheartening. When it affects you personally, you understand the need for the change.
I love that Project Anti-Bully has capitalized on using students across the world to be their hands and feet to get their fight against bullying out there. Through their campaigns they are able to do this. The organization has three campaigns with can be found here: http://www.projectbully.com/campaigns.html. I was able to get a sneak peak of their 4th campaign that will be launching here soon and it sounds just as exciting as the others!
I love that this student-run organization is already in 21 different countries after only having been founded in 2006. It makes me realize the impact that we all can have in this world and it inspires me to continue my work here at SoRewarding; to continue to spread our mission for helping others and spreading kindness.
I hope you take the time to check out Project Anti Bully as well as some of the other amazing non-profits on SoRewarding. There are so many great organizations, causes and ways for you to get connected and get involved with your community. Be inspired to go out there and be the change you wish to see in the world. Don’t let time pass you by. Life is short; don’t take it for granted.
Not really a little act of kindness, but I feel I should share.
I came from a very wealthy, Jewish family. I used to get a lot of money for Channukah and Pesach, and various other Jewish holidays (I don’t follow those customs anymore). Usually around $300-400 over the course of a year, in cash, starting when I was about 7. Now mind you, this money was coming from my grandparents, not my parents. My parents would hold onto the money that my grandparents gave me and put it in my wallet when we got home.
By the time I was about 13 years old, I had about $4,500 dollars in cash in my wallet. This money was collected mainly through chores and work around the house. My father never spoiled me, and usually made me work for my money, depending on the occasion. I would paint the walls sometimes or clean windows, etc. From my Bar Mitzvah, I had $27,000 in the bank.
At around that time, my father was teaching me how to become financially responsible. He would teach me about check books, jobs, how to invest money, etc.
Around a year later, when I was 14 years old, I decided I wanted to keep all my money in the bank for safe keeping (this was around Christmas time and Chanukkah time. I believe December 15th-20th). My father and I walked to the bank together, with all my cash..
I saw a homeless man, about 40 years old with a seven year old child. They looked emaciated. I was heartbroken. I thought about what my life would have been like if I was that child. All of these thoughts were running through my head; terrible thoughts. The father was wearing a brown coat with a large tear in the seams of the armpit. The boys face was filthy and he looked cut up near the forehead. They were wearing trashy pants, and were on cardboard. Unshaven, unkempt, and discombobulated. They had a shopping cart full of bottles and cans. I just stared, and stared, and stared. My father was tugging at my arm, trying to pull me along. I’ve seen homeless men before, but this father and son, they just looked so… so innocent. The father didn’t look like those old homeless guys you see on the street. They weren’t begging for money at all, just sitting there under their rag of a blanket, and the child with his oversized jacket, trying to sleep on his fathers arm. They looked desperate, but I don’t think the father wanted to give up his pride by begging for money in the streets. So that’s where they lived, getting by day by day.
The father was cradling his son, unsure of what would happen next in their life. He looked like he really cared. The boy looked so upset, more than any other child I’ve ever seen in my life. Their life was in ruins, it seemed.
The boys father, teary eyed and full of despair, stared straight at me, and I stared back. His eyes slowly dropped to the floor, and back to his son, petting his hair to comfort him. I just felt so terrible. To this day, I’m unsure whether the homeless man was embarrassed or just sad.
I felt like doing something. I reached into my pocket, and took out my wallet. I walked over to him and handed this man whom I have never met in my life, my life’s savings of $4,500 dollars. He just looked at me.. unsure of what to say. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He looked into the wallet, and saw 7 $100 bills at first glance.
Words can not describe the happiness on this mans face. He started crying, literally. Tears rolling down his face. This homeless man.. he leaps up, and runs over to me, and hugs me, then my father. The homeless man was thanking my father for raising me so well, and being such a wonderful role model.
The boy was sitting there still, just staring at us without emotion. Again, I’m not sure if he understood what was going on.
He was so happy, and I knew I changed this mans life completely, maybe even saved it. He asked me what my name was, and I told him. He just repeated my name twice under his breath in a way to try and memorize it. He asked me where I lived, and I just looked at my father, unsure of what to say. He was just standing there, mouth agape. But he composed himself and shook his head slightly, meaning no. So I told the homeless man, “don’t worry about it, just use the money wisely.”
It felt weird giving away all my money, and it was difficult, but now that I’m all grown up, I finally understand that it was worth every. single. penny.
Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
It’s a novel concept, doing something that not only benefits you but also benefits others around you. You may have heard of it as a ‘win-win situation’ – designed to benefit all participants. People have heard about it, but not many of us have seen it in practice. It’s more like some unachievable goal in a distant far off land, it’s possible, but takes too much effort. Often times the mindset is something like this: for everyone to benefit – I’ll need to benefit first and then I’ll help everyone, which can results in a perpetual ‘me’ state.
SoRewarding helps you, your business, or your organization to make a positive and long-lasting impact in your neighborhood. For this blog entry, let’s elaborate on how Businesses can use SoRewarding.
Connecting
For businesses, the goal is to make connections with people. As a business, you make connections with a positive, kind and generous audience by creating a page on SoRewarding.com. Individuals, fellow businesses and Nonprofits will see your business page on SoRewarding. You’ll want to make sure your information is complete (links to your website, FB, etc.) so that users are able to explore who you are and make that initial connection.
Giving
To give… is easier said than done. How can my business give? I’m sure it’s something that every successful business owner has put some thought into. After all, we’re here because of the loyal support of our friends, family and community… It’s only natural to want to give-back.
How about offering your product or service at less than the normal rate? This rewards your current customers and attracts new ones to try your business. How about giving a percentage of the sales to a local non-profit? … ready for a Matrix moment?
What if I told you that you could do both, through SoRewarding.com and… it’s easy. It doesn’t take more than a couple minutes if you have your business page set up. As to not detract from this blog entry, you can learn more about publishing discounts, here.
Growth
I’ve connected with a new audience. I’ve published an offer that rewards my customers and that also gives to local Nonprofits. My question is this, has this really helped the growth of my business?
Well, let’s look at the numbers. In 2011, 65% of households donated to charity.2 As a household that donates to charity, you should assume that that same household will also be more inclined to support businesses who donate to charity versus those who don’t. A study conducted by Cone Inc. in 2010 found that 90% of consumers (about 278 million people) want to know what cause your business supports. A whopping 79% of consumers would switch to a brand associated with a good cause and 83% wish more of the products and services they purchase and retailers they use would support causes.3
Community
If you’ve followed along up until this point, I hope you’re able to paint a picture of how everyone in a community benefits from socially responsible businesses. Focusing on philanthropic work as a local business has the added benefit of being able to see the people you are helping too. So now that you’ve been given the information and the tools… get to giving! I invite you to use www.SoRewarding.com for an easy-to-use site that connects with kindness.
For our Nonprofit friends who follow our blog, you may find that this FREE webinar is useful in getting your Social Media Strategy tightened up.
Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Time: 1pm-2:30 EDT
Cost: $50 or Webinar Special
How to Register: Sign up!
Presented By: Heather Mansfield
View: All Webinars for Nonprofits
This webinar demonstrates how nonprofits can implement a successful social media strategy in twelve steps. Topics include understanding how much time social and mobile media requires, how to track return on investment (ROI), and how to craft a social media policy for your nonprofit. Attendees will also learn the importance of integrating all their communications channels to maximize awareness of their cause and online donations, as well as gain a realistic understanding of how much financial resources are required to be successful on the Social Web.
Related Links:
On-Demand: Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Webinar Series for Nonprofits
Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits
11 Obvious Signs Your Nonprofit Needs Social Media Training
SoRewarding.com 