Work for Good in 2018

December is a great opportunity to take a step back from the day-to-day and reflect on the big picture, partly to learn from mistakes but mostly to take time to appreciate and celebrate the successes. It’s easy to look past small victories but they certainly add up!

2018…what a year. It’s been a journey, so much progress mixed with mistakes, learning, mini-pivots, joy and frustration. But then again what startup entering the scale up stage with a new idea ever had it easy?!

Here are our reflections of 2018:

2. We started the year by moving into our first office — a clear lesson in buy-cheap-buy-twice — and so in September we moved swiftly on into WeWork Stamford Street, so much more buzzy and inspiring. And full of startups who love what we do…or certainly, pretend to in exchange for a doughnut! (feel free to pop in for a coffee or beer if you’re in the area).

3. The team has grown to match our ambitions and progress, we’ve welcomed Lynelle Hills as our new CEO alongside hires in charity coverage, marketing, social media, sales and administration. We’ll be growing further in 2019 with the arrival of our marketing manager (there’s still time to apply if you’re interested!).

4. Collaboration and partnerships are critical in our monumental task of taking the smart giving philosophy to the UK’s 6m SME’s, so the support of the likes of the Lord Mayor / City of London, the Federation of Small Businesses, business club networks and many more have been invaluable. Particular thanks to Women’s Business Club and WeWork. We are looking forward to collaborating with more networks in 2019.

5. Campaigns have also been an important piece and we collaborated with the Disasters Emergency Committee on the Tsunami appeal, and are currently running a Christmas donation-doubling offer.

6. Media interest in our brand gathers pace. Our co-founder Danny never thought he’d be doing a photo-shoot for the front page of the Sun! (supplement).

7. We were delighted to win our first award when we were chosen as a Small Business 100 winner by the SmallBiz100.

8. The platform currently has over 580 businesses and charities, with sign-ups accelerating fast over the last 3 months.

A heartfelt thank you to our business and charity members, partners and wider network of supporters for all your encouragement throughout the year. 2018 has totally surpassed our expectations and we head to the festive break energised and excited about what 2019 has in store!