Interview with Sybren Raaijmakers, Co-founder and CEO at StartGiving
If I ever publish an autobiography, this would be its tagline:
“endless enthusiasm and wonder”
Difficult question actually – not sure, I think if it has to be a title that refers to me the one above would fit but if it would have to be specifically about StartGiving or my work for it I would have to come up with something else. I do think I would make it light though, I mean, it’s an autobiography after all. However, I don’t think such a book will ever exist – nobody needs that.
You are based in Frankfurt, what do you love about the social impact community there?
I am currently based in Frankfurt, but I travel a lot for work (mainly my day-job but I try to combine it with appointments with potential clients for StartGiving). StartGiving is about to open its doors in the Netherlands after a successful launch in Germany, and it will hopefully not be the last country that we go live this year.
However, a very scattered legal, regulatory landscape with regard to non-profits makes the European market very difficult for a StartUp to operate in.
Tell us more about your vision for StartGiving and why you started this charity.
Our vision is to combine the power of the financial industry which is normally only accessible for the ultra-wealthy to doing good. There are many people working in the financial industry with the best of intentions, and many more understand that making a positive impact is the way forward.
This is why we were able to give everyone and every company the ability to donate into a fund and grant the returns coming from this fund to the causes that lie closest to their heart. Bill Gates also doesn’t just give away his money – keeping it in a sustainable fund gives him the power to decide on a year to year basis which projects to support.
This way you can make a lasting impact, year after year after year.
Our true goal is to achieve this over generations – that way your grandchildren can go back in time and see what impact you’ve had during your lifetime on other people’s lives and can continue a legacy of creating positive change by contributing themselves. Teaching the next generation to value what they were given just by being born in the right place and how to share that with others. Ultimately we want to be able to offer our donors our own-run projects. This way we would be able to be 100% transparent and accountable, and our community would be able to decide on what they find important!
Was there a certain moment when you decided, that you wanted to build something from scratch?
Yes, very much so. I walked around with the idea for a few years and couldn’t find anything that was like it – so I ultimately gathered enough courage to make the first step and take out a loan. It
It was – and still is- very scary and exciting.
The legal and regulatory environment is difficult, and because we have no profit goals, it is hard to convince investors to put their trust in us.
Who inspires you personally?
My current inspiration is a good friend of mine – he is the laziest person I know but ultimately very calm and never judges – unless he’s drunk. I wish I had a bit more of his personality. But truthfully, there are so many people who inspire me. I’m impressed by the variety of things the people around me do, what they value and how they live their lives. I guess you could say I’m very lucky with my friend group.
Do you measure your impact?
Yes, at the moment very crudely but we are developing methods to become better at this.
This takes a lot of time and a lot of resources though so we are also looking to seek partnerships with organizations that make impact measurement their main goal. In the end, the goal is to provide our users with a clear overview of the exact impact they’ve had – not a romantic image but a truthful image. Saying that “Already 10,- Euros can give a child education in [countryname]” is not measuring impact because it ultimately hides the truth. It doesn’t say that “if you donate 10,- a child in[countryname] will get education for a week”, it only tells you that 10,- can do that – not how much of every donated 10,- is lost in an organization.
What do you wish you would have known before starting out?
The mistakes I made in the meantime with the development of our platform – I would’ve started looking for content creators, assessors etc. way earlier in progress.
Also, I wish I would have known better about the legal complexities in trying to deal with the Tax authorities in Germany – or probably any country for that matter. Knowing all the exact requirements would have saved us quite a bit of back-and-forth. Luckily all we lost was a bit of time.
What is the craziest thing you did so far to market your business?
Begging – not on my knees but it was definitely begging (virtual haha).
We have a lot of ideas but are looking for people who can support us. Unfortunately, marketing costs either a lot of time or money and we currently have neither as we both still have a full-time job too (to pay off the loan and our bills). As soon as a student or someone else would be willing to help us out, we’d be able to do so much more though.
How will you sustain your organisation?
Willpower and enthusiasm – and after we’ve survived the first year, hopefully, a few good clients.
What gives you the worst sleepless nights right now?
All the open tasks that we have – we need dedicated people! I wish I could just quit my job right away and work full-time on StartGiving but that’s a dream still on the horizon for now.
What was the most memorable moment working with StartGiving?
Going live at the start of March – I never felt so proud in my life of anything I’ve done. Not my school or university diploma, not my first job, nothing made me feel that proud.
It was a very strange feeling to experience.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring change-makers, what would that be?
Ask, ask ask.
Ask questions, seek out others who’ve been there and ask for their advice.
I am always open to questions of people and love helping others out. Every person I approach I do with the same enthusiasm because I expect everyone to have this basic setting too, I am often disappointed, but I’m not willing to give up. So, in a sense, be a bit ‘dumb’Â about it, just run into that wall a million times without giving up and losing your enthusiasm.
Eventually, it will break.
Of course, you need to assess whether you are the problem but don’t lose your enthusiasm! And the last tip, reflect – more often than not we are the problem ourselves, not the other person.
Where can we follow you?
On Facebook and check out our website as well!Â
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