App allows you donate spare change to charity
By Maurice Garvey
TWO entrepreneurs have created an App, that allows you to donate spare change to a charity of your choice at the shopping till.
William Conaghan (27), a Kimmage resident and Lizzy Hayashida (34), recently won a €7,000 investment fund from Dublin City’s “Best Young Entrepreneurs” for their concept Change Donations.
William Conaghan and Lizzy Hayashida
The platform allows donors to round up their card purchases to the nearest euro for a charity or non-profit of their choice – its creators say it is “building a community of everyday philanthropists.”
“I was working on the idea for a few years with my brother but nothing came of it at the time,” said William, a Washington DC native, and Change Donations co-founder and CFO.
“When I moved here to pursue a MBA (Business and Admin) in Trinity, I met Lizzy [Change Donations co-founder and CEO], and we entered a sustainable business model competition in Trinity and won. It showed us it had legs, and was picking up traction.”
Following this early success, the pair engaged their social enterprise concept with supports available via the Dublin City Council Local Area Office, ultimately winning the ‘Best New Idea’ category and a €7,000 investment fund.
“We are in close contact with the LEO, which is fantastic,” said William.
“The App is still in Beta mode and not officially live or active yet, but we are hopeful it will be active by the end of summer, or September.”
People can sign up at Change Donations
Change Donations were also among a recent group of Irish tech start-ups accepted to join the latest Google Adopt a Startup Programme.
Winners from the Best Young Entrepreneurs progress to the Dublin regional finals on June 12.
Up to 24 national finalists will be selected at regional finals to compete for a national title on September 15, at Google’s European Headquarters in Dublin, with a €100,000 investment fund at stake.
TAGS Business
