How a 100-mile bike ride inspired a new way of fundraising – Lee Clark – Ep34

Normally when I do this podcast I chat with people from the technology community, normally those involved on the supply side, to discuss how the market is changing and how technology can help us deliver innovation and change into our organisations.

This week I wanted to do something a little different as the third and final part of our brief series on using the cloud, by looking at a real use case, someone who has embraced cloud technology to bring innovation to an industry.

I always admire those people who can spot a gap in a market, they see new and inventive ways of delivering products and services or ways of working with their customers, but sometimes bringing those ideas to fruition can be difficult and expensive. One of the most powerful things of the modern cloud driven era is how cloud providers have made technology much more accessible to those with great new business ideas, making it easier than ever for them to quickly, efficiently and importantly, for relatively low investment, exploit often very advanced technologies to help bring an idea to fruition.

This week I’m joined by someone who has done just that, Lee Clark of Givepenny UK.

Lee describes how a 100-mile charity bike ride, that he never got to do, made him think about a whole new way of fundraising. He realised that although he couldn’t do the actual 100-mile event, he had tracked many 100’s of miles of training with his smartphone app and realised how we all track and store masses of data about our everyday activities and how this data could be utilised to raise much needed money for charities in the UK.

We discuss a whole range of issues which comes with innovation, issues that are not unique to trying to launch something new, but are equally experienced by those trying to bring change into any organisation.

We look at how organisations are often crippled by their own behaviour, restricting their ability to embrace innovation, and how to overcome it.

Lee shares some of the ideas behind the Givepenny platform and how, by looking for new ways to engage potential fundraisers, has created a whole range of new opportunities for charities of all types.

We also discuss how cloud has made traditionally complex technology so much more accessible and how this accessibility allowed Givepenny to deliver a platform quickly, effectively and at a low cost, especially when compared to how the charity sector first engaged with technology as part of fundraising some 15 years ago.

And finally, we look at the importance of understanding the way technology is changing so many aspects of both our personal and business lives and why understanding this change is not just for those looking to deploy new innovations, but crucially those who make decisions about the future of an organisation, decisions that will have a significant impact on future success.

Lee shares with real enthusiasm about Givepenny’s journey and how they are looking to bring innovation to the charity sector, allowing them to create a whole new range of ways to engage with a very generous population who’d love to help, if they could.

You can find out more about Givepenny on their website givepenny.com and you can follow them on twitter @givepennyuk.

You can also follow Lee @jannerinbrum