Global Preservation Initiative switched from Stripe to Zeffy, and saved $400

Global Preservation Initiative has a clear mission: To help remedy the harmful impact of plastic consumption on Hawaii’s beautiful shorelines. They achieve this through volunteer-led clean-up efforts and teaching an educational curriculum designed to help students cultivate a deeper, more personal connection with the natural world. 

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Background

Before he founded the Global Preservation Initiative, Hawaiian-born Aaron Magee was a professional ballet dancer with a passion for the environment. Growing up in Hawaii, he’d been struck by the declining health of Hawaii’s complex ecosystems. One night, while watching a nature documentary on Hawaii’s damaged shorelines, he was struck by a simple comment made by his brother: “We should do something to help.” 

And so, the seeds for the Global Preservation Initiative were planted. 

“My brother’s belief made me feel we should do something about the oceans. I left my ballet career and spent six months researching the primary threats to the environment. I became interested in plastic pollution and commercial fishing after realizing how connected these two industries are to the degradation of our oceans.”  - Aaron Magee, Founder

Aaron began the nonprofit by hosting cleanups on the beaches and parks of Oahu. Though this work was important and satisfying, he soon realized the real root of the problem was not just carelessness–it was a lack of proper environmental education. Without tackling this larger problem, Aaron suspected Global Preservation Initiative wouldn’t achieve the scale of impact he’d envisioned. 

After almost one year of clean-ups, Aaron launched the nonprofit's education initiative, helping people to understand how their actions can positively (or negatively) impact the natural world. The ultimate goal of this curriculum is to highlight the interconnectedness of human and environmental health, so people feel empowered to care for the world around them.

“I launched our Education Initiative to deliver high-quality environmental education to students of all ages, focused on the interconnectedness of human and environmental health, highlighting plastic pollution, commercial fishing, and ocean conservation.”  - Aaron Magee, Founder

Global Preservation Initiative began its fundraising journey using Stripe. This worked well enough, but Stripe came with a processing fee. Frustratingly, this meant funds had to be redirected from the Global Preservation Initiative’s mission to its fundraising software. 

Plus, supporters who signed up for recurring donations were subject to additional processing fees. These losses were significant, and it made Aaron uncomfortable that his most didn’t most committed supporters were being penalized for their recurring contributions.

The impact of these processing fees was significant: the money that Global Preservation Initiative lost could have educated 23 students, engaged 23 volunteers, and removed a staggering 177 pounds of trash from the environment. 

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Discover why nonprofits like Global Preservation Initiative are switching from Stripe to Zeffy.

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Aaron first discovered Zeffy through an Instagram ad. At first, he was skeptical and skipped straight over it–surely, a completely free fundraising platform was too good to be true? But when the ad appeared again a few weeks later, he decided to take a closer look. 

“With so many different donation platforms charging for their product, it seemed unlikely that Zeffy would offer it for free. But when I set up the platform to see how it worked, it was just as advertised: Free software with no processing fees.”  -Aaron Magee, Founder

Once Aaron signed up for an account with Zeffy, he was excited to find the platform was free, exactly as advertised. Most importantly for Aaron, with Zeffy, his recurring donors were no longer subject to any additional processing fees–in fact, none of his donors were subject to any processing fees at all.

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Since signing up for Zeffy, the Global Preservation Initiative has raised a notable $8,668. They’ve also saved $433 in processing fees. This money now goes directly towards advancing the Global Preservation Initiative’s vision: Educating students, training volunteers, and launching clean-up operations to remove trash from the ocean. 

What began as a conversation about a nature documentary has sparked into an organization with 6 board members, 18 corporate sponsorships, 52 organizational partnerships, and countless supporters. The Global Preservation Initiative team looks forward to furthering its mission of cleaner, healthier coastlines well into the future. 

“By eliminating the time spent tracking processing fees associated with recurring donations, we are able to spend more time on our mission where it matters most.” - Adam Magee, Founder