Welcoming Kylie Wallace to the Purposely Podcast! In this episode, Kylie shares her inspiring co-founder story of launching Seedling Giving and her career journey from charity fundraiser to social entrepreneur.
With over 60,000 charities in Australia, choosing the right charity to support can be both difficult as well as overwhelming. Seedling Giving is a platform that helps match generous people and prospective donors to good causes. The platform provides a self-serve automated system for one-off and regular gifts, along with a personalised concierge service for major gifts over $25K.
Jess Bowman, Kylie's co-founder, is an experienced analyst with a passion for identifying great charities. Jess founded The Good Cause Co. in 2015, the precursor to Seedling Giving. Despite its initial success, The Good Cause Co. had to close due to funding challenges. Seedling Giving, however, has a sustainable model where donors pay to use the service, while charities save on fundraising costs.
Kylie and Jess did not know each other before starting Seedling Giving. From Kylie's perspective, she began looking for a list of charities and more information on good causes she could support. Alongside her online research, she spoke to colleagues in the sector. During this time, she came across The Good Cause Co. and reached out to Jess. Kylie was happy to share her difficulties in finding reliable places to send money, highlighting a gap in the sector. Initially interested in buying some of The Good Cause Co.’s assets, Kylie realised that they would be great partners. Together, they decided to build the new venture—Seedling Giving—which has so far distributed over $1.2 million to good causes.
Kylie grew up in a family where giving back was a core value. She attended a school which instilled a strong sense of community and support for others. Her involvement in local community volunteering and with the aid charity World Vision, where she became a spokesperson for the 40 Hour Famine, led to a transformative experience in India. This period solidified her determination to focus her career on purpose-driven work.
Kylie brings 15 years of experience in the not-for-profit and Corporate Social Responsibility sectors as a fundraising and marketing expert. She has a strong background in startup environments, creating innovative campaigns with minimal budgets and evolving them into successful global movements. Notably, she played a key role in launching and growing the Polished Man campaign. Kylie's achievements have earned her recognition as one of Australia’s leaders in the field. She has received accolades such as the ‘Mover and Shaker’ award by Fundraising and Philanthropy Magazine (2019), the Lift Women Backers Choice Award (2022), and was a finalist for Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2023) and the Startup Network Impact Pitch Challenge (2023).
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