Swell Fundraising Software for Nonprofit Organizations Raises $500,000 in Venture Capital from Experienced Philanthropists

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#domoregood—Swell
Fundraising, a software company focused on helping nonprofit
organizations raise more money, announced today it secured $500,000 in
funding from four angel investors. Each one of the investors has
experience serving on the board of nonprofit organizations and point to
that experience as the main reason behind their support for Swell.

“Having been involved in volunteer activities and philanthropy for most
of my life, I think that fundraisers need to make data and social
networks work for them in a more creative and effective way,” said
Gillian Goodrich, Board Chair and Executive Director of the Mike and
Gillian Goodrich Foundation. “Swell Fundraising is poised to do that.
The software has the potential to improve giving at events and overall
giving and awareness in the philanthropic community.”

“Swell appealed to us because of founder Brooke Battle’s background and
the strength of the product,” added Charles Goodrich. “My experience on
nonprofit boards led me to believe that many were not fully capturing
the donations they could – especially at events. We knew there was a
need for the product.”

For Brooke Coleman, this is her first foray into angel investing and
offered to do so after working with Swell Founder Brooke Battle on the
board of the Women’s Fund in Birmingham and seeing the software at work
at the first Smart Party.

“The technology wasn’t just superimposed on top of the typical
fundraising event structure — like so many ‘tech’ solutions are in the
nonprofit world — it was integral to the form and function of the event
and enhanced the narrative: networking the organization’s supporters in
real time, merging personal and collective inspiration for giving to
achieve significant impact,” said Coleman. “I told Brooke that night
that I hoped I would have the chance to invest in her.”

Elizabeth Pharo is the Chair of the board of directors at Momentum
Telecom, an Alabama-based, cloud-based telecommunications company that
provides hosted VoIP, broadband services and unified communications
services. She has background in technology and start-ups and really
thought the software made sense from the first time she saw it in action.

“When I went to the first Smart Party and saw the software in action it
was eye opening — it really made sense,” said Pharo. “Brooke and I are
friends, so I know she understands the nonprofit community and I believe
she has created something solid that can grow.”

Swell
Fundraising Founder Brooke Battle plans to use the capital to expand
Swell’s product offering and aggressively market to the nonprofit
community.

“We love helping nonprofits take their event fundraising to a new level
but most importantly positioning them to do more good in the world. Most
of our business has been word-of-mouth/referral based and, with funding,
we can step up our marketing efforts and really the spread the news
about this platform,” said Battle.

Swell
recently announced its first full-time Team Lead for Marketing –
Maria Davis, Kevin Kilburn as the Team Lead for Software Development,
and Haley Nock as the Team Lead for Client Services.

Learn more about Swell Fundraising at SwellFundraising.com.

Contacts

Swell Fundraising
Helen Todd, APR, 205-907-3374
Helen@swellfundraising.com