SEATTLE — United Way of King County today announced a philanthropic partnership to bring the Network of Giving to the Seattle market.
The Network of Giving is a powerful hyper-local digital platform that fosters a community-minded movement through the connection of local consumers and merchants to community and charitable organizations – while creating efficiencies in digital fundraising.
Gordon McHenry, Jr., President and CEO of United Way of King County, stated, “United Way of King County is pleased to help bring the Network of Giving platform with its benefits for local merchants, community organizations, and other non-profits. The Network of Giving provides another foundation for enhancing and strengthening our communities and aligns with our impact and mission. We are excited to lead its release into the Seattle market and hope to see it reach other United Ways across the country. It has the potential to enhance United Way’s positioning to provide critical support where it is needed most.”
“At United Way we want to make the biggest impact possible and lift each other up. With digital commerce and the Network of Giving, we can seamlessly and efficiently benefit the equitable recovery of our community,” McHenry added.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” said Steven Hooper Jr, President of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, “The Network of Giving platform aligns perfectly with our approach and philosophy as an organization. The Network of Giving enables significant support for the economic recovery of local merchants and provides tools to grow their business and give back to the community. As a founding merchant partner of the Network of Giving, and a strong local supporter of Seattle’s business community and United Way of King County, I believe the Network of Giving enables merchants to sustain their business, empowers consumers to support local, and enables the United Way to increase its positive impact in the community.”
“Our team is working with United Way of King County, Ethan Stowell Restaurants (ESR) and the entire community to release America’s first Network of Giving in Seattle.” stated Rob Bennett, CEO of SMB4.0, the organization that enables the Network of Giving Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, “We know local businesses provide character and individuality to any community. They inspire, strengthen, and stabilize our local economies. The Network of Giving platform is a result of our unmatched commitment to delivering revolutionary, robust technology that is firmly grounded in the core principles of service, accountability, and innovation to better the community. For those local businesses, the Network of Giving changes the playing field by providing sought-after digital capabilities that deliver measured results on their marketing spend, create actionable insights that elevate their customers’ experience, and activate a community-minded movement.”
Bennett added, “The Network of Giving is our unique, full-automated solution that’s designed to meet the multiple needs of the community while requiring that everyone just continue to do what they normally do best. Recognizing that those needs are great right now in every community, Seattle citizens, businesses, and community organizations now have the premiere, digital solution that unites them and differentiates how local merchants can grow their businesses financially and socially.”
About United Way of King County
United Way of King County is committed to working toward a racially just community where all people have homes, students graduate, and families are financially stable.
Signature United Way of King County programs include Home Base, which helps people with rental assistance and avoid eviction; ParentChild+ helps struggling parents gain the skills to be their child’s first, best teacher; Reconnecting Youth helps young people earn a diploma or GED because education is one of the best ways to end the cycle of poverty; and Bridge to Finish, a program that helps community college students finish their education by providing emergency grants, financial training and access to public resources at 10 campuses in King County. In 2020 United Way launched the Community Relief Fund to provide rental and food assistance to those most impacted by the economic impacts of COVID-19.
United Way of King County directly impacts community thanks to a substantial endowment originally seeded by the Gates Foundation and designed to offset the bulk of organizational operating costs. Visit: www.uwkc.org
About Ethan Stowell Restaurants
Founded in 2007, Ethan Stowell Restaurants is a highly acclaimed restaurant group in Seattle founded and led by Chef Ethan Stowell. Ethan Stowell Restaurants include Tavolàta, How to Cook a Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, Ballard Pizza Co., Rione XIII, Mkt., Red Cow, Frēlard Pizza Co., Cortina, Cortina Cafe, The San Juan Seltzery, and Goldfinch Tavern in the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle. In 2019, Wolf opened in the Nordstrom flagship store in New York City. Visit: www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com
About the Network of Giving
The proprietary Network of Giving platform transforms communities and businesses by establishing an elevated standard of excellence in corporate and community social responsibility. The Network of Giving powers digital commerce with purpose by linking banking, fundraising, and marketing to inspire community contributions by businesses and consumers – at no cost to the consumer. The Network of Giving is committed to providing financial and social empowerment to drive positive change in communities and the world.
The Network of Giving Software-as-a-Service platform is delivered by SMB4.0 and enables digital marketing opportunities for local businesses utilizing rich tokenized data to drive business decisions with a measured result on marketing spend. This enables and empowers business owners to gain key analytics and real-time actionable insights from the data. Visit: www.networkofgiving.com