Sustainably’s Subscription-Based Service for Good.

Scottish Fintech Sustainably has developed a subscription-based service which enables the opportunity for customers to automatically donate whenever they shop.

How does it work?

The fintech has created a method of philanthropy accessible for the everyday person with a busy life. Branded as 'smart-giving', the launch has two notable features.

• Round Ups, which uses open banking to micro-donate spare change.
• Monthly Happiness, which allows the user to donate monthly and see the immediate of said donation.

Individual users face no charge for utilising the service. Charities are offered a no donation, no fee service in exchange for a new income stream and anonymised supporter shopping trend data.

“We started with the idea of creating a product where doing good was effortless.  We examined urban lifestyles.  Every aspect of the app has been created to enable people to give in seamless ways, and see their impact.” Loral Quinn, Sustainably co-founder.

You choose a charity and connect your card in the app.  Then you get impact points and levels to show the difference you’re making. Impact points will become a currency in the future for loyalty rewards from your employer and the retailers you shop at.  Sustainably reward doing good so you get that do good, feel-good feeling.

How has it Evolved? 

Sustainably is the brainchild of Loral Quinn and Eishel Quinn. They teamed up with Mark McLauchlan who was formerly head of technology architecture at RBS/NatWest. E-commerce has experienced accelerated growth during Covid19, with Sustainably reporting a 60% rise in organic growth in the past six months.

‘Our innovative giving tech is designed to make it easy to give, and track your impact without sharing your personal details so you can give on your own terms.  Research shows that gen Z and millennials are the largest giving segment.  “86% of Gen Z and millennials (the UK's biggest givers) want to donate via mobile and see their impact. And while 50%+ of donations are still made in cash, we live in an increasingly cashless society.  People want to give with privacy, transparency and control.” says Eishel Quinn, the other co-founder of Sustainably.'

With links to 17 banks, you can choose a cause and connect your bank account to the Sustainably app. You start making a difference as soon as you shop on your card/connected device. The app allows you to track your impact as well as pausing/modifying donations and setting donation limits.  The minimum donation is £5 and supporters get instant impact updates showing the difference they’ve made when they donate.

“With Sustainably and our giving tech, we’ve set out to enable people to contribute towards something important everyday and see their impact, with their spare change.  The majority of Sustainably users are 18-35 year olds and they want to buy from and work for companies who do good.”  Notes Eishel Quinn who spearheaded the product development.

Sustainably currently support over forty good causes, ranging from removing plastic from oceans to teaching young girls how to code. And for 2021, any UK registered charity is able to sign up to Sustainably's services.

How is it Changing Everyday Philanthropy? 

The current landscape for giving is large but very fragmented. This ranges from sponsoring your friends, choosing causes for retailers to support or making regular donations to many different causes.

“We’re creating one place for all your giving, which manages your tax and tracks your impact.” says Quinn.

In addition, Sustainably never shares any of your personal data.  You're able to donate with the confidence that you won't be contacted by any additional third-parties looking for further donations. In addition, with Covid19 cancelling so many fundraising events, Sustainably has been able to not only provide a new daily income stream from cashless transactions but has enabled charities to connect and engage with a younger demographic.

Sustainably is crowdfunding to get more users and charities and launch its B2B platform this year to enable brands to give to causes their customer and employees care about in a simple, connected way.