Hello and welcome,

Over the past several years, we’ve put our heart and soul into making a great product that’s gained us thousands of loyal users. When we launched Piryx in 2009, we had no idea just what it would become – or what we would learn from it. Piryx gave us the amazing opportunity to help people champion the causes they care about. But it also gave us valuable insight into what people truly want from their fundraising platform.

What started out as a white-label political fundraising platform evolved into a space for causes of all sorts, with nonprofits and individuals using it too. We realized how many people were looking for a way to connect with donors online. Our focus shifted from merely powering transactions to helping causes build relationships as well. We knew we needed to retool the Piryx platform to better deliver on this vision. Enter Rally.

So, what’s different?

With Rally, we’ll give users a more fluid, social, and powerful product:

It’s empowering. With the new Fan Fundraiser feature, your supporters can raise money on your behalf with their own personalized donation pages.

It turns your content into contributions. Rally helps you interact with your community by sharing photos, videos, and messages. This content provides a way to build relationships and provide more opportunities for supporters to give.

It looks better. You’ll have access to professionally designed themes that instantly provide an elegant look and feel to your donation pages.

It’s intelligent. You’ll be able to track where contributions are coming from and which content donors respond to most generously, helping you better optimize each campaign.

Like Piryx, Rally is free to set up and only charges a small transaction fee. If you’re currently using Piryx, rest assured that we’ll help you migrate seamlessly to the new platform soon – make sure to check out the Rally blog for more updates. We’re excited about this new phase in our company’s growth, and we’re more committed than ever to helping you grow your network of supporters and connect more deeply with donors.

Cheers,

Tom Serres
CEO and Founder

(Source: blog.rally.org)

The trucks came, the keys were turned in, and there was one last party to say goodbye. Yes, it’s true - we moved! We’ve got a brand new office in downtown San Francisco and are excited about the new space. We’ll be picking up steam in the months ahead, so it only made sense to find an appropriate casa for our growing team of changemakers.

The new space is on 144 2nd Street, and we’ll be throwing events there soon enough with all our social do-gooder friends. With our budding enthusiasm, passion, and desire to build a better world, we’re in the right place to make great things happen.

We want to give a shout out to the awesome folks at the New England Give Camp. Last April 29 - May 1, 120 volunteers commenced to help 28 non-profit organizations in a weekend long hackathon. The event took place at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) Center in Cambridge MA, and volunteers took on projects such as website and database development, as well as include Piryx as their fundraising solution. We caught up with Microsoft Developer Evangelist Jim O’Neil on the event, and more.

The event began on Friday evening going over logistics, the nature of the work, and face-to-face meetings. Over the weekend the volunteers and non-profits worked through the night to complete their assignments. Technology professionals present included designers, developers, database administrators, and web strategists.

Regarding fundraising and reaching donors with technology, Piryx’s toolset proved to be a great fit for the Give Camp. One organization in particular- Garrett Pressley Autism Resource Center- utilized our fundraising tool, and were able to integrate Piryx into their site over the weekend.

“The fact that the integration occurred as quickly and smoothly as it did definitely lessens the technical barriers and the anxiety that some of the organizations have felt when considering incorporating such a feature into their site, ” said O’Neil.

We’re very humbled to find that our tools helped at the event. For more information on the New England Give Camp and other non-profit organizations involved, you can visit their site. We want to thank Jim for taking the time with us, and wish him good luck in his endeavors.

This month we’re focusing our Charity Spotlight on a courageous young man who has recently undergone personal hardship. Patrick Rein is a recent graduate from the The Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, and has just lost his fiancée, Elizabeth.

May 7, 2011 should have been a day of commemoration for Patrick, as it was the morning of his graduation. Instead, the freshly minted cadet’s family was involved in a tragic accident. His fiancée Elizabeth, her mother and father, and their 3 year old daughter were driving along when they were hit by a speeding truck. The father was killed on site, while his fiancée passed away in the hospital. In swift response, Patrick’s classmates set up a Piryx donation page to support Rein and his injured daughter.

We at Piryx are deeply saddened by this story, and hope you take the time to support Patrick and his family. We also wish to acknowledge his fellow cadets for serving as a pillar of strength and fortitude for him during these times. Please visit here to donate to the Patrick and Isabelle Fund.

The word is on the street: Piryx is amassing a team that will transform the world of online giving. You may have seen our recent New Hire blurbs on our blog, but we’re still accepting resumes. Here is one position we’re looking to fill:

Senior Developer

We are looking for full stack web engineers that are comfortable building with Rails. If you fit the bill and these are the kind of problems that might keep you awake at night then we would love to chat with you. Please visit our Careers section for more information.

Rest assured though, if you got the chops, passion, and drive to empower causes, we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us at jobs@piryx.com.

Cancer can be one of the most life-changing episodes a person can face. The ensuing emotional and psychological burden is even greater however, as it takes its toll on friends and family members. Today, 28 million people have been afflicted by this disease…

Austin, TX- based non-profit The Flatwater Foundation is taking a stand. Their mission is to provide mental health services to individuals and families who must cope with these circumstances. Some of the services they provide is access to counseling, yoga, meditation, group exercise, and personal training.

On June 20th they’re organizing their 2nd annual fundraising event Dam That Cancer, featuring participants who’ve been touched by cancer . They’ll be riding stand-up paddle boards along Lake Austin for 21 miles to raise funds for families affected by cancer diagnoses. We salute these brave souls, and encourage you to support their cause.

This month we’re focusing our spotlight on the Citadel Helping Hands and their fundraising initiative You’re Not Alone Project. Citadel Helping Hands is the charitable arm of Citadel West Michigan. Their parent company Citadel Broadcasting Corporation is the 3rd largest radio station owner in the US, owning 243 radio stations across the United States. For this edition of the Charity Spotlight, we had the chance to touch base with Kate Conley, the Director of Sales for Citadel West Michigan.

As mentioned on their site, the project “is designed to embrace those in the community who need to know there is hope in the aftermath of tragedy.” Their mission is to collect donations for West Michigan families who are dealt with these unexpected hardships and circumstances. The Citadel Helping Hands is promoting the cause through their five affiliate stations, WLAV, WHTS, WTNR, WBBL, and WJRW in Western Michigan.

One family in particular we want to call attention to is the Haugen family. Two years ago they lost their father in an accident, and just recently their mother passed away during a recent Spring Break trip overseas- leaving the three Haugen children without a mother or father.

“The [project] was born out of this tragedy. With a personal connection to the radio stations, we wanted to help the children financially and emotionally by letting them know that they’ll never be alone,” said Conley.

We commend the Citadel Helping Hands team and their efforts to support those families in need. You can visit their website to learn more and contribute to the Your Not Alone Project.

Piryx is on the warpath, and we’re coming packed with heat with the help of a gunslinger from Dallas, TX. His name is Andrew Hubbs, but we just refer to him as Hubbs. He’s our latest developer and is currently uploading code that will make life easier for you and your donors. He graduated from UT in 2009, and previously worked for the startup mSpot in San Francisco. At mSpot he built mobile media applications on a variety of platforms.

He hails from Montgomery, TX, an hour north of Houston. He’s most excited about how Piryx is building tools that will allow causes to focus on making the 21st century better for all of us. In his free time, you can find him building pet projects, watching films, and frequenting San Francisco’s many parks. Needless to say, he’s one awesome dude and we’re happy to have him on our side.

Cheers,
The Piryx Crew

To make everyone’s lives awesome, we’ve hired Kirsten McLoud as our Community Manager. Hailing from a marketing and events background, Kirsten began her career at Grenade, a snowboard lifestyle company led by two time Olympic medalist, Danny Kass. She organized events and snowboarding competitions around the country. These have been documented in FuelTV’s popular show, The Adventures of Danny and Dingo. After this, Kirsten began consulting for ESPN X Games, Boost Mobile, Monster Beverage Co., and others. Kirsten decided to move to San Francisco in 2008. Since then, she has put her talents to use in the non-profit sector — planning fundraisers and events for Mama Hope and Sparkseed.

A California native, Kirsten earned a degree in cultural anthropology from The University of California at Santa Barbara. After graduation, she spent over a year living out of a backpack and making friends in every corner of the world. Kirsten keeps up with all of the fun events in the city, and knows about everything from this year’s National Corn-Dog Day to the next black-and-white ball. If you see her while you’re out-and-about, be sure to ask her what fun outings and events Piryx is planning next.

Cheers,
The Piryx Crew

Today, Piryx is happy to announce the addition of Jason Hreha to its management team. A graduate of Stanford University, Jason is an expert in Behavior Design, an emerging applied psychology discipline that helps companies design products and services that more effectively meet human needs.

Jason has worked extensively with B.J, Fogg, the world renowned Stanford professor who pioneered the field of Persuasive Technology. Together, Jason and Professor Fogg developed a project designed to help health insurance companies encourage positive health habits and wellness among their customers. The project was presented by Humana at the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

In 2010, Jason also presented his work with Professor Fogg and conducted a workshop on Persuasive Technology at the Design for Persuasion international conference in Ghent, Belgium. In addition, he also presented a major paper on their work at the Fifth International Conference on Persuasive Technology in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a User Experience (UX) Advisor for 500 Startups, Dave McClure’s new Super Angel fund, Jason has also helped a number of startups in the San Francisco Bay Area.

When not performing behavior analyses of websites and services, Jason is an accomplished artist and has been honored with a Marie Walsh Sharpe Portfolio Award. Looking ahead, Jason’s objective is to use his knowledge and experience to help make Piryx the world’s best fundraising platform.

Cheers,
The Piryx Crew