Gratavid and founder Will Trapp is looking to change organizations fundraise, helping increase donor retention through the use of personalized videos showing gratitude to donors and where exactly their donated dollars are going.
Gratavid (think gratitude video) is a platform that allows companies, schools, and organizations to connect and stay connected to their networks of clients and donors through customized videos set via email and text message.
Startup Junkie recently caught up with Trapp, a veteran of Silicon Valley and Ole Miss-grad, to learn more about his venture and the impact it could have on fundraising in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.
Will – what is Gratavid?
Gratavid helps organizations increase donor retention through personalized videos. Our clients are using Gratavid to share thank you videos, birthday videos, and videos that connect donors with the causes they are supporting.
What brought you to Northwest Arkansas?
My wife and I spent a few years in Silicon Valley, but we moved back to Northwest Arkansas because my wife is from here. I was apprehensive to leave the entrepreneur scene in Silicon Valley, but I’ve been amazed by the entrepreneur scene here in NWA.
How has the reception from the community been towards Gratavid?
The community has been great, maybe too great. In the beginning, everyone had a use case for Gratavid, which lead to some false positives regarding who our core customer should be.
How long has Gratavid been live and what has changed since you launched?
We pushed our prototype live a few months ago and have been iterating to product market fit ever sense. In the beginning, we had some cool tech but didn’t know our core customer. Without knowing our core customer, it was hard to land on marketing communication strategies and what features to build next.
Our light bulb moment is when we realized how poor donor retention rates are for organizations. On average, 3 out of 4 people stop donating after one year. The number one reason they stop is because they are not thanked afterwards. The second reason is because they’re never shown where their money goes.
We knew that was a huge problem our tech could help fix, and since then our main focus has been on donor retention. The focus on donor retention has given us clarity on marketing strategy, communication, and development roadmap. When people think donor retention, we want them to think Gratavid.
What does success look like for Gratavid?
Success to us is becoming an integral part of our client’s donation strategy. We want our clients thinking how can we use Gratavid this week to connect with our donors.
What can we – the community/the entrepreneurial ecosystem/readers – do to help Gratavid?
Spread the word. We would love to talk with any non-profits or universities in NWA. Have them visit our website or contact me directly. They can work with a local startup and raise their donations at the same time.
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