By Susan E. Campbell
\nKnitt LLC, the entity that brings together nonprofit groups and companies having a common mission, is hoping its online match-making service about to go online will have a strong positive impact on helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
\n\u201cThe landscape for charitable giving and receiving changes every day as the COVID virus lingers,\u201d said founder Lisa Munter, who has served on the boards of a number of local nonprofit organizations.
\n\u201cEvents the nonprofits hold to maintain funding are being cancelled or postponed,\u201d she said. \u201cThey desperately need to reach out to offset these losses.\u201d
\nOn the giving end, companies all over the state are also facing financial constraints, hindering their ability to make donations.
\n\u201cBusinesses have been generous helping where they can,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want to do good while being protective of themselves in this economic environment. The quandary now, and perhaps for six to 12 months or more, is that company donations are shrinking while nonprofits are starving,\u201d she said.
\nTypically, nonprofit groups take the first step in reaching out for funding, she said. However, businesses also want to reach out to organizations \u201cwhere they can see the impact of their donations.\u201d
\nKnitt is the resource where both sides can meet and make \u201cpersonal connections while reducing the noise of blind communications by mail or cold calling,\u201d Munter said.
\n\u201cAfter several months of beta testing, we are ready to go full steam ahead as that resource,\u201d she said. \u201cUsers should think about starting over, starting fresh, to redefine and be more mindful about making these connections.\u201d
\nSome 12 businesses and 14 nonprofits began testing the features of Knitt via an online beta site. After feedback, some features and functions were taken in a different direction to make them more user-friendly or to better match their needs as a result, she said.
\n\u201cFeedback was very positive,\u201d Munter said. \u201cComments were that it is intuitive, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. They see the value in what Knitt is providing.\u201d
\nWhen New York first went \u201con pause,\u201d because of the coronavirus, Munter said she saw that both sides of Knitt\u2019s prospective user base \u201cwould need support … some businesses might not be able to open again.\u201d
\nAs companies shuttered or moved personnel to at-home workers, it became a challenge to reach business owners and spread the word about the value of using Knitt.
\n\u201cTime is of the essence because of COVID-19,\u201d Munter said. \u201cNonprofits and businesses will be in desperate need in the next year.\u201d
\nMunter and her partners are talking about pricing their service with a focus on getting as many users as they can, as soon as they can.
\n\u201cWe will do promotions and incentives to get businesses to join us and to be a part of our journey,\u201d she said. \u201cThe net of Knitt is filtering out and pairing a likely donor with a likely nonprofit,\u201d she said. \u201cKnitt will roll out to the Capital region, but its reach has the potential to go far beyond.\u201d
\nVisit www.getknitt.org for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Susan E. Campbell Knitt LLC, the entity that brings together nonprofit groups and companies having a common mission, is hoping its online match-making service about to go online will have a strong positive impact on helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic. \u201cThe landscape for charitable giving and receiving changes every day as the COVID […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\n