From time to time we will profile members of the Give Lively team, revealing more about who we are, what we do and how we fit into a mix of dedicated and dynamic engineers, creatives, strategists and advocates helping nonprofits do more with digital fundraising tools.

Like the focus of this week’s profile, the full Give Lively team is passionate about using tech for social good and providing a better fundraising experience to nonprofits and donors.

Mary Henneberry

What do you do at Give Lively?

My main focus at Give Lively is a little different than most as I don’t work on our namesake fundraising platform at all; instead I focus on Giving Basket, our partnership with Charity Navigator. The Giving Basket, powered by Giving Lively, is how donors can give to several organizations all in one transaction directly via Charity Navigator’s website. With a very small team, I process these donations to ensure they get to the nonprofits as intended by the donor. This involves resolving issues that pop up at any stage of the process, whether for the donor or recipient nonprofit, to ensure the nonprofits successfully receive their funds each month.

What does a day in your life at Give Lively look like?

While each day looks a bit different, central to them all is delivering funds to nonprofits. Let’s pretend today is the best day each month – disbursement day! I initiate checks and transfers to nonprofits, ensuring that about $1 million (or more) in donations are delivered to thousands of nonprofits doing awesome and impactful work across the US.

What do you like to do outside of Give Lively?

I have a bit of wanderlust, so I can often be found traveling or figuring out where I’ll wander to next. I’m headed to Greece this summer!

When the wind doesn’t blow me elsewhere, I also enjoy exploring the Windy City – my sweet home, Chicago! I love trying new spots in the city’s ever-evolving food scene, enjoying the outdoors in summertime Chi or catching a Cubs game at Wrigley (just to name a few).

What excites you about Give Lively?

I come from a nonprofit finance and operations background, so knowing that Give Lively tech is free for nonprofits is exciting. I have first-hand experience with how important, yet expensive, it can be for a nonprofit’s success. The fact that there’s no charge at all (even for connecting Salesforce) and it’s easy to use are what initially drew me in.

With Giving Basket, I also love that donors can contribute to many different causes at once outside those organizations’ targeted fundraising campaigns. Individual donors tend to give the most to a nonprofit’s unrestricted dollars, which can be the toughest funds to raise. I am excited to be supporting a flow of unrestricted dollars to thousands of nonprofits, including many that may not even know it’s coming.