Local Stephen Boike creates a

unityaid.com STEPHEN BOIKE CREATOR AND FOUNDER

STEPHEN BOIKE 0413 294 465

HERE’S THE COOL PART

‘Businesses and individuals can nominate an amount of their product or service to their beneficiary, this is a win-win situation for all.’

Once the master of residential development, builder turned philanthropist Stephen Boike is now the face of (and more importantly, the brains behind) a different kind of enterprise altogether. He wants us to be a force for social good - resulting in stronger communities and more reliance on the kindness of others through the ‘social good economy’. With the recent launch of his new platform, Unityaid, Stephen is on a mission to empower businesses and individuals seeking financial support for individual causes - even if it’s their own.

“Unityaid came from many thoughts about the economy,” explains Stephen. “Why is it that when the economy struggles, as it recently has post-recession, society falls apart? We still have the same amount of skills, services, and resources - arguably an abundance of most of these - so isn’t there another way we can move things around? And that tapped into the idea of using technology to point out those possibilities in our increasingly complex societies”.

Stephen didn’t know how, what or when but with his passion, desire and enthusiasm accelerating full speed; Stephen’s answer was to create a platform. He had researched blogs, forums, articles, web sites, charities, traditional methods of fundraising and brain storming constantly for answers to his burning questions. Stephen discovered crowdfunding and realised how life changing crowdfunding is, but there had to be some kind of difference incorporated, something innovative, something that hasn’t been done before, something that would set ourselves a part from others and something that would benefit the fortunate and unfortunate businesses and individuals at the same time - something where people can help themselves or others. After sixteen months of strategy and development

work, Unityaid was born. It can be accessed by anyone and is fully functional for both desktop and on any mobile device.

The possibilities of what or who to raise funds for are endless. Most people raise funds for what matters to them - which means that the campaigners can be raising funds for themselves or to support another person, group, business, organisation, non-profit or a foundation they’re passionate about. You may need funding for a project that would benefit you, or to change the life of an individual. You may want to support education, fight hunger, help a family that has fallen victim to floods or fund a business you know is making a difference.

Each campaign is created and crafted independently by the business or person behind it. Campaigners have complete control and are responsible for creating and publicising their own campaigns. They create their campaigns, shoot their videos, determine their funding goals, and brainstorm on what rewards to offer contributors. When they’re ready, campaigners launch their campaigns and share it with their communities. If people are inspired and like the campaign, they can contribute or claim an offered reward in exchange for their contribution.

“I think the way we construct ideas of what’s possible is very culturally limited and relative, whereas what’s actually possible is so much bigger than what we might imagine.”

What are the benefits of launching a campaign?

An act of social good draws companies and individuals into the community. It improves engagement and brings tremendous rewards for a business or individual. It’s good for your brand and it presents the opportunity to interact with fans, followers, customers and potential customers, while having a positive impact on the community. Social good captures the attention of media outlets, and of social media users around the globe. When you make the decision to do social good, it can have a seismic impact on your organisation – there’s no better way to earn the trust and admiration of people, invigorate your workforce, and change lives for the better.

Kudos to Matt Dominiak Unityaid

Matt is the senior architect developer and a true asset for the community of Unityaid. Without his dedication and highly competent skills as an engineer, Unityaid would not be changing people’s lives for the better and he’s a top bloke too!

Words by Vickie Magic Business Matters Magazine

I personally was searching for a platform to raise funds for my brother and sister in-law, culminating in shaving my head at the end of September. Unityaid is the perfect vehicle for me to raise funds and also seek support from my own community, while offering cool rewards in exchange of their contribution. View more on page 15.

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