The challenge
With tremendous growth over the past few years, Appfire faced a challenge: how to unify new and existing team members, alongside their families, customers and partners, in a shared mission of making a significant social impact. The ambition was to create a common ground, an inclusive place where everyone could become “a neighbor” and contribute to the local and global communities they’re most passionate about — embodying Appfire's foremost core value: Be human.
The solution
Removing barriers
The first thing Appfire wanted to do was dismantle geographical and resource-based barriers. Benevity’s global capabilities facilitated this with features like worldwide electronic donations to two million nonprofits, multiple currencies and languages and a robust catalog of virtual and in-person volunteering opportunities. Then, they wanted to open it up to everyone — including their competitors — because they believe there’s no competition in doing good. To ensure representation from everywhere Appfire operates, the Appfire Town Engagement Advisory Council was established.
Embedding Goodness
From day one, Appfire has ingrained a culture of giving back. New employees are introduced to Appfire Town during onboarding and encouraged to become “neighbors” with $25 in donation funds to give to the nonprofits important to them. To keep the momentum going, they use Benevity’s Goodness Calendar to plan monthly campaigns and highlight them using the cover stories and featured content sections of their Benevity‑powered Appfire Town platform. Regular seeding of employee giving accounts demonstrates the program’s vision of “walking the talk and leading by example,” further infusing Goodness into Appfire's DNA.
Reporting on impact
Appfire leverages Benevity Reporting to track, share and showcase Appfire Town’s collective social impact, encouraging an even deeper commitment to nonprofits. These metrics and stories, shared through internal and external channels, like Slack and social media, celebrate individual and team contributions, and foster a culture of transparency and continuous growth.
The result
Appfire Town achieved the following in its first year with Benevity:
- 76% program engagement rate
- $566,00 in donations for nonprofits worldwide
- 4,633 volunteer hours
- 968 organizations impacted
- 75% donation participation rate, up from 5%
- 90% program Terms of Use acceptance, up from 20%
- 34% of users volunteered
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Appfire Town is a testament to what can be achieved when a company aligns its core values with its actions. Appfire was a 2023 finalist for Benevity’s NewB award, for most transformational approach to social impact. That same year, Fabian Lopez, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Appfire, received the BUFFY Award for corporate purpose leaders who exemplify what we call the “Benevity Unicorn Factor.” In 2024, Appfire was a finalist for Benevity’s Buzz Award for catalyzing purpose through communications and storytelling.
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