Two Founder Institute San Francisco graduate companies, Ultimatum Inc. and Yoobe Inc., have recently teamed up to launch a campaign called Holding Hope, helping to empower the transgender community to live more authentically. Millions of transgender people around the world struggle with gender dysphoria, and make an effort to change their bodies match their gender identity. While getting treatment can be expensive, nonprofit organizations help assist members of the trans community to speak out for the need for inclusive and supportive changes in our society.
Yoobee is leveraging the Ultimatum platform to fundraise for a nonprofit called Point of Pride. Since being founded in 2016, Point of Pride has donated over 4,000 chest binders and awarded over $100,000 in financial aid to transgender people in 50+ countries worldwide. The Ultimatum crowdfunding platform works by empowering individuals to influence the causes they care about and create positive social change. The tools Ultimatum provides allow campaign sponsors to amplify impact by matching donor financial support, and create network incentives by pledging small donations when individuals share the campaign message or hashtag on social media.
Point of Pride is an entirely volunteer-operated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Eugene, Oregon that serves the international transgender community. The organization offers an Annual Transgender Surgery Fund, a Free Chest Binder Donation Program, a Free Trans Femme Shapewear Program, an Electrolysis Financial Support Program, and other community-building support initiatives for trans youth and adults, as well as advocates for healthcare reform and the national adoption of inclusive healthcare policies that protect and serve the transgender community.
Point of Pride is a charitable organization that offers a great match for the campaign sponsor Yoobe.
Genau Lopes, the Founder of Yoobe, explains why he and his team are excited to support for Point of Pride,
We noticed that many people who were using Yoobe struggle with gender dysphoria and were looking for ways to fundraise for themselves so that they can afford gender-affirming treatments. We wanted to find a way to help LGBTQ+ folks in our community, and that’s how we discovered Point of Pride. They have several impactful programs to support people in various stages of transition, and we hope that this special joint campaign with Point of Pride and Ultimatum will help raise awareness for these programs, and to show our support for the transgender and LGBTQ+ community all around the globe.
Here’s how you can help:
- Raise awareness for the campaign on social media with hashtag #HoldingHope. Each post on Twitter with the hashtag will activate donations from donors.
- Make a pledge on Ultimatum by visiting the Holding Hope campaign page - all donors increase the positive impact of every tweet.
- Contribute a design to the Holding Hope shop on Yoobe.
- Purchase limited-edition Holding Hope merchandise on Yoobe - 100% of proceeds from each sale will be donated to Point of Pride.
Ultimatum is a crowdfunding platform designed specifically to help individuals and organizations to create exactly this kind of targeted social impact. We at the Founder Institute are always excited to see collaborations among FI portfolio companies, and are heartened to see Yoobe channel their own passion for transgender equality into a campaign that helps raise awareness and funding for a worthy organization like Point of Pride, whose impact is so clear and measurable.
To learn more about Yoobe’s #HoldingHope campaign for Point of Pride, or to make a donation, click here to visit their Ultimatum campaign page, or tweet your support using the hashtag #HoldingHope.
Graduates of the Founder Institute are creating some of the world's fastest growing startups, having raised over $1.75BN in funding, and building products people love across over 200 cities worldwide.
See the most recent news from our Grads at FI.co/news, or learn more about their stories at FI.co/journey.
