Classy Acquires a Hybrid Events Platform — Its First Acquisition

Classy, a giving platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about, announced today its first acquisition since the company’s founding in 2011. Fondi, a virtual and hybrid events platform, will relaunch as Classy Live, a solution that will offer nonprofit customers technology for their virtual and hybrid fundraising events.

Classy acquired Fondi’s technology from Lennd, an event operations portal that simplifies operations and logistics for events' teams nationwide. Fondi’s technology serves as an all-in-one virtual events platform built for fundraising teams to increase revenue, engagement and retention.

Less than six months after Classy’s $118 million Series D funding round, where the company promised to invest in customer-forward product development and acquiring technology to complement Classy’s existing platform, the acquisition and subsequent launch of Classy Live accelerates the company’s ability to offer its customers a robust solution to their fundraising events from beginning to end.

“Over the past year and a half, we have witnessed nonprofits work tirelessly to pivot their events, which are often critical revenue sources for their cause,” Chris Himes, Classy’s CEO, said in a statement. “As virtual and hybrid events continue to play a crucial role in fundraising, the launch of Classy Live means we can better serve our customers, helping them steward and retain donors from their first fundraising dollar through the end of the event experience.”

Josh Parolin, Fondi co-founder and chief technology officer, will join Classy as vice president of engineering to focus on the Classy Live events platform. Through Classy Live, nonprofits will not only be able to host their day-of virtual and hybrid events, but also drive attendee engagement and encourage fundraising and donation activity. The platform will also support other activities that help bring a virtual event to life, such as providing texting and email messaging before, during, and after an event, introducing silent auctions and mobile bidding, facilitating speed networking, polls and more — all with the ability to sync with a nonprofit’s Classy fundraising campaign so attendees can see fundraising progress in real-time.

Further improvements will be rolled out in the coming months that include a Classy Live mobile event app so customers can experience the event content virtually on their mobile device and connect with other attendees or sponsors. Nonprofit administrators can also use the mobile event app for on-site event check-ins, at-door registrations and bidding administration.

“I could not be more excited for all the possibilities that come with joining the Classy team and launching Classy Live,” Parolin said in a statement. “Having built my career in both the nonprofit and SaaS world, coming to Classy feels like a culmination of all the work I’ve done over the years. I know the impact Classy Live will have for our nonprofit customers, especially as hybrid events become even more of the norm moving forward.”

Classy’s decision to make its first acquisition in the hybrid and virtual events space was grounded in the immediate value it will provide to customers.

• Recent data from Classy’s 2020/2021 Impact Report saw an 169% increase in virtual events among its nonprofit customers.
• According to new, unpublished research study by Classy, 50% of donors stated they attended either a hybrid or entirely virtual event in the past year.

“After exploring multiple platforms and vetting Fondi’s technology against other potential matches, it was clear that the end-to-end offering, including how Fondi would fit with our current offering, made them the best choice,” Scot Chisholm, Classy’s co-founder and chairman of the board, said in a statement. “At Classy, we offer the social sector the best technology out there to increase their funding and serve their missions, and with Classy Live, we know we’ll be able to serve our nonprofit customers more effectively and successfully for years to come.”

About Classy

Classy is a B Corp Certified Public Benefit Corporation and giving platform that enables nonprofits to connect supporters with the causes they care about. Based in San Diego and trusted by thousands of nonprofits, from the fastest-growing nonprofits to some of the world's largest social organizations, Classy's platform provides the formats and flexibility to activate donors when and how they need to by creating more relevant connections to their causes. Since 2011, Classy has helped nonprofits mobilize and empower the world for good by helping them raise over $3 billion on its platform. Classy also hosts the Collaborative conference and the Classy Awards to spotlight the innovative work nonprofits are implementing around the globe.

Source: PR Newswire

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