Her world changed dramatically one morning in February 2011—and so did, eventually, the lives of countless low-income adults.
Megan Kashner went to sleep Feb. 12, 2011, and admitted to Windy City Times that she must have been pondering poverty in the United States.
She awoke with a clear vision.
"When I woke up, I realized that for low-income adults, it had become harder and harder to access cash supports to overcome hurdles between them and their goals," Kashner said. "I realized that we rarely make it possible for low-income adults to speak for themselves and present their own stories of striving and challenges. I realized that today's potential donors are seeking increasing levels of connection, transparency, and direct impact in their giving.
"The three insights came together in an "aha" [moment about] giving low-income adults the opportunity to seek help with precisely what they need to reach the next level of stability, and donors the opportunity to give directly to one person's need to help that person over a challenge and on toward their goals."
Her dream turned into Benevolent.net, of which she is the founder and CEO.
"As a social worker and nonprofit leader, I had seen case after case where people had an opportunity to advance that they couldn't take advantage of, or were faced with a roadblock they didn't have the funds to overcome. The existing safety net doesn't provide sufficient support for things like car repairs, uniforms, certification courses or tools," Kashner said. "These are just the types of one-time needs and challenges that individual donors would find compelling. Putting those with needs together with those who want to know who their contributions are helping and how made a great deal of sense."
Benevolent.net is a website that meshes dignity and self-determination to both sides of the giving equation, Kashner said—for the donor and for the person who has a need.
On the Benevolent.net website, low-income adults who are facing a hurdle or a challenge present their stories in their words—in writing and through video—describing their circumstances, their goals and one challenge they're facing that they need help overcoming.
"Benevolent makes it simple for individual givers to be transformative donors, when their contribution makes a great difference in the life and prospects of a low-income adult seeking to overcome a hurdle," Kashner said. "Each need on the Benevolent site has been validated by a nonprofit professional who already knows the person seeking support. You can read and watch video statements from the professional right on the page with the person's need.
"Then, if we raise the money to help meet the person's need, we don't send it to the individual, we send it as a grant to the nonprofit in that person's community that stepped up to validate and manage the need.
"Everybody benefits—those seeking help, the donors who step in, the nonprofits who get help in meeting the needs of their clients, and our communities when people take definitive steps forward towards sustainability and independence for themselves and their families."
Kashner said her goal for Benevolent is to become national in reach. So far, it has been a pilot program in the Chicago area—and it has already helped more than 30 people.
Kashner, 42, has lived in the Chicago area since 1992. She now lives in suburban Evanston with her partner, Trina Whittaker, an automotive technician at Northwestern University, and their two children.
"I've been working in the nonprofit sector, particularly in programs aimed at addressing challenges for low-income American families for over 20 years," Kashner said. "I came to Chicago in 1992 to attend the University of Chicago's School of Social Administration. Later on, I realized that the nonprofit sector in Chicago needed more than social work skills in its leadership, and I took myself back to school, to Kellogg, to complete an MBA and bring those skills and knowledge back into my work in Chicago nonprofits.
"When I conceived the Benevolent concept, I had a great position in a wonderful organization. I wasn't looking for a concept that would lead me to become an entrepreneur; it simply happened. I was an executive director with the Taproot Foundation, a national nonprofit aimed at bringing pro bono volunteerism to all professions."
The Benevolent website launched last December, and in less than a year, the site will have featured the first story-of-need of someone from outside of Illinois. Kashner tagged that "a huge milestone."
Helping others
Al had suffered many losses and was homeless. He sought help from a local nonprofit, Inspiration Corporation on the North Side. After job readiness work and individual coaching, Al was ready to re-enter the workforce, but he faced a problem. In his field, the workers were required to have their own uniforms before they could start. Al couldn't take a job as a high-end waiter without the required black pants, white shirt, black jacket and dress shoes.
His story was posted on the Benevolent.net website, stating that he was seeking $460 for his uniform and shoes. "What happened next was very cool," Kashner said. "Someone contributed to Al's need and also posted it to her Facebook and Twitter feeds. From there, three of her friends re-posted to their Facebook pages and two of them contributed. Then Al went viral across the country: 14 people from 9 States contributed amounts ranging from $15 to $80 to complete Al's need within 2 hours of that viral posting.
"If that wasn't excellent enough, Al's story continued to get even more inspiring. Once he had his uniform, Al was able to accept a job as a waiter in an Evanston restaurant. Today, he's working, no longer homeless, and he credits both Inspiration Corporation and Benevolent donors with making that possible."
Al, in a statement, said: "I can't believe that, with the help of Benevolent and Inspiration, I was able to turn my life completely around. I have a great job and a place to live where I pay my own rent. What a feeling. It's nice to see that there are still people and programs out there that still care and don't think that homeless people aren't worth helping. For those people who donated, thank you so much. For those who are still out on the street, don't give up, don't ever give up."
Kashner said her Benevolent goals are bold, including meeting more than 15,000 needs for people with over 100,000 donors giving over $6 million over the next three years, saving more than $150 million in safety-net costs and magnifying the impact of each dollar given 25 times.
"Disrupting a downward spiral by investing in a low-income adult changes things for generations," she said. "At scale, Benevolent will demonstrate that a small-dollar, unique solution for one person at a time, multiplied by thousands, has big effects.
"We're thinking big. We want you to start seeing Benevolent stories and needs not only on the Benevolent website, but as a part of companies' giving experience for their employees, clients and customers. We want these local stories of striving and challenge to start showing up in your local press, in your retail experiences, and more. The people who seek help in overcoming their one-time needs through Benevolent each have incredible and inspiring stories to tell and they're inviting us in to be a part of the solution. That's a huge gift and we hope to share it as broadly as we can."
Christina, her husband, and their two kids know full well about the impact of Benevolent. Shortly after Christina returned to school to study nursing at Truman College, her husband lost his job as a machinist. "The family struggled to keep Christina in school," Kashner said. "Her husband worked any and all the jobs he could find, and the family scrimped and saved. When Christina finished her program and went to apply for nursing positions, she was told by the potential employers that she needed two additional certifications in addition to her degree. Christina's family was tapped out by then and the near-$200 she would need to register for these classes and certification tests was more than they could pull together.
"Christina was ready to give up all her hard work, and her dream, and take just any old job when she found out about Benevolent. In four days, six contributors donated the money Christina needed. She took and passed the certification classes, put herself back out there looking for a nursing job, and she found one."
Christina is now a behavioral health nurse at a Chicago-area nonprofit.
Benevolent uses a crowd-funding model similar to Kickstarter, IndieGoGo or DonorsChoose. "What makes us different is not the method for giving, but the giving itself," Kashner said. "Only on Benevolent.net can someone give a small amount and know for certain that their gift went to help a real person whose personally-told story they can read and watch. Only on Benevolent.net can you be sure that the funds you've contributed are going to someone whose need has been validated by a local nonprofit organization and that that organization is also taking responsibility for making sure the need is met. Only on Benevolent.net will you have the opportunity to reach out and send a message to someone who has generously shared his or her story of striving and challenge and receive updates from that person letting us know how the need we have met has changed their life and their path. At Benevolent, we're all about helping low-income adults reach their goals and sustain their progress. Our focus makes us effective and authentic."
Kashner said some of the organizations with whom Benevolent partners with are specifically focused on the LGBT community, and Benevolent is aided by many gay individuals, she said.
"Benevolent is all about people and their own decisions about the path they choose to take," Kashner said. "Low-income adults set their own goals and let us know what help they need to get there. Donors make their own determinations about whose stories speak to them and what drives them to give.
"We live in a time of big thinking and mass solutions. Benevolent turns that on its head and seeks to match up those who want to know how their giving really helps with those whose specific needs are a reflection of their own particular paths and goals."
