Indianapolis Software Startup Set to Present at Austin, Texas SXSW Interactive Festival March 9-13

April 6, 2012 - PRLog -- INDIANAPOLIS (March 5, 2012) – Indianapolis-based startup Cause.it, LLC is set to unveil its smart phone application before thousands of social entrepreneurs and technology industry insiders attending two key presentations during the March 9-13 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. Cause.it seeks to establish itself as the central hub for non-profit causes, their supporters and volunteers and local businesses and governments.

While it has assisted dozens of non-profit clients around the country over the last few years under different names, the company, renamed “Cause.it” to reflect its new focus on driving real-time and personalized engagement, will offer a new easily accessible and affordable tool to all non-profits and businesses seeking to maximize their cause-related marketing efforts. This tool, which comes in the form of a smart phone application, will be at the heart of the Cause.it presentations at the SXSW “Pitch Some Good” and “Good Capitalist Party” events.

“Cause.it is set to blow up the non-profit sector, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join the team,” board advisor and non-profit software veteran Steve Rusche said. “Together, we intend to change the way volunteers, businesses and non-profits interact as we know it.” Rusche recently began working with Cause.it after co-founding Indianapolis-based eTapestry.com, Inc. – widely considered to have created the non-profit industry’s premier web-based fundraising software.

In October, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard introduced Cause.it to hundreds gathered to hear the company’s pitch for what would become its smart phone application at local startup gathering, Verge Indy. While the city, universities, and large non-profits have benefited from the firm’s customized services, it became apparent to Cause.it founder, 20 year old Gagan Dhillon, that only the top 10% of organizations within the community had the capital and staff to utilize the company’s services.

“We came to recognize the need to help the remaining 90% of non-profits out there who needed the same help,” Dhillon said. “Our mission is to facilitate compelling movements, and that wasn’t limited to only those who could afford our existing services.”

Using a mix of revenue from its successful campaign platform and investor capital, he and the Cause.it team – including Bloomington, Indiana-based SproutBox, LLC – have developed their smart phone application and supporting web services to benefit the often-overlooked remaining non-profits as well as the volunteers and businesses seeking to support them. The application will connect volunteers or “causers” of a non-profit event or “cause” with the products and services of primary sponsors.

For example:
A non-profit lists an event using the application. Volunteers then find and participate in that event and are awarded points as a result. Local businesses then offer volunteers discounts on services or products by allowing them a chance to redeem those points.

“This creates a win-win for all parties involved,” Director of Community Development AJ Feeney-Ruiz said. “Non-profits get personalized information for what supporters look for when they volunteer or participate. Individuals can redeem good deals on what they want, and local businesses can better understand what social causes are most likely to increase sales.”

Dhillon and Feeney-Ruiz will present on Saturday, March 10 at 10:00AM (CST) at the sold-out “Good Capitalist Party” and again on Monday, March 12 at 6:30PM (CST) at the anticipated standing room only “Pitch Some Good.” More than 5000 conference goers have registered for the two events. They will also meet with public service officers from Austin and Houston to see how their cities can utilize the app to grow community engagement.


Founded in 2011, Cause.It, LLC has built an impressive group of clients, working with organizations not only in Indianapolis, but New York, Chicago, and Columbus, OH. For more information about Cause.It or to download the Cause.It App, visit www.cause.it.

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Volunteer, advocate, and support the causes that matter most to you.Get points for everyday activities of social activism while on the go and increase your social footprint within the community.Local businesses offer tons of deals to redeem for points.