Spent 12 months building a fundraising tool that doesn't bully charities. Looking for my first user.
Hello,
I’ve been working on a passion project I called Sapling (use.sapling.mobi) on and off since 2016.
I have spent the last 12 months improving it because I kept seeing small charities lose huge chunks of their donations to complex platforms that take high fees or guilt-trip donors into "tipping" the software. It felt wrong, so I decided to build a cleaner, simpler alternative.
It’s been a long slog to get here (solo founder life), but it’s finally live. The Pitch? It helps charities raise money without the bloat, hidden fees, or pressure tactics. I currently have zero users, and honestly, I’m just looking for 1 or 2 people to try it out and tell me if I’m on the right track. If you run a small charity or know someone who does, I’d love your brutal honesty. We use Stripe to secure payments and we integrate with Salesforce and Neon One.
Replies
This really resonates the tip guilt on donation platforms has always felt off. Respect for taking the slow, values-first route.
A small suggestion: you might get your first users faster by targeting local charities or school/PTA groups and offering to personally onboard them. Wishing you luck Sapling feels like it’s coming from the right place.
@charli_decouze Thank you for the feedback. It confirms what I've been told before (from Claude of all places). I have a group of charities around my region that I will plan to connect with and even white glove. Appreciate the affirmation.