Raisify.co is an innovative tech platform created by Omilade Shelly Bell, founder of Black Girl Ventures, that allows individuals to vote for entrepreneurs and support them in their efforts to develop and grow their businesses. With the rise of small businesses and entrepreneurship, this is a great way to get involved and support companies and entrepreneurs you believe in.
Unleashing the Power of Community
Since Black Girl Ventures began its mission in 2016, we have funded 450 women of color, held over 50 BGV Pitch Competitions across 15 cities, and served over 10,000 founders. BGV pitch participants collectively generate over $10M in revenue and support
3,000 jobs.
Every little bit helps, and no donation is too small. Your vote could mean providing an entrepreneur with funds to create a marketing campaign, replenish their inventory or hire the support they need. You can find more information on how our entrepreneurs have used their pitch winnings to help grow their businesses.
This article will provide step-by-step instructions to help you vote for your favorite entrepreneur during BGV's pitch season.
How to Vote for Entrepreneurs Using Raisify
Step 1: Create an account.
To use Raisify, you need to create an account. To do this, go to the Raisify homepage and click the "Sign Up" button in the top right corner. Fill in your name, email address, and password, and click the "Sign Up" button. You will receive a confirmation email to the email address you provided, so check your inbox (and spam folder) to confirm your account.
Step 2: Learn more about the entrepreneurs.
Before you vote for an entrepreneur, learning more about their business, vision and goals, and how much funding they are requesting is important. Browse through the current pitch competitions listed on the Raisify platform. This is where you can watch these entrepreneurs' short 3-minute pitches. Each pitch competition will have three entrepreneurs that you can decide from. Find one that resonates with you then we're off to the next step.
Step 3: Vote for an entrepreneur
Once you have found an entrepreneur you want to support, click the "Vote" button. You will be shown a payment gateway where you can vote for your dollars. The donation is the vote, and the minimum amount to vote is $5. You can donate as many times as you like to as many founders as you want; however, you can only vote for one entrepreneur at a time.
Once you confirm your vote (amount), your vote will be counted towards the entrepreneur's funding goal. Know that the competitors in the pitch competition cannot vote for themselves, which means you are the driving force behind them winning first, second, or third place.
Step 4: Share with your network
If you want to help an entrepreneur even more and have a few seconds to spare, you can share their videos or social media handles with your network. Click on the social icons below their names to share their profile on social media or via email. By sharing an entrepreneur's pitch, you can help them gain more exposure and potentially attract more votes.
Step 5: Track your impact
Finally, you can track your impact on the Raisify platform. When you log into your account, you will see a dashboard showing how many entrepreneurs you have voted for, how many votes you have cast, and how much money you have contributed to their funding goals. You can also see how much they've raised during the pitch competition. Most importantly, you can see the community's impact overall, including how many entrepreneurs we have supported and how much funding they have helped to raise.
Using Raisify to vote for entrepreneurs is a simple and effective way to support the growth of new businesses. By following these step-by-step instructions, you can easily create an account, browse through entrepreneurs, learn more about their businesses, vote for them, share their profiles with your network, and track your impact. So why not join the Raisify community today and help Black Girl Ventures reach its goal of funding 100,000 Black and Brown women-identifying founders?
Subscribe to the Digital Orange Juice for juicy ideas and the people who fund them. You can find out about our next pitch competitions. Also, be sure to join our new community BGV Connect!