The Challenge

Hockey may well be Canada’s national sport, but in terms of enrollment, it ranks fourth in youth sports programs. According to 2019 stats, soccer, dance lessons, and swimming now precede hockey in popularity. So how did this happen, and why does hockey appear to be on the decline for Canadian youth? Not for lack of interest, the main reason is purely economics. For many families, hockey is an expensive and unattainable sport. Even if parents manage to scrape together the high registration fees, which are approximately $1200 to $1600 per child/per season, there are other expenses such as uniforms, equipment, and tournaments that drive the costs up. No parent should have to deny their child the opportunity to participate in a sport they love, due to finances.

Our Solution

In partnership with Givex, FlipGive has driven nearly $10MM in gift card business for clients like Indigo, Recipe and SIR Corp while concurrently giving back over $1MM to sports teams, schools and community initiatives. Collectively these brands have supported thousands of groups across Canada.

FlipGive is a free team funding app that makes raising money a breeze. Teams earn cash when they shop with their favourite brands for groceries, gas, clothes, equipment, meals out, travel and more. Over $25MM has been raised by groups, simply from their everyday spending. It’s a win-win: parents fund their kids’ activities from the shopping they do; brands get new customers and drive better loyalty. Launched in 2016, FlipGive is headquartered in Toronto.

“The FlipGive approach to assisting communities stood out to us, as they bring the right mix of purchasing and giving back to the ones that need it most, kids,» states Mo Chaar, Chief Commercial Officer at Givex. «FlipGive programs are transparent, and results-driven, which has earned them a loyal following among their customers and brands who partner with them. We are thrilled to partner with companies like FlipGive to provide a real-time gifting experience.»

“The end goal is to create an environment where doing good and making money is the only way to do business. We have only scratched the surface. Families are forced to sacrifice so much so that their kids can have access to a sport they love.»

MARK BACHMAN, CEO, FLIPGIVE

The Results

A Givex client for the past twenty years, Recipe Unlimited joined the FlipGive marketplace in 2015. To date, 1 in every 2 customers who click on a Recipe offer for The Ultimate Dining Card end up purchasing a gift card, and over 6,200 groups have raised money with their purchase of The Ultimate Dining Card. Their establishments are ever popular amongst sports teams for team dinners or as gifts for teachers, coaches, and family members.

Service Inspired Restaurants Corp has been a Givex client since 2005 and joined the FlipGive marketplace in 2017. They were excited by the direct access to sports teams; was seeing groups dining in their restaurants but didn’t have direct access to those types of customers. Over 2,400 groups have raised money with their purchase of Inspired Dining Card on FlipGive, and Jack Astor’s remains a favourite amongst their customers.

Indigo has been a client with Givex for over twenty years. Indigo’s mission has been simple, they want to help groups raise money for causes that matter to their community. To accomplish this, they launched their FUNdraiser Program to help not-for-profit, literacy, sports, and educational groups raise money. Indigo partnered with FlipGive to bring their FUNdraising program online. Their current program allows groups to organize fundraising nights in their stores. With the new digital program, participants that aren’t able to attend or want to fundraise all year long, between in-store nights, can turn to FlipGive/the digital FUNdraising program. To date over $750,000 has been contributed to local schools and community causes through their in-store and digital program.