Video: Thrive Market Co-Founder Reveals A New Giving Program

We’re always amazed by the generosity of our Thrive Market members, but our community seriously took it to the next level this holiday season. Together we donated more than $200,000 to Feeding America to supply 2.2 million meals to food banks across the United States. The incredible response inspired us to launch Thrive Gives.

We sat down with Thrive Market co-founder and co-CEO Gunnar Lovelace to learn more about how Thrive Gives works, how it will impact thousands of families, and how Thrive Market members can help.

As a company, we’ve given away tens of thousands of free Thrive Gives memberships to teachers, students, first responders, and food-insecure families. Where does Thrive Gives fit in?

Thrive Gives is an easy way for members to donate at checkout to those who need it. One hundred percent of the donations collected through the campaign go directly to a family in need, subsidizing their first three purchases at Thrive Market. It’s a really powerful way to create a matching grant program, so that the families who receive the donation end up paying for 50 percent of the food they order. It isn’t a handout—it’s a powerful, high-impact way to help set up a family for long-term success.

What makes Thrive Gives different from other charitable giving organizations?

It’s different because 100 percent of the donations go to a family in need. There are a lot of people doing amazing work out there, but most organizations are focused on creating educational content—very few companies have a delivery mechanism like ours. It’s a dynamic, rare combination of capabilities where all of the money is going to a family, and none of it is being spent on bureaucratic costs.

And as a company, we’re spending millions of dollars on our educational content and our Thrive Gives program to partner with our members’ donations. We’re investing significantly as a business, but it’s a really powerful way for our community to participate in that program as well.

We’ve already seen how generous our members have been. What’s that like, for you to see our community come together like this?

It’s so gratifying and heartwarming. At the end of the day, we all want to feel like we’re part of something.

“We want to take care of our families, we want to vote with our dollars, support things we believe in, and have an impact on our world.”

This is a really simple, direct way to do that, and it will have a tremendous impact on thousands of families. Our community is hungry to be a part of something like this and to give to others. Today we’re sponsoring 1,500 families a month—as our company grows, we’ll be sponsoring thousands of families a month with subsidies and providing them educational content so they can keep learning about how to create healthier lives. It’s a really holistic program.

Great! So, how can members help?

If you’re able to, donate a small portion of your savings to another family who needs it at checkout, and know that 100 percent of your donation is going directly to someone who needs it. This has an incredibly high impact and real potential to change lives. And help even more people by sharing Thrive Market with your friends and family! Make us part of your normal shopping routine, and know that every time you do, you’re helping thousands of families Thrive.