Ribon began with a failed donation campaign.

While trying to raise money for social projects at his university, Rafael — our CEO and co-founder — reached out to dozens of classmates. But despite their good intentions, almost no one donated. Not only did the campaign fall short of its goal, it left him drained by the constant need to ask.

That frustration turned into a question: What if giving didn’t need to start with a request?

From that question, the first version of Ribon’s Reverse Matching Gift technology was created — built around a simple idea: people are willing to help, they just need to do it spontaneously.

In the first few months after the app launch, our user acquisition and retention showed that when people are given the opportunity to donate — without pressure or guilt — they respond.

It didn’t take long for corporations to show interest in bringing Ribon to their teams and customers as a new way to drive engagement through purpose. And as these partnerships came together, we saw something powerful: lowering the barriers to donation not only leads to higher participation but also to better fundraising results.

Years later, during a philanthropy event, a casual conversation opened our eyes to the sector where engagement carries the highest stakes — healthcare.

Since then, we’ve been partnering with major healthcare systems to boost participation in their employee giving programs through our donation experience — turning intention into action, and social impact into a culture.