On this episode of the Bourbon Friday Show, we had the opportunity to talk with Meghan Winegrad, Founder and CEO of Generopolis, about their recently launched online giving platform.

The Third Way to Give

Although it’s something we may not realize, America is currently in a charitable giving crisis. The number of nonprofits is currently at an all time high, where monetary giving has remained stagnant for nearly fifty years—and it doesn’t look to be getting better any time soon.

With millennials net worth being lower than previous generations, and their interest in giving to and supporting causes higher, it leaves the giving market in a bit of a lurch.

This is where Generopolis comes in.

“Generopolis is an online marketplace where you can sell just about anything,” says Winegrad. “It’s similar to Facebook ‘Swap and Sell’ or Craigslist—but instead of pocketing the cash, you choose your favorite nonprofit to receive the proceeds.”

While garage sales and closet clean-outs are definitely part of the platform, this can also apply to giving of time and services. So it’s great for service based businesses that wants to get involved: they can simply list their service and donate the sale of that service to charity.

The Generopolis platform launched to the public on February 11th, 2019, and so far the reception has been positive.

“People are really excited about what we’re calling is a third way to give…how you can take basically, volunteerism on your terms, and combine it with fundraising to create this third way to give.”

To join the Generopolis platform as a nonprofit you can contact the Generopolis team at [email protected] to register and get more information, or to see current listings go to https://generopolis.com/.

Bourbon Innovation

As always, the Bourbon Friday team does their best to choose a fitting drink for the occasion.

The bourbon this week was Old Bardstown. This bourbon, whose name pays homage to the bourbon capital of the world, Bardstown, KY, is produced by the family-owned Willett distillery.

Recently, this family and the bourbon-loving community came together to raise money for something that affects us all in one way or another: cancer. Patriarch Even Kulsveen was diagnosed with stage 4 Lymphoma early last year, thankfully Kulsveen is now in remission. In response to this experience, the Willett distillery decided to auction off some of their rare barrels and bourbons to raise money that would benefit to the Louisville chapter of the American Cancer Society. In the end, the Willett distillery ended up raising $340,000 for the cause.