In the News
Providing a helping hand to nonprofits
By Collin Perez
Contributing writer for The Press Times
BROWN COUNTY
A website called UpDeeds.com is offering its aid to nonprofits in an attempt to enhance their visibility by giving them a free platform.
Jeff Hitzler is the Founder and sole worker of Up Deeds, who receives nonprofits requests and inserts them into the website. "I cam across some information in the fall of 2020 about how may nonprofits were in Brown County, which is a bout 300, and I was pretty much stunned by that number. I had no idea. Then, when I looked into what they all did, it was like, "Oh my gosh, these people are doing such amazing work and yet most people don't even know they exist," Hitzler explained.
One of the key features of Up Deeds is the ability to shop directly from nonprofits.
"I just thought there's go to be something that can be done to help. So I tried a few different options and took a little off and then that realization came to me that more people are online shopping, than shopping of nonprofits. February of 2021 is when it started with what you see now," he added.
Hitzler currently works on Up Deeds whenever he has the chance, but hopes it will grow into full-time work.
"I do have a full-time job for a division of Home Depot. Up Deeds is part-time; definitely it can be any where from, depending on what I'm needing and wanting to get done, 10-25 hours a week," he said.
"There's so much more that can be done as far as marketing and getting the brand out and the word out. The biggest challenges that a nonprofit has are volunteers, employees, and visibility. If I can help them with the visibility/marketing part, that's going to help them and hopefully more people volunteer."
The site has a spot for nonprofit stories and blogs, a wishlist for nonprofit's needs, a spot for finding specific nonprofits and a spot to shop from nonprofits.
A new area on Up Deeds called "For Nonprofits," which has different websites and apps that anyone can use to see how they can help our nonprofits.
There is also a spot called "Community Partners," which will give a small revenue boost to further develop Up Deeds.
So far, Up Deeds has helped to shine a light on 172 nonprofits.
"Well, there are 1.8 million nonprofits in the United States, so if I could help 1% with visibility, that would be wonderful. If I can help some of those 1% find the resources they need and encourage businesses to give back more, that would be wonderful," said Jeff.
Bundles of Kindness Founder Rachel Rosenberg said that the nonprofits "visibility has increased since its connection with Up Deeds. Up Deeds is exactly what every nonprofit organization needs - a helping hand."
Meet Jeff Hitzler
A story in CanvasRebel
In the fall of 2020 I was doing some online research for something else I was thinking about when I came across nonprofits in the County I live in. I discovered there were about 300 nonprofits in the County where I live in Wisconsin, and I found that amazing and a bit troubling. I say troubling because my Wife and I participate with and support several nonprofits in our area, and after looking into some of the nonprofits, it was astonishing how many I had never heard of. I then wanted to find out how many nonprofits there are in Wisconsin and found out there are about 25,000, and there are about 1.5 million in the United States.
