Giving Compass' Take:

• GivSum is an online giving platform, developed by attorney and philanthropist Robert Kollar, that helps individuals donate to causes and track their volunteer hours. 

• How will online platforms such as GivSum help change the philanthropic landscape? 

• Read about how checkbook philanthropy can still be strategic. 

Robert Koller is a dedicated philanthropist who believes “when we give of ourselves and work together we can change the world.”

An attorney, Kollar left corporate work — and a stint as a judge pro tem for Orange County Superior Court — to become co-founder and general counsel of Newport Beach-based Givsum Inc., an online philanthropic marketplace where users can donate to causes, buy event tickets and track their volunteer hours all on a single platform.

“After having spent some time in private practice and then for many years as in-house counsel for a well-known consumer products company, I had an existential moment. I wanted something different for my life,” says the Laguna Niguel resident.

“What gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment was working with nonprofits that were addressing systemic social issues at a local level. My passion then became my purpose. There are 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. and most are struggling to grow their audience. That led me to co-found Givsum.”

The goal of Givsum, Kollar explains, is to share data with higher-education institutions and with businesses, so the former can gauge their societal impact and the latter can measure the return on investment of their corporate social responsibility programs.

Though still in the open-beta phase, Givsum already boasts 7,000 users, $1.4 million donated and 80,000 volunteer hours logged.

Read the full article about Givsum by Samantha Dunn at Orange County Register