Leadership is simply not about leading an organization by giving directions or being strategically sound, but it’s more about knowing the strength of each individual and nurturing it. A true leader never shames their teammates for their weaknesses, they will always motivate them in a positive direction.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chet Jainn.
Chet Jainn is an established entrepreneur with a tremendous passion for technology and is a social changemaker. He is the CEO and founder of gocrowdera.com– a one-of-a-kind fee-free crowdfunding platform. He also acts as an advisor to multiple start-ups and communities.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
It was early 2014. I had been talking to a lot of charities to realize what I was doing at that point in time, it was an impact organization, we were helping individuals in different countries to get vocational education. But we realized what we were doing was not different from what some other organizations like Kickstarter were doing. There was a trigger that we needed a bigger initiative where we do not dip into donor dollars. Just around that time, we started Crowdera with a single mission — that we will make crowdfunding extremely democratic and absolutely free, never taking any tips. However, we knew that there are a lot of challenges that charities face and we will also continue research on why there is a disparity in medium and small charities vs large foundations that are able to mobilize a lot of funds and volunteers, and if technology can solve this problem, then we would want to provide the solution. So, that was the trigger to start my platform.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
It was in 2016, interestingly it was my birthday and I was invited to the UN general assembly in New York for the NOVUS summit for sustainable development goals. This was a platform where I was sharing space with changemakers from all over the world aligned with UNSDG. It was a humongous opportunity and that is where I realized how wonderfully the UN has established these categories for the world to follow. And I realized that the mission I was already on is practically connecting with all the sustainable development goals. This led to my 3 important missions for my work-
- firstly, every cause that I support through my platform will be aligned with UNSDG,
- Amplifying the UNSDG guidelines
- thirdly, I will build a community of changemakers who believe in a giving economy.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake/strategic mistake I made was when we leveraged whatever we have learned from charity fundraising and deploying in film fundraising, and surprisingly the strategy worked where we helped a veteran filmmaker Rajat Kapoor help raise funds for his project and the film became a success. Though exciting to work in, we realized it was a different niche altogether and needed a different set of expertise and we did not want to sideline the motive which we started Crowdera for. So, eventually, we started another venture focused on film fundraising by the name Yellow Scooter Studio, which is in auto-pilot mode and has helped many people raise funds for film projects.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Crowdera is a SaaS platform that has built scalable technology solutions and platforms to help non-profit organizations automate and amplify their fundraising globally. Keeping up with its commitment to being fee-free forever, the new GoCrowdera.com has advanced the fundraising experience to match the demands of digital age philanthropists and charities with AI-enablement for 10X amplification. The platform is live in 150+ countries and with donations spanning across the globe, has enabled 23000+ Nonprofits, Individuals & organizations; impact over 1M lives. (fundraising mandate $100M+)
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
One of our very early customers in peer-to-peer space. It was Padma Shri awardee, Dr.Sunitha Krishnan. She is a renowned social worker who works towards rescuing sex traffickers and providing them with a new means of living. She was struggling to build her rehabilitation center and we helped her with a peer-to-peer solution within our network without spending any amount on the advertisement, we were able to raise close to 300,000 dollars. So, working with her for her cause gave us new motivation and since then through our efforts at Crowdera, we were able to impact 1 M’s lives and continue to do so.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
There is a major difference between charity and philanthropy, and society and politicians need to understand that. What we are trying to do here is help communities reach the right set of donors with apt technology.
Politicians can definitely play a key role by helping out the communities dedicated to social work to operate easily in a particular geography, providing them with essential resources.
If all these elements really come together and come as a cluster supported by technology can make a stark difference in our society. The fundraiser outreach that we recommend can amplify the processes but the core level synchronization should be there between the politicians and communities.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is simply not about leading an organization by giving directions or being strategically sound, but it’s more about knowing the strength of each individual and nurturing it. A true leader never shames their teammates for their weaknesses, they will always motivate them in a positive direction.
Also, true leadership is leading by example. For example, if you are leading a sales team, then you should also know how to sell so that you can guide the team in the right direction, especially in a small set-up when you are still growing.
Lastly, by being motivating and encouraging to all the team members, a true leader can help prosper one’s company.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
A lot of my learnings and experiences have come from the work I have done so far and also from meeting the amazing people that I met. The 5 things that I wish someone would have told me when I first started out are:
- Playing on your strengths and outsourcing your weaknesses, and not trying to save money, will save you time and years of your life.
- Secondly, on the contrary, I wish somebody could have guided me on where to spend money and where not to. Smart investments can lead to rapid business growth, whereas unnecessary investment can bring down profits. For example, sometimes organizations spend tons of money too early on brand building which is not required at that point in time.
- I wish someone could have told me about a crash course in leadership! I mean there has to be an analytical thought process that comes with being an entrepreneur but I have learned it the hard way, making mistakes in my early years have taught me a great deal, still I wish someone could have guided me better on leadership skills when I started out.
- Time management, it is ok to slow down in order to speed up. Managing your time effectively to be productive is one skill that really helps
- And lastly and most importantly, the 4D’s: Do it, Defer, Delegate, Dump, to make the most efficient decisions at the workplace.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I attended the 2016 Novus Summit and had a real-time introduction with changemakers around the world. I learned that there were many countries and parts of SE Asia that the UN is working for to promote sustainability around the world. And at that moment I took an oath that whatever work I will do going onwards will be aligned with UNSDG’s, and to date Crowdera platform vows to do so, every campaign that we take up, every single work we do is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
I always say Abundance starts with giving, so I built my business on the giving economy. Giving doesn’t necessarily mean you are giving money, it could be time, care, thought, or anything. The idea was how do we bring mind, machine, and innovation together. Working with thought leaders and social workers all around the world to help make this planet a better place. Even if I can contribute to just a small fraction, I will be content with it.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The Life Lesson Quote, instead I will say there is a quote I never followed, I heard this quote somewhere — Depleted cannot be elevated and it strongly opposed my belief. Hence, It set a trigger in me that my organization will always work to make a positive impact on those who are underprivileged.
And over time we launched a Financial Inclination program, where we started giving micro and small charities, an absolutely free fundraising platform and helping them align with UNSDG. And by 2030 I have a goal to touch 1M lives through my initiative and bring about a positive change.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would love to have this opportunity with Barack Obama because I feel he is a person of enormous positivity and his work, his ideology has heavily inspired me to do the work that I do. His words have the power to make a change and I would like to sit with him across the table and share a few ideas 🙂
How can our readers follow you on social media?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetjainn/
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Chet Jainn of Crowdera Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.