I’m fascinated by companies whose business model is centered on leveraging the power of giving back. Such is the case with HundredX which attracts consumers to provide market research data by offering to donate to the favorite nonprofit organizations of survey respondents. Molly Smith, the company’s chief causes officer, is charged with creating the nonprofit partnerships that fuel the company’s business.
David Hessekiel: Please share a bit about your background and the personal and professional influences that led you to being perhaps the only person in the world with the title chief causes officer.
Molly Smith: I do have one of the absolute coolest titles out there, but the best part is the impact we are making for nonprofits and businesses across the country. Every day, I’m driven by my own personal mission to make a positive impact on others. At HundredX, I spend my day helping nonprofits generate much needed funding to advance their mission and helping businesses understand how to best serve their customers. Talk about a win-win-win!
Prior to joining HundredX in 2020, I spent 20+ years in enterprise software in several operational and customer success roles. Throughout my career, I discovered that making customers successful and heroes within their own companies was the key to retention and long-term success. I wasn’t looking for a new opportunity when I was first introduced to our CEO and Founder, Rob Pace. However, after one 45-minute conversation with Rob, I learned about his deep commitment to his customers’ success and his model of helping both business and nonprofits, I knew he was building something truly significant... and I wanted to be a part of it.
Molly Smith, chief causes officer of HundredX
David Hessekiel: What is the HundredX business model?
Molly Smith: Our model is unlike anything I’ve seen in business or philanthropy. We collect hundreds of thousands of opinions on well-known brands and businesses every month. The way we collect those opinions is by partnering with nonprofits to participate in a HundredX Causes digital funding campaign. The nonprofit invites their supporters to opt-in to our platform, choose from over 2,500 brands they’ve engaged with and share their experience using our easy, emoji-based process. Each quality opinion shared generates up to $2 for their cause. Supporters can share up to 75 opinions over the course of a 30-day campaign. At the end of the program, we send the nonprofit the funds that were generated from the feedback submitted on their behalf.
HundredX uses the feedback collected to provide AI-enabled, anonymized insights on over 2,500 businesses and their competitors. C-suite executives, strategy teams, investors and consultants use HundredX's analytics to inform market share strategies based on real-time insights about consumers' experiences, future purchasing intent and what drives those purchase expectations. Because of the way we collect our data, we hear from more representative everyday consumers and have analytics that do a better job predicting company growth than traditional survey tools out there.
HundredX conducts market research by recruiting consumers to answer surveys in exchange for ... [+]
David Hessekiel: What is the most that a group has earned from taking part in the program? What does the average group earn?
Today, we're able to work with organizations to create meaningful campaign earning goals anywhere between $10,000 and $300,000, given the increased demand for our program and smarter tools to predict campaign performance. In 2021, the average HundredX Causes program generated $25,000 in funding. Many organizations have built HundredX Causes into their annual development calendar. We have causes going on 2, 3 and even 4 years who have raised tens of thousands of dollars annually. Their teams and supporters look forward to HundredX each year.
David Hessekiel: To some, the notion that nonprofits can earn substantial amounts of money by persuading their supporters to answer survey questions sounds too good to be true. I know of many entrepreneurs who have failed in creating businesses that depend on nonprofits activating their supporters to take action (e.g., shopping online). How has your team “cracked the code” to make this work?
Molly Smith: That is the single most common phrase the HundredX Causes team hears—it sounds too good to be true! But it's not. Our program is the great equalizer because all you need to participate is a little time and a mobile device. We’ve made it incredibly easy for our nonprofit partners to run a HundredX Causes campaign. Our team develops the marketing collateral and tools to equip the nonprofit with what they need to promote and engage their supporters into the program. During the program, they receive daily campaign updates on progress, and they have access to the HundredX Causes team to provide support, advice, and encouragement for a successful campaign.
David Hessekiel: What are some lessons you have learned along the way about what works well — and what didn’t pan out in the way you expected?
Molly Smith: Friendly competition always works well! We can set up a team structure with our programs, which allows nonprofits to harness their supporters’ competitive nature for the greater good.
One of the things we learned early on is that if a nonprofit doesn't create a campaign using peer-to-peer strategies or create that sense of community fundraising, they likely won't see the same success or engagement as one that does.
David Hessekiel: How “hungry” is HundredX to add nonprofit organizations to its roster? What steps should groups take if they are interested in getting involved?
Molly Smith: We're constantly adding to our list of benefiting organizations through referrals and marketing campaigns. There’s a simple online intake form interested nonprofits can use to get started. We are particularly looking to engage causes in certain geographic areas or cause segments to help "shape" our data set so that it maps closely to the US census. These change frequently, but right now, we're eager to partner with nonprofits in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Arizona and North & South Carolina as well as nonprofits that serve communities of color. And men... we can always use more male supporters participating in our programs!
