Groopt Revamps Its Collaboration Tools As It Shifts Focus To Nonprofits

Startup Groopt is hoping to become the platform that nonprofits use to both build their websites and communicate/collaborate with members.

I actually covered the company about a year ago, and the vision wasn’t all that different — it started out as a collaboration tool for fraternities and sororities, and at the time it was trying to expand to serve any large group. However, CEO Patrick Allen told me recently that the team soon realized, “We need to figure out our niche. We can’t just be a group platform for everybody.”

So Allen said the company cut back its spending and shut down the existing product (it continued to operate a website development business to bring in revenue), focusing on new version of the product built specifically for nonprofits. Why nonprofits? Allen elaborated via email:

Our nonprofit clients told us how painful their database solutions were and how it was impacting their ability to grow; they’re too complex, they cost to much and they deliver far too little. If the non-profit sector can snag even 1% of GDP from the for profit sector… that’s $150 billion extra dollars flowing where it’s needed most.

Groopt currently offers two main products — Groopt Communicate and Groopt Websites. Groopt Communicate allows organizations to send targeted messages to their members via text or email, schedule events and send reminders, conduct polls, and more. (Allen seemed particularly proud of the iPhone and Android apps, which allow users chat, edit documents, and manage task lists directly from their smartphones.) Groopt Websites, meanwhile, allows users to work with the Group design team to build their own website, no coding required.

Groopt Communicate from Groopt Videos on Vimeo.

There’s a free version of the service, then the paid plans start at $4.95 per month. And users who sign up this week get 50 percent off until December.

The company’s next step is launching a new product to help organizations manage their member databases, which Allen said is coming soon.