Since its inception, Infillion has been values-driven – something that extends outside the company’s client work, and even pre-dates Infillion itself. When Infillion was formed from the merger of TrueX and Gimbal, both companies brought in an extensive commitment to pro-bono and nonprofit work, from TrueX’s testing of new connected TV ad tech with a campaign for Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen to Gimbal’s award-winning work with Samaritan. The obvious next step was to join forces.

Now called TrueGiving, Infillion’s nonprofit arm is spearheaded by two Infillionaires, senior product manager Alex Steady and senior creative strategist Isabel Stanish. We asked Alex and Isabel to share a bit about TrueGiving’s recent wins, and what they’re hoping to do next.

What is the mission of TrueGiving?

TrueGiving is Infillion’s community-building arm, dedicated to using our advertising expertise and resources in service of purpose-driven nonprofits and organizations. Basically, we donate our expertise to select nonprofits so that their marketing and advertising can be on par with big, for-profit brands. 

What is TrueGiving’s origin story?

As you likely know, Infillion was formed out of the merger of TrueX and Gimbal, two advertising tech companies that were both committed to making the industry better – but, at the time, didn’t have much to do with one another. And this happened during COVID lockdowns, so it’s not like we could get to know each other in person immediately. Right after the merger, there was an interest on the TrueX side of expanding the pro-bono efforts that the company had been undergoing to test out new features by deploying free advertising for nonprofits. It turns out that on the Gimbal side, Alex had been doing this exact kind of work through the Gimbal Foundation. They had run very successful campaigns for over 25+ nonprofits over the years including Samaritan and Teens Exploring Technology. 

Isabel (from the TrueX side) and Alex started working together, under the guidance of board member Susie Franklin, along with several other talented volunteers from both Gimbal and TrueX. The vision of the new “pro-bono committee” was to use our collective expertise within the ad tech space to educate and garner awareness & donations for nonprofits enabling access to advertising prowess alongside the larger, paid players. This initiative kicked off working with Power Over Parkinson’s, an organization near and dear to Susie’s heart. 

Sadly, Susie passed away from Parkinson’s shortly thereafter. She left behind a wonderful legacy of charitable work that TrueGiving has made a mission to continue to honor and emulate in her name. Since then, TrueGiving has created a brand for itself under the Infillion umbrella, worked with several more wonderful non profits, and keeps expanding its efforts and volunteer base today.

What nonprofits did TrueGiving work with in 2022, and how did you get introduced to them?

We worked with three nonprofits: TeachRock, CLARE Matrix, and Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF). We received contacts at both TeachRock and Clare Matrix through Susie, and at SRF through Alex. The Gimbal Foundation had actually worked with Clare Matrix several years ago as well. 

What’s one surprising thing you learned over the course of your work with TrueGiving since the merger?

Working with nonprofits versus our paid partners has been a bit of a learning curve for all of us. Each organization is run differently – some have a full marketing team and brand guidelines, but others need to completely defer to our expertise. We’re still developing a cadence to best serve each one’s mission, instead of working towards a rigid set of KPIs and other metrics.

How has TrueGiving worked with Infillion’s products? 

TrueGiving was the first to charter a campaign that utilized both the TrueX and NeXt products, and in turn created a roadmap for this process across product and tech, creative, production, and execution. This is what ultimately became InfillionX. Also, TrueGiving was the first to test XtendedView, a solution for longer-form video ads that work extremely well in the advocacy, political, and healthcare space where an extended narrative may help drive a brand message more than interactivity. We’re also going to be testing new inventory sources that we have integrated, as well as new creative formats for engagement advertising, such as portrait mode video (exciting!)

What would your advice be for other ad tech companies looking to start a pro bono program?

Take all of the time you need to determine the mission, vision, and pillars of your pro bono efforts, including how you want the organization to function. Even the best of intentions can fall short if there’s no way to put the mission into action in a way that allows your efforts to continue evolving within your organization.

Are you a non-profit leader looking to benefit from digital marketing and advertising expertise? You can apply for TrueGiving’s next cohort. Contact Infillion for more details.

At Infillion, we love the work that we do, but we also love working together. Better yet, when we are able to come together to do good and serve our communities, we are truly living out our value of being Inclusive & Empathetic. 

On January 25th, Infillion’s Culture Club hosted our first “Day of Giving,” a day dedicated to volunteering and giving back to our communities across the country. From coast to coast, each regional office hosted a group volunteer event in service of a local organization. There were also opportunities for our remote employees to participate in writing cards for hospitalized kids or offering their skills to nonprofits through Catch a Fire.

And what a day of giving it was! We had employees participating in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Granville, New York and virtually. In total we packed almost 4,000 meal kits for those struggling with food insecurity, wrote 100+ cards for hospitalized children, and sorted 20+ boxes of donated clothing for the unhoused. Not only was it great to serve our communities and organizations, we had a fantastic time doing it together! 

Here are some highlights from the different cities!

New York

The New York office worked with God’s Love We Deliver in Soho. Their mission is to improve the health and well-being of New Yorkers by alleviating hunger and malnutrition through access to nutritious, high-quality meals. This crew of 25 had an amazing day making food, prepping meals, and getting them ready for delivery. Some worked in a giant freezer and others around large tables, taking part in a well-oiled assembly line. In the three hours that we were there, we made 2,080 dinner meals, 500 breakfast meals, and over 250 fish cakes!

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles office started the day with Andrew Linares, the Midnight Mission Volunteer Manager, giving an incredibly moving testimonial of his own experience as a recipient of help from their Healthy Living Program. He spoke about the services the program offers to provide food, shelter, and technology to help provide a path to self-sufficiency to men, women, and children experiencing homelessness on Skid Row and surrounding communities.

After his speech, they split into two groups. One group packed delicious lunches for Midnight Mission to hand out, while the other sorted all the clothing donations brought in by the Infillion team – some leftover Infillion t-shirts were also contributed to the cause!

Seattle

The Seattle office got together to craft 31 handwritten cards through Cards For Hospitalized Kids. They wrote encouraging messages and did their best to make the cards bright and colorful with stickers, drawings and craft supplies! They even played around with AI to get inspiration for inspirational phrases. 

Chicago

The Chicago team partnered with Off the Street Club, the oldest club for girls and boys in Chicago, founded in 1900. OTSC serves over 3,000 kids annually in one of the country’s most dangerous neighborhoods. The organization aims to give children the self-esteem and confidence to reach their full potential through mentorship and a number of other programs.

The Chicago team had a tour of the facilities, helped the staff with three projects, and then ended the day by having fun with some of the kids! 

Granville

In Granville, Ohio, the team experienced how the Food Pantry Network, serving Licking County Ohio, serves community members who are food insecure. What a morning they had! In two assembly lines, they packed 840 grocery bags with snacks, water, and canned spaghetti and meatballs. They had a great time laughing and swapping stories as they worked together. 

We want to say thank you again to our coworkers who participated in this day, giving their time and talents. We also want to give one more shout out to the amazing non-profits and organizations we worked with and encourage you to learn more about the great work that they do. 

• God’s Love We Deliver (New York)
• Midnight Mission (Los Angeles)
• Off the Street Club (Chicago)
• Food Pantry Network (Granville)
• Cards of Hospitalized Kids 
• Catch a Fire