How We Got Here
Gudsy started with a community fundraiser — an entire Saturday of effort that raised $300. Not because people didn't care. Because they didn't know it was happening.
That experience led to a harder question: why is it so difficult for willing people to find and support the causes around them?
The answer turned out to be structural. Nonprofits piece together disconnected tools — one for email, one for donations, another for volunteers, another for events. Each with its own cost, learning curve, and data silo. Meanwhile, their supporters are buried under emails from every cause they've ever given to. The people who care the most are the hardest to reach.
The numbers confirm it: 57% of donors don't return the next year. Nonprofits spend 18-24 months breaking even on the cost of acquiring each one. Worthy causes stay invisible to the people ready to help — not because of apathy, but because the system between them is broken.
What We Believe
Most platforms respond to this by optimizing outreach — better subject lines, smarter segmentation, more channels. But each message is still an independent low-probability event competing in a crowded inbox. We think the answer isn't louder signals. It's a place worth coming back to.
Find What Matters
Search by cause, by community, or by what resonates — and discover verified nonprofits doing real work nearby.
Act Without Friction
Donate, volunteer, and follow — in one place, in one flow, without juggling tools or accounts.
Stay Connected
When any organization you follow shares an update, you see it. Engagement compounds across causes instead of competing between them.
Who We Are
Abrar Qureshi, Founder
Abrar Qureshi is a technologist with 20+ years in software engineering and product. A former Presidential Innovation Fellow at the U.S. General Services Administration, he has built systems across Fortune 500s and startups — always focused on making technology work for real people. Gudsy is where that experience meets a problem he saw firsthand: the disconnect between people's willingness to help and the infrastructure available to act on it. The aim is straightforward — cut through the scattered tools and information fog so supporters and nonprofits can find each other faster and stay connected longer.
Advisors
Johnny Martin
Software Entrepreneur
Johnny is a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur who has helped many organizations innovate and build software and development teams. He has spent his entire career developing software during which time he has started five new businesses, participated in one IPO, helped with acquisitions, and worked to improve government technology adoption.
Johnny served as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow in Washington DC; has led software architect teams for PayPal and Adobe Systems; and has started and led five of his own start-up companies in Silicon Valley. Part-time, he has contributed to the educational growth of hundreds of students while teaching graduate and undergraduate Computer Science at San Jose State University and the National University of Singapore. He also practices and teaches traditional Japanese karate.
Johnny holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.
Al Lavassani
Technology Ethics Visionary
Al Lavassani is the Chief Privacy Officer at University of California. Al has had leading roles in the privacy, security, and technology governance risk and compliance (GRC) field for over 20 years. He led programs in risk management, security, privacy, and GRC at Wells Fargo, Visa, Lyft, SoFi, and Meta. He was also a consultant in the same field to clients in various industries, from financial services and pharma to IT, retail, and non-profit.
Al holds a BA in Public Administration, and an MBA from UC Davis. He also holds a collection of professional certifications in Security, IT, Privacy, Sustainability, and lately in AI (AIGP).
Where We Stand
Live Today
- 1.8M+ nonprofit profiles from IRS and ProPublica open data
- Semantic and location-based search across 324 US metro areas
- One-time and recurring donations — bring your own payment processor
- Volunteer opportunity discovery and signup
- Organization updates and follower feeds
- Free supporter dashboard to manage all giving activity
Building Now
- Volunteer preference matching
- Expanded nonprofit activation flow
On the Horizon
- Workplace giving programs
- Brand cause-marketing partnerships
Your Profile Is Already Here
We've pre-loaded 1.8 million nonprofit profiles from public IRS data. Chances are, yours is one of them. Claim it, customize it, and let your community find you.