Exploring Life & Business with Janette Phillips of Share Detroit

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janette Phillips.

Hi Janette, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I have been supporting nonprofits for about 15 years. I love helping nonprofits achieve their goals by helping with business organization and fundraising/revenue attainment. The Share Detroit founders reached out to me in late 2020 to see if I would help them launch the platform as soon as possible. We launched in February with about 22 nonprofits online. We grew quickly and within a few months were at 100 nonprofits. Happily, we now have more than 230 and are focused now on making sure the community is aware of our website and the work of these nonprofits, so that individuals can donate, volunteer and attend events. So far, so good!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, nothing is ever smooth is it? We had bumps in the road as we launched and grew Share Detroit. But I have to say that our bumps were smoother than many start up organizations. We had good funding from our Angel Investors, we have a great team dedicated to this work, and the mission is one that resonates and fills a need in the nonprofit space. Our hurdles in 2021 were simply not knowing where this would go, how fast it would take off and not knowing where to find the experts (specifically in marketing) to help us get the word out. Looking forward to 2022, my work will center around collaborating and working with nonprofit leaders throughout metro Detroit to help build a very strong platform and compliment the work so many others do and have been doing for decades. We want to support our nonprofit industry in a unique way as a bridge and conduit to the community of people who want to ‘do good.’

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Share Detroit?
Share Detroit is a new 501c3 organization that was formed early this year to bring nonprofits in metro Detroit together on one platform. This allows the community to visit and find a nonprofit that aligns with their values and interests. We began with 22 nonprofits on the site and are up to 257, with another 50 in process! By visiting www.ShareDetroit.org people can donate, volunteer, attend an event, or shop a wishlist all from one simple website! The site is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Please visit and see who you can help. We hope that this platform will become the place to ‘do good and fund good’ for metro Detroit!

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I have learned throughout my career is that if a person focuses on doing the right things and helping the most number of people, you will be a success and have wonderful peace of mind. This does not guarantee that others will not resent your success or question your motivation, or try to sabotage your work. But if you do your best for the right reasons, you can go home feeling good about yourself and your work. And you will actually have helped the world in your small corner of it!

Pricing:

• There is no charge for services by Share Detroit to our nonprofits
• There is no charge to community members who donate to nonprofits.
• We are funded by angel investors and so all benefits go to the 257 nonprofits on our platform!

Contact Info:

• Email: janette@sharedetroit.com
• Website: www.sharedetroit.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/share.detroit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShareDetroit
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user137873060