From time to time we will profile members of the Give Lively team, revealing more about who we are, what we do and how we fit into a mix of dedicated and dynamic engineers, creatives, strategists and advocates helping nonprofits do more with digital fundraising tools.

Like the focus of this week’s profile, the full Give Lively team is passionate about using tech for social good and providing a better fundraising experience to nonprofits and donors.

Ethan Gelber

What do you do at Give Lively?

Since May 2019, I have been a keeper of Give Lively’s words, currently as Content Director and in collaboration with Clair Lofthouse. I accomplish this as part of Give Lively’s marketing team, alongside Sonia Leone and David Gagne, who oversee our design solutions – the visual yin to my oratorical yang.

My responsibilities center around developing and maintaining Give Lively’s brand language and drafting or editing all Give Lively written materials, including emails and articles about our activities, our website with descriptions of our technology, technical details and FAQs about use of our platform and products, profiles of our member nonprofits and lots more. I also help wordsmith the user-facing portals through which nonprofits and donors connect with our tech. 

What does a day in your life at Give Lively look like?

Every day at Give Lively is one of multiple and overlapping tasks. It can feel like cooking a many-course meal on a stove with dozens of burners – concocting recipes, adding ingredients, sprinkling in spices and stirring sauces. But in my case, it's researching concepts, writing new texts and revising old ones, all in many Google docs in dozens of open browser tabs. Some are short texts handled in minutes; others are long-term projects that can take weeks, months or even longer to complete.

Of course, this doesn't happen in isolation. In one-off and recurring meetings, I work through ideas, drafts and feedback with teammates across the company, but especially in marketing. Since most word pieces are made stronger with visuals, and vice versa, I check in regularly with my design counterparts to usher projects forward. 

What do you like to do outside of Give Lively?

Oh, there's lots I'm interested in and eager to do, but my wife and I have two high schoolers and that eats up most of my time.

That said, I've been a cyclist for decades (as a commuter, for exercise, long-distance travel, even as a bicycle tour operator and as a nonprofit) and always get in as many miles as I can. I calculate that I've pedaled many more miles than I've driven. A few years ago, I also discovered paddling (kayaks) and rowing (four- and six-person gigs), in which I try to indulge whenever I'm away from my native New York City home.

Beyond that, I come from a previous career as a travel writer and editor, so seeing the world and writing about its people, places and cultures still give me immense pleasure. I've spent meaningful time in 90+ countries and always focused my research and scribing on responsible and sustainable travel, about which I remain a loudly vocal advocate.

Finally, like every writer I know, there's a book struggling to get out of me. I'm working on setting it free. 

What excites you about Give Lively?

As someone committed to responsible and sustainable behavior, I have always tried to do work guided by good. I'd be hard-pressed to find a more fitting organization than Give Lively. Through mission, values and practice, Give Lively does right by organizations that do right, those trying to address the world’s most pernicious wrongs. Give Lively stands proudly where tech good and social good intersect.

Not surprisingly, the people who work for Give Lively are just as virtuous. I have been involved in more than a dozen startups but never found a more kind, upstanding and talented group of people, all working well together and motivated by a shared belief in righteous goals. I am honored to be part of it.