According to Forbes, Goodstack has processed over $5 billion in donations to a network of 13.5 million verified nonprofits across 240 countries and territories. The company, co-founded by Henry Ludlam and Stefan Greer, verifies 100,000 organizations weekly and last year alone facilitated donations to nearly one million causes. After rebranding from Percent to Goodstack in 2024, they secured a $28 million Series A round led by General Catalyst with participation from strategic investors. Major clients include LinkedIn, Atlassian, HSBC, Canva, and Zoom, making Goodstack the go-to infrastructure for global corporate giving programs.
The Stripe for Social Impact
Here’s the thing about philanthropy: it’s been incredibly fragmented for way too long. Different countries, different banking systems, different regulations – it’s a mess. Goodstack basically decided to become the universal API for good, creating what Ludlam describes as “the infrastructure that enables any company, product, or platform to connect directly with verified nonprofits.” They’ve broken it down into four key areas: product giving (like when LinkedIn offers free software to nonprofits), customer giving (donations through apps like TikTok), employee giving (workplace programs), and corporate giving (grants and social investments). It’s all about embedding generosity into everyday interactions rather than making it this separate, clunky thing.
AI-Powered Scale
Now, how do you actually manage 13.5 million nonprofits across 240 jurisdictions? You can’t do it with humans alone. Goodstack’s secret weapon is AI – specifically an agent named Maia that helps nonprofits find grant opportunities in minutes rather than spending thousands on consultants. “If we had to scale what we were doing with humans, it would’ve been impossible,” Ludlam admits. But here’s what’s interesting: they’re using AI as an efficiency amplifier rather than a replacement for human judgment. The verification process still answers three critical questions about each organization, but AI makes it possible to review 100,000 nonprofits weekly. That’s the kind of scale that transforms an entire industry.
Global From Day One
Most tech companies start locally and struggle to expand internationally. Goodstack did the opposite. “Because I’m British, we had to be international from day one,” Ludlam laughs. That decision to tackle global complexity from the start turned out to be their competitive moat. Building verification and compliance across 240 countries was a “big, scary lift” initially, but now it’s what sets them apart from localized players. When companies like Zoom or Atlassian want to launch global giving programs, they don’t need to piece together solutions country by country – Goodstack already has the infrastructure in place. It’s frictionless giving at planetary scale.
Why This Matters Now
So why is this happening now? Ludlam points to two converging trends: nonprofits are finally getting digitally savvy, and corporations want to embed giving across their entire organization – not just through employee donation matching. Purpose has moved from the periphery to the platform. And in an age where trust in charitable systems is eroding due to fraud and inefficiency, Goodstack’s rigorous verification becomes incredibly valuable. They’re essentially minting trust at scale, which might be the most important currency in modern philanthropy. The company’s documentation at their help site shows how they’re building what Ludlam calls “the internet protocol for good” – an invisible layer that makes generosity borderless and seamlessly integrated into daily life.
