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More than just crowdfunding.
Community-led positive change.

ioby stands for “in our backyards,” but it also stands for taking care of each other, for civic participation, and for trusting neighbors to know what’s best for the neighborhood.


ioby gives local leaders the ability to crowdfund the resources they need to build real, lasting change from the ground up. Our crowdfunding platform helps connect local leaders with support and funding from their communities to make our neighborhoods more sustainable, healthier, greener, more livable, and more fun.

Photo of an project organizer
Photo of an project organizer
Photo of an project organizer
Photo of an project organizer
Photo of an project organizer

Our Mission

ioby mobilizes neighbors who have good ideas to become powerful civic leaders who plan, fund, and make positive change in their own neighborhoods. We are creating a future in which our neighborhoods are shaped by the powerful good ideas of our own neighbors.

So far, ioby has helped neighborhood leaders raise over $22 million in small donations. Since lasting change takes more than money, we also help leaders recruit volunteers, grow and strengthen support networks, network with local decision makers, and start conversations around key issues in their communities that lead to long-term, broad-scale change.

ioby's high success rate for crowd-funded projects is rooted in a unique model of fundraising coaching. With ioby, you won't just put up a page, you'll work with our team to craft the most effective campaign whether you’re working on a $500, $5,000, or $50,000 goal.

ioby is a 501(c)3 driven to help you make lasting positive change in your neighborhood. We offer fiscal sponsorship so that you can accept tax-deductible donations whether or not you are incorporated as a nonprofit.

When you work with ioby, you’ll join a community of thousands of leaders and change-makers, and share knowledge, challenges, and experiences. You can rely on our years of experience to help craft step-by-step plans that you can follow to successfully raise resources. Our team can also connect you with experts in fields like urban planning, green infrastructure, community organizing, communications, and for help implementing your project.

Total projects supported3,647
Total hours of coaching & support provided in 20224,850
Black, indigenous, and people of color (bipoc)-led projects in 202265%
Total raised for local projects$19,768,125

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Our Team

ioby is built and run by a group of skilled and passionate organizers, designers, programmers, writers, accountants, project managers, coaches, and whole people.

  • Headshot of team member

    Farrah Lafontant

    Senior Director of Action & Success

  • Headshot of team member

    Nupur Chaudhury

    CEO

  • Headshot of team member

    Ross Harris

    Detroit Action Strategist

  • Headshot of team member

    Helen Poon

    Product Owner

  • Headshot of team member

    Ebony Atwell

    Operations and Administrative Support Specialist

  • Headshot of team member

    Meztli Cardoso

    Leader Success Strategist

  • Miriam Parson

    Director of Match Programs

  • Headshot of team member

    Colleen Hamilton

    Director of Communications

  • Headshot of team member

    Lisa Mongillo

    Director of Institutional Partnerships

Our Values

ioby believes that it should be easy to make meaningful change “in our backyards” - the positive opposite of NIMBY. We believe:

local is best.

We support our neighbor-leaders as experts, truly listen to them, offer guidance if they ask for it, and connect them with resources to help ensure their success.

learn, experiment, share.

We invest in and support efforts to experiment, learn, and share solutions, challenges, and insights through documentation, storytelling, data transparency, feedback, and network building.

small is big.

We approach our work, and the work of our neighbors, as if no project is too small and no interaction too insignificant. Even as we work on the small scale, we keep the big picture in mind.

we’re whole people.

We honor the diversity within our team, and respect all individuals as equal members of a collegial community and as people with lives outside ioby. We nurture our whole selves through pursuit of our own passions, knowledge sharing, fun, and active involvement in our communities.

inclusivity is key.

We seek out and elevate those whose voices have been historically repressed or underrepresented and actively encourage their ideas. We remain conscious of the social and economic barriers to action that our neighbors and team members may face, and offer our support in overcoming them. We work toward inclusive solution-building by striving to dismantle inequity in all its forms. And we build upon, rather than duplicate, the great work of others.

More about us

Read more about who we are, how we work, what we believe in, and the impact we're on a mission to make.