Special Olympics Illinois Introduces the Network of Giving to Chicago Market

Supporting Chicago communities and athletes through digital commerce.

CHICAGO, Oct. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Special Olympics Illinois today announced a strategic partnership for Network of Giving in the Chicago market.

The Network of Giving is a powerful, hyper-local digital platform enabled by financial services that fosters a community-minded movement through the connection of local consumers and merchants to community organizations while creating efficiencies in digital fundraising.

"Special Olympics Illinois is excited to help bring Network of Giving to Chicago, along with its benefits for our supporters, local merchants, and ultimately the communities where we live and prosper," stated Dave Breen, President and CEO, Special Olympics Illinois. "As an organization, we always strive for three main goals – to improve athlete experiences, reach more athletes, and raise more resources. This program aligns with those goals and we look forward to what the future holds."

Chicago's Network of Giving will come into market with the partnership of local financial services and merchants, many of which already partner with Special Olympics Illinois. Current donors and volunteers will have a new outlet to support the organization, and most importantly, the more than 21,000 served athletes will benefit.

With digital commerce and merchant-defined, micro-donations, Network of Giving allows local merchants to have the digital tools to grow their business, while providing consumers an outlet to support local organizations, and it all benefits the community where they live.

"Most importantly, the Network of Giving will further enable athletes pertinent access to Special Olympics Illinois programming," Breen added.

Special Olympics Illinois also plans to champion Network of Giving's reach across Illinois as well as to Special Olympics chapters across the United States and internationally.

"The Network of Giving is excited to assist Special Olympics Illinois and the entire community to roll out Chicago's Network of Giving," stated Rob Bennett, CEO, SMB4.0, the organization that powers the Network of Giving Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. "The Network of Giving is revolutionary technology with DNA that is founded on the core principles of service, accountability, and innovation to better the lives of those in the community. The Network of Giving levels the playing field for local businesses by providing sought-after digital capabilities that deliver measured results on marketing spend, provide actionable insights that raise their customers' experience, and enables a like-minded community movement, while only asking everyone to do what they already do well today." 

"With the Network of Giving, Special Olympics Illinois along with Chicago citizens, businesses, and community leaders, now have a premiere, fully-automated digital solution that unites them in their mission to celebrate these athletes and their abilities. This solution will help them to access life-changing programming," Bennett added.

Special Olympics Illinois is a not-for-profit sports organization offering year-round training and competition in 18 sports for more than 21,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities and over 9,000 Young Athletes ages 2-7 with and without intellectual disabilities. It strives to be a global leader in shaping a culture where people with and without intellectual disabilities are fully integrated into the community by providing year-round opportunities in competitive sports, health education, leadership and personal development.  

If you are interested in being a part of Special Olympics Illinois and its vision, contact your local region, call 800-394-0562 or visit our website at www.soill.org. Follow Special Olympics Illinois on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   

The proprietary Network of Giving platform transforms communities and businesses by establishing an elevated standard of excellence in corporate and community social responsibility. The Network of Giving powers digital commerce with purpose by linking banking, fundraising, and marketing to inspire community contributions by businesses and consumers – at no cost to the consumer. The Network of Giving is committed to providing financial and social empowerment to drive positive change in communities and the world.

The Network of Giving Software-as-a-Service platform is delivered by SMB4.0 and enables digital marketing opportunities for local businesses utilizing rich tokenized data to drive business decisions with a measured result on marketing spend. This enables and empowers business owners to gain key analytics and real-time actionable insights from the data. Visit: www.networkofgiving.com

SOURCE Special Olympics Illinois