How Two College Students Built a Donation Platform That Raised $50K in Its First Season
How Two College Students Built a Donation Platform That Raised $50K in Its First Season
How Two College Students Built a Donation Platform That Raised $50K in Its First Season
Gift Drive uses Rye's commerce API to power seamless nonprofit gift giving—doubling donations for partner organizations while eliminating logistical headaches.
Rye
Jan 15, 2026
4 minutes
Company
Gift Drive
Location
Vermont, USA
Industry
Nonprofit Technology
Company Size
Donation Drives, Drop Shipping, Social Impact
Table of Contents
80+
Organizations Onboarded
~400
Unique Donors
5,000
Items Donated
$50K
Total Value Raised
Ready to get started?
THE CHALLENGE
A Broken Experience for Donors and Nonprofits Alike
Logan Vaughan had a frustrating holiday season. What should have been a feel-good experience—shopping for a child in need through his local angel tree program—turned into an eight-hour ordeal spanning multiple stores, fighting holiday crowds, and hunting for specific items.
"At the end of it, it felt like more of a relief of getting it done than actually a feel-good moment of donating to a nonprofit,"
Logan recalls.
That experience sparked a question: could this be made easier? When Logan started interviewing nonprofits for an entrepreneurship class at the University of Vermont, he discovered the problem ran much deeper than inconvenience.
What Nonprofits Were Struggling With
Logistics nightmares coordinating physical donation drives
Declining donor participation as people shifted to online shopping
Existing tools like Amazon Wishlists lacked donor tracking, analytics, and storytelling capabilities
No way to combine in-kind donations with monetary contributions
Staff time wasted driving to stores and managing inventory
Finding a Solution
The Search for Programmatic Commerce
Logan teamed up with Miro Gohacki, a computer science student, to build a platform purpose-built for nonprofit donation drives. The vision was clear: let donors browse curated items online, purchase with a click, and have everything ship directly to the nonprofit.
The challenge? Actually making that happen technically.
"We considered building a browser extension to take over the user's browser and buy items for them," Miro explains. "We thought about buying everything ourselves and shipping it out—which would have failed miserably with 5,000 items."
They needed a way to programmatically purchase from major retailers. After months of searching and 15 unanswered emails to Walmart, they found Rye.
"After months of searching, Rye just popped up in a Google search. We were like, 'I can't believe this is real.' Then we got our first order in, it showed up on my doorstep, and I was like—okay, we're good. Let's go with this."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
Logan teamed up with Miro Gohacki, a computer science student, to build a platform purpose-built for nonprofit donation drives. The vision was clear: let donors browse curated items online, purchase with a click, and have everything ship directly to the nonprofit.
The challenge? Actually making that happen technically.
"We considered building a browser extension to take over the user's browser and buy items for them," Miro explains. "We thought about buying everything ourselves and shipping it out—which would have failed miserably with 5,000 items."
They needed a way to programmatically purchase from major retailers. After months of searching and 15 unanswered emails to Walmart, they found Rye.
"After months of searching, Rye just popped up in a Google search. We were like, 'I can't believe this is real.' Then we got our first order in, it showed up on my doorstep, and I was like—okay, we're good. Let's go with this."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
Logan teamed up with Miro Gohacki, a computer science student, to build a platform purpose-built for nonprofit donation drives. The vision was clear: let donors browse curated items online, purchase with a click, and have everything ship directly to the nonprofit.
The challenge? Actually making that happen technically.
"We considered building a browser extension to take over the user's browser and buy items for them," Miro explains. "We thought about buying everything ourselves and shipping it out—which would have failed miserably with 5,000 items."
They needed a way to programmatically purchase from major retailers. After months of searching and 15 unanswered emails to Walmart, they found Rye.
"After months of searching, Rye just popped up in a Google search. We were like, 'I can't believe this is real.' Then we got our first order in, it showed up on my doorstep, and I was like—okay, we're good. Let's go with this."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
WHY RYE
The Right Partner for a Bootstrapped Mission
For two college students building a nonprofit platform with zero funding, choosing the right infrastructure partner was critical. Several factors made Rye the clear choice:
Key Decision Factors
Legitimate retailer partnerships: Rye's official Amazon partnership meant Gift Drive wouldn't risk legal issues or account bans
Pay-per-transaction model: No upfront costs meant they could test and validate before committing capital
Responsive support: Even as a tiny startup with just a landing page, the team got answers to every question
Proven track record: Case studies and an established presence gave confidence in reliability
"Because we bootstrapped entirely and we're college kids, the fact that Rye only takes a margin after the order is placed was huge. It meant we could actually test the product before committing money."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
For two college students building a nonprofit platform with zero funding, choosing the right infrastructure partner was critical. Several factors made Rye the clear choice:
Key Decision Factors
Legitimate retailer partnerships: Rye's official Amazon partnership meant Gift Drive wouldn't risk legal issues or account bans
Pay-per-transaction model: No upfront costs meant they could test and validate before committing capital
Responsive support: Even as a tiny startup with just a landing page, the team got answers to every question
Proven track record: Case studies and an established presence gave confidence in reliability
"Because we bootstrapped entirely and we're college kids, the fact that Rye only takes a margin after the order is placed was huge. It meant we could actually test the product before committing money."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
For two college students building a nonprofit platform with zero funding, choosing the right infrastructure partner was critical. Several factors made Rye the clear choice:
Key Decision Factors
Legitimate retailer partnerships: Rye's official Amazon partnership meant Gift Drive wouldn't risk legal issues or account bans
Pay-per-transaction model: No upfront costs meant they could test and validate before committing capital
Responsive support: Even as a tiny startup with just a landing page, the team got answers to every question
Proven track record: Case studies and an established presence gave confidence in reliability
"Because we bootstrapped entirely and we're college kids, the fact that Rye only takes a margin after the order is placed was huge. It meant we could actually test the product before committing money."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
The Results
From Class Project to Real Impact
Gift Drive launched in fall 2025 and quickly proved that the concept resonated. Over 80 organizations signed up for the platform, with 40 drives going live in the first season. The platform facilitated nearly 5,000 item donations worth approximately $50,000.
But the real validation came from the organizations themselves.
Spotlight: The Family Holiday Project
One of Gift Drive's most successful partners, The Family Holiday Project, ran their annual holiday gift drive through the platform—and the results exceeded all expectations.
2x Items donated vs. previous year
$6,000 Saved from operating budget
~$9,000 Total value raised
"They told us: you doubled the amount of items donated, saved us $6,000 we would have spent driving 30 minutes each way to buy everything ourselves, and saved our team time, money, and hassle by having everything delivered straight to our doors,"
Logan shares.
The organization was so impressed they invited Gift Drive to present at a regional fundraising conference—a 90-minute session on how technology can transform nonprofit giving.
Gift Drive launched in fall 2025 and quickly proved that the concept resonated. Over 80 organizations signed up for the platform, with 40 drives going live in the first season. The platform facilitated nearly 5,000 item donations worth approximately $50,000.
But the real validation came from the organizations themselves.
Spotlight: The Family Holiday Project
One of Gift Drive's most successful partners, The Family Holiday Project, ran their annual holiday gift drive through the platform—and the results exceeded all expectations.
2x Items donated vs. previous year
$6,000 Saved from operating budget
~$9,000 Total value raised
"They told us: you doubled the amount of items donated, saved us $6,000 we would have spent driving 30 minutes each way to buy everything ourselves, and saved our team time, money, and hassle by having everything delivered straight to our doors,"
Logan shares.
The organization was so impressed they invited Gift Drive to present at a regional fundraising conference—a 90-minute session on how technology can transform nonprofit giving.
Gift Drive launched in fall 2025 and quickly proved that the concept resonated. Over 80 organizations signed up for the platform, with 40 drives going live in the first season. The platform facilitated nearly 5,000 item donations worth approximately $50,000.
But the real validation came from the organizations themselves.
Spotlight: The Family Holiday Project
One of Gift Drive's most successful partners, The Family Holiday Project, ran their annual holiday gift drive through the platform—and the results exceeded all expectations.
2x Items donated vs. previous year
$6,000 Saved from operating budget
~$9,000 Total value raised
"They told us: you doubled the amount of items donated, saved us $6,000 we would have spent driving 30 minutes each way to buy everything ourselves, and saved our team time, money, and hassle by having everything delivered straight to our doors,"
Logan shares.
The organization was so impressed they invited Gift Drive to present at a regional fundraising conference—a 90-minute session on how technology can transform nonprofit giving.
The Integration
A Straightforward Developer Experience
Despite being new to commerce APIs, Miro found the integration process smooth. The documentation was comprehensive enough to get everything working without extensive support.
"The platform went through many iterations, and I definitely didn't know what I was doing when we started. But the docs were great—we got everything working. It's been so even-keel that I haven't really had any issues."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
When asked what they would tell other developers considering Rye, the answer was unequivocal:
"100% would recommend. You've been so responsive to every email. Even when we were nothing—when our website was literally just a landing page—you still answered our questions. The customer support is just great."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
Despite being new to commerce APIs, Miro found the integration process smooth. The documentation was comprehensive enough to get everything working without extensive support.
"The platform went through many iterations, and I definitely didn't know what I was doing when we started. But the docs were great—we got everything working. It's been so even-keel that I haven't really had any issues."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
When asked what they would tell other developers considering Rye, the answer was unequivocal:
"100% would recommend. You've been so responsive to every email. Even when we were nothing—when our website was literally just a landing page—you still answered our questions. The customer support is just great."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
Despite being new to commerce APIs, Miro found the integration process smooth. The documentation was comprehensive enough to get everything working without extensive support.
"The platform went through many iterations, and I definitely didn't know what I was doing when we started. But the docs were great—we got everything working. It's been so even-keel that I haven't really had any issues."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
When asked what they would tell other developers considering Rye, the answer was unequivocal:
"100% would recommend. You've been so responsive to every email. Even when we were nothing—when our website was literally just a landing page—you still answered our questions. The customer support is just great."
Miro Gohacki, Co-founder & CTO, Gift Drive
What's Next
Scaling Impact Together
Gift Drive is just getting started. The team is expanding beyond Vermont, exploring fundraising to take the platform to the next level, and working with Rye to add capabilities their nonprofit partners are requesting—including gift card support and additional merchant integrations.
"This doesn't really feel like work," Logan reflects. "It feels like a passion project, but with the benefit that we can eventually have jobs from this. We're going to ride this wave as much as we can."
For Rye, Gift Drive represents exactly the kind of innovation the platform was built to enable: taking the complexity out of commerce so builders can focus on what matters most.
In this case, that's helping communities take care of their own.
Gift Drive is just getting started. The team is expanding beyond Vermont, exploring fundraising to take the platform to the next level, and working with Rye to add capabilities their nonprofit partners are requesting—including gift card support and additional merchant integrations.
"This doesn't really feel like work," Logan reflects. "It feels like a passion project, but with the benefit that we can eventually have jobs from this. We're going to ride this wave as much as we can."
For Rye, Gift Drive represents exactly the kind of innovation the platform was built to enable: taking the complexity out of commerce so builders can focus on what matters most.
In this case, that's helping communities take care of their own.
Gift Drive is just getting started. The team is expanding beyond Vermont, exploring fundraising to take the platform to the next level, and working with Rye to add capabilities their nonprofit partners are requesting—including gift card support and additional merchant integrations.
"This doesn't really feel like work," Logan reflects. "It feels like a passion project, but with the benefit that we can eventually have jobs from this. We're going to ride this wave as much as we can."
For Rye, Gift Drive represents exactly the kind of innovation the platform was built to enable: taking the complexity out of commerce so builders can focus on what matters most.
In this case, that's helping communities take care of their own.
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