As the year winds down, we were thrilled to come together with our community for the 2025 Holiday Gathering — a moment to reflect, celebrate, and look ahead. The gathering was filled with gratitude, inspiration, and a shared excitement for what’s to come in the year ahead.
A true highlight of the gathering was our Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated individuals and organizations doing exceptional work with GivePulse.
The Leader in Learning Awards recognized individuals who went above and beyond in leveraging training, tools, and support resources to maximize their impact and demonstrated a strong commitment to continuous learning, innovative program design, and using data and platform features to strengthen student and community engagement.
Congratulations to our Leader in Learning awardees:
Brianna Stapleton Welch, from the Little Free Library, is recognized for exceptional engagement with GivePulse support resources and a strong commitment to continuous learning to strengthen volunteer engagement and impact.
Afomia Assefa and Naomi Watts, University of Washington, were honored for their collaborative approach and thoughtful use of GivePulse to enhance data quality, streamline processes, and support campus-wide community engagement.
The Champion Changemaker Awards honored organizations across higher education, nonprofit, corporate, United Way, and volunteer center sectors for their innovative and impactful use of the platform. These awardees stood out for scaling engagement efforts, streamlining operations, and activating volunteers in meaningful ways that aligned technology with mission-driven outcomes.
Congratulations to our Champion Changemaker awardees:
Miami Dade College is honored for its innovative and large-scale use of GivePulse to expand student engagement and strengthen community partnerships while effectively tracking meaningful impact.
Forest Preserves of Cook County is celebrated for leveraging GivePulse to engage volunteers in environmental stewardship and public service, making community involvement more accessible and impactful.
Keep Us Fed Montgomery County is recognized for leveraging GivePulse to engage, track, and schedule volunteer engagement across its community, making service easier for staff to manage. Keep Us Fed Montgomery County also leverages the platform to pull impact reporting and data to ensure funding throughout the year.
The Partnership Pulse Awards celebrated campus–community partnerships that exemplify sustained, mutually beneficial collaboration. Award recipients demonstrated excellence in building trust, aligning goals, and creating long-term partnerships that deliver measurable impact for students, institutions, and community partners alike.
Congratulations to our Partnership Pulse awardees:
Black Voters Matter & Jackson State University, recognized for a powerful campus–community partnership advancing civic engagement and community empowerment through sustained, reciprocal collaboration.
Together, these stories are powerful reminders of what’s possible when technology, collaboration, and purpose come together to drive lasting community change.
Our 2025 Holiday Gathering was more than a recap; it was a celebration of you and the innovative, supportive institutions and organizations we’re proud to work with across the country. Thank you for the energy, insight, and impact you bring to this community. We can’t wait to continue building alongside you in 2026. Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a bright new year!
GivePulse is honored and proud to work with such innovative and supportive institutions, organizations, and corporations that embrace challenges and uplift their communities. Thank you to all who participated and attended. To learn more about how GivePulse can support your community engagement efforts, connect with the GivePulse team!
About GivePulse
GivePulse's mission is to enable everyone in the world to participate and engage in lifting their community to new heights. We do so by providing a platform to list, find, organize, and measure the impact of service-learning, community engagement, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and volunteerism.
Founded in 2012 in Austin, Texas, GivePulse works with 650,000+ groups, including colleges and universities, nonprofits, businesses, K-12/school districts, and cities and municipalities. Together, we connect millions of people in an effort to create positive social change.
Start making a difference today by visiting www.givepulse.com. Or schedule a call with our team.