When a textile artist finishes a section of a project, there is always a bit of string left over. So the very last step of any knitting or crochet project is weaving in these last few inches of “loose ends.” That’s what turns a project into a gift, and that’s what gave this nonprofit its name. They connect volunteer textile artists to people who have lost a loved one who was working on a fiber arts project. These volunteers (called “finishers”) complete the projects in the way their original creators intended.

“Loose Ends aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with projects people have left undone due to death or disability.” Masey Kaplan, Executive Director and Co-Founder

Background

Knitting, crocheting, quilting, and other textile projects require knowledge and experience, as well as good eyes and nimble hands. These projects are labor of love that can take many hours, so it’s not uncommon for a dedicated knitter or sewist to leave projects partially completed when they pass away or become too disabled to complete a textile project. When that happens, those they leave behind can be at a loss as to what to do with a half-crocheted scarf or incomplete embroidery.

Jen Simonic and Masey Kaplan, close friends and lifelong fiber artists, realized people kept asking them variations of the same question: “Can you finish this blanket/sweater/etc. that a loved one started for me?” Jen and Masey happily helped out. They were delighted to take on such meaningful projects and pass on one last gift from a loved one, bringing at least a little bit of closure to a grieving friend.

But the two only have so much time on their hands. After finishing projects for several friends, they began to dream bigger and started Loose Ends. The organization connects volunteer textile crafters with recently bereaved folks looking for help with an unfinished project. The concept took off quickly.

“We began with a handful of finishers and a few projects and have since grown to welcome more than 28,000 volunteer finishers (and growing by 300+ every week) from all over the world (65 countries have registered finishers, and 14 countries have projects in the works). We have facilitated the completion of more than 2500 projects—all of which have been returned back to the families and friends they were being made for,” says Masey Kaplan, Executive Director and Co-Founder.

At first, Jen and Masey ran Loose Ends as a side project, and they used GoFundMe to raise money for a website and outreach. But when they decided to go all in and turn Loose Ends into a 501(c)3, Masey says they knew they needed to find a better solution. 

Turning Loose Ends into a nonprofit meant Jen and Masey needed to be able to fund growth. They suddenly had to pay for new staff, technology, and marketing. It was quickly evident that GoFundMe’s donation fees were doing more than just taking away donated money. The fees were dissuading people from donating at all. 

“Saving on fees removes barriers to donations. The fees charged by other platforms dissuade folks from donating or encourage them to donate less, in order to accommodate those fees... Removing the barriers to donations has been a game changer, and will be even more so as we embark on the upcoming fundraising season!” Masey says.

Masey and Jen weren’t sure how to get around the fees imposed by GoFundMe, so they spent valuable time researching different solutions. The pair researched the fee structures of platforms they’d heard about and came across Zeffy in their search. A completely free fundraising platform seemed too good to be true, so Masey and Jen took it slow. They signed up for a webinar to make sure it was a good fit before deciding to give Zeffy a try.  

“As a startup nonprofit with only two members, and no funding (yet) we’d need something with low (or no) fees. Zeffy was a dream come true,” Masey says.

‍

Inspired by Loose Ends’ story? See how Zeffy’s fee-free platform compares to GoFundMe!

As Masey says, “Loose Ends runs on people.” Their extensive volunteer network is the core of the project, but those volunteers rely on donations to connect to the people who need their help. The donations Jen and Masey have collected have allowed them to build a stronger network and complete more projects for recently bereaved clients.

‍

“We do not have much overhead, and every donation counts. The money we save in fees goes directly toward our mission and, this year, has allowed us to build a CRM to keep track of our projects and volunteers and to hire our first part-time employee. This help has allowed us to grow more quickly and finish more projects,” Masey says.

‍

When they began using Zeffy to collect funds, Jen and Masey saw donations flow in, unimpeded by intimidating fees. Those increased donations have allowed Loose Ends to grow more than they’d expected in their first year, facilitating thousands of finished projects.

Now, they tell everyone they know in the nonprofit space about the platform.

‍

“Zeffy's functionality has everything we need and their customer support is always friendly and patient. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Zeffy and recommend it widely to all of the nonprofits in our orbit. We are superfans,” Masey says.