Wellington technology and design company, NV Interactive, has beaten off worldwide competition to claim the coveted Innovative Technology for Good Citizenship Award 2014.
More than 3,000 entries were received from around the world for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards across 40 categories.
NV Interactive took the award for its work in creating Boosted.org.nz, the only tailor-made philanthropic crowd-funding platform for arts projects in the world.
Developed for The Arts Foundation, Boosted successfully raised $325,000 for New Zealand arts projects in its first year of operation, almost doubling The Arts Foundation’s annual budget to support arts projects in the country.
“The Arts Foundation had a vision to engage and enable a new generation of arts donors in New Zealand. Together we developed Boosted to support the funding of arts projects in New Zealand,” says Matt Pickering, Managing Director, NV Interactive.
“In doing so we wanted to connect artists and donors on arts projects that move them.
“All projects are supported by the knowledgeable and dedicated Boosted team and artists are guided through the funding process.
“But what makes Boosted unique is its charitable status. All project donations are, in actuality, donations to the Arts Foundation, a registered charitable trust.
“There are no gifts, incentives or commercial returns to donors. This is what sets it apart from other platforms.”
Boosted has the highest success rate amongst the popular crowd funding sites, with 60% of projects successfully reaching their funding goals.
“In its first year, Boosted has supported 54 successful projects to get funding from more than 2,500 donations,” adds Mark Michel, manager, Boosted.
“We knew that New Zealanders wanted to be able to support local arts projects: all they needed was a simple, relevant and effective way to do so.”
NV Interactive’s Award will be presented in Washington DC in July at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in front of over 16,000 delegates from 150 countries.
“In partnership with The Arts Foundation, we have been able to develop a dynamic and lively ecosystem of artists and arts lovers who come together to create profound creative experiences,” Pickering adds.
“This is a tremendous reward in itself and it is also gratifying to have our expertise and the result of it recognised on the global stage for innovative use of Microsoft technologies.”
NV Interactive is a previous double worldwide winner of Microsoft Partner Awards having secured awards in 2012 for both Web Development and Humanitarian Response.
These awards were for work on the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce “Recover Canterbury” initiative and the Christchurch City Council’s “Share an Idea” campaign – both successful responses to the Christchurch earthquakes.