Can a $1 donation really make a difference?

In this Impact Interview on The Maytte Dusseau Show, Maytte sits down with Shashana Kaplan, co-founder and President of PIFster, a micro-donation platform designed to make charitable giving accessible, transparent, and meaningful.

PIFster allows people to give as little as $1 per month, suggest causes they care about, vote on where the collective funds should go, and then see how those donations are actually used. The idea is simple: when enough people give a little, together they can create extraordinary impact.

Shashana shares how the idea began during the COVID pandemic, when she started noticing small nonprofits and neighbors in her own community quietly helping people in need. One experience, helping a senior citizen who couldn't afford both her utility bill and charging her electric wheelchair, showed Shashana what could happen when a community came together around one very specific need.

That experience eventually became PIFster.

In this conversation, we talk about:

- Micro-donations and charitable giving

- How $1 donations can create meaningful impact

- Nonprofit transparency and trust

- Community-based philanthropy

- Supporting small nonprofits

- Giving families and individuals direct support

- How PIFster vets charitable organizations and causes

- Teaching children about generosity and giving back

- Creating a culture of service

- The ripple effect of helping others

- Starting a nonprofit

- Turning an idea into action

- Overcoming setbacks while building a mission-driven organization

- How giving benefits the giver as well as the receiver

Shashana also shares powerful stories of people and organizations PIFster has supported, including helping a child receive needed medical care, providing an adaptive bicycle for a teenager with cerebral palsy, supporting small community nonprofits, and funding very specific needs that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

One of the most powerful ideas in this episode is that people want to help, but they often do not know how.

PIFster makes giving simple. It lowers the financial barrier to participation and allows donors to see exactly how collective generosity can change lives.

Shashana also talks about the importance of involving children in giving, allowing them to choose causes they care about and showing them that even a small contribution can make them part of the solution.

If you have ever wondered:

Does my small donation really matter?

How can I make a difference in my community?

How do I know where my charitable donations are going?

What can one person realistically do to help?

This conversation is for you.

Learn more about PIFster and how you can become part of the community at PIFster.org.

Subscribe to The Maytte Dusseau Show for more Impact Interviews featuring people creating meaningful change in their communities and inspiring others to do the same.

pifster.org