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Synpact, which was founded by recent Babson College graduate Dylan McNamara, "is a social enterprise that elevates the giving experience through entertainment, transparency, community, and incentives."
The startup venture is committed to revolutionizing the philanthropic industry and redefining the power of collective impact. An example of Synpact’s mission was their inaugural “Give & Game” event, which McNamara organized single-handedly.
The event, hosted at Babson on Sunday, April 16, was a multi-pronged approach that addressed five key issues – pediatric cancer, climate change, animal advocacy, food insecurity and mental health – represented by different charities.
The charities, which were mostly chosen by Babson students, were the Boston House for Pediatric Cancer, the Nature Conservatory of Massachusetts, the Animal Rescue League of Boston, the Greater Boston Food Bank, and the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health.
More than 300 participants competed in different games such as flag football, a track & field sack race or a penalty kick shootout to earn points for their chosen charity.
Those points turned into dollars which added up to a whopping $20,800 for all five charities.
While “Give & Game” served as a small dosage of what is yet to come from Synpact, McNamara feels it fulfills what originally inspired him to launch his business and organize the event.
“There's nothing really more important than having an impact on the lives of others,” he said. “I want to amplify the best parts of life, whether it's happiness, compassion, and love. So, I kind of took all of those passions and aspirations and merged them to form Synpact.”
McNamara started Synpact to “transform the relationships between people, companies and charities” by “fostering enduring connections for sustained involvement;" and "Give & Game" appeared to do just that.
Not only did the event raise thousands of dollars for deserving causes, it also left a lasting impact on the Babson community. President Stephen Spinelli said the event was “a wonderful example of Babson's warm and engaged community."
“It’s a unique way of turning fundraising into a competition,” Greater Boston Food Bank’s Gary Roy added. “Having a competition that can be fun raising money for the charity of your choice.”
Some have considered the event to be “better than any event Babson has ever hosted,” according to social media postings by Babson students. McNamara even said "Give & Game" has inspired returning Babson students to host a similar event for their own clubs.
Now that McNamara's time at Babson has ended, he plans on growing his brand by changing the narrative behind what it means to give back to those in need.
“There's a lot of charities and fundraising techniques, awareness,” McNamara explains.
“It has like a boring and dreadful connotation towards it for a lot of people and it doesn't really have to be this way," he continues. "We're trying to set out to change that and bring a breath of fresh air to the philanthropy industry.”
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