Humanitix is the fastest-growing ticketing platform in Australia and New Zealand, and it recently opened its U.S. headquarters in Denver. Humanitix is different from other ticketing registration software companies for a tight handful of reasons.
1. Doing good is its purpose.
Humanitix is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose purpose is to solve inequality through education programs, which it does by donating 100% of its profits to children’s charities. CEO Adam McCurdie shared that, by replicating its Australian success in the U.S., the company will be able to donate roughly $100 million over the next five years. That will mean a significant growth in mission for its two U.S.-based charity partners, Room to Read and Code.org. This purpose also has a critical effect on the team—from hiring to culture to retention, and back again. Humanitix has a 100% retention rate on its engineering team, and its account management team’s staying power is similar.
2. The product is better.
Humanitix didn’t want event hosts choosing the platform only because of the ethical upside. The software had to deliver, too. So, early on, the team poured its energies into building a better platform that makes events easier for both hosts and participants. Some of the features include Canva-enabled branding of event pages; the ability to sell merchandise alongside tickets; intricate and customizable mapping to fit the event and the venue; automated waitlists; and a companion event management app. Humanitix can support anything from a yoga retreat to a brewing festival to a business networking lunch.
3. Its fees are lower.
Whereas, in many other arenas, ethically minded products and services come with a higher cost, the opposite is true of Humanitix. Its event-hosting fees are 10-20% lower than comparable competitors. The cost differential enables even smaller, less-resourced organizations to utilize the platform while contributing to changing outcomes for children, especially girls, in disadvantaged communities.But wait! There’s more to say about the fees, the fees, the f*cking fees! Everybody hates them. But with Humanitix, the fees add up for good. The company’s five-year goal for its U.S. operations is to donate roughly $100 million to partner organizations.
4. The customer service is awesome.
When an event host chooses Humanitix, they work with a dedicated account service representative on setup and optimization. They can also call on that real, live person for help. In fact, this on-call aspect of service at Humanitix was part of the rationale for locating its U.S. headquarters in Denver, where the team can better support event hosts in multiple time zones.
5. Accessibility is baked in, also on purpose.
One of Humanitix’s early game-changing observations was that people with accessibility challenges often avoid live events because they’re not confident that the event organizers are thinking of them and their needs. The company took the issue on, and proving their mettle, won the 2018 Microsoft and PwC Hack4Good hackathon focused on building better solutions for people with disabilities.“What’s really beautiful about us being a nonprofit is that we don’t have shareholders breathing down our necks,” said McCurdie. “That gave us a lot of space to have peripheral vision on problems that we could solve with our platform.”Humanitix engineers diligently tested event registration pages against screen readers and other accessibility functions, took some real-life tips from Knowbility, and worked in concert with the account service team to educate event hosts about small things that make a big difference to people with disabilities. For example, Humanitix event descriptions include the name and phone number for a day-of contact person. Precise arrival details like the color, size and position of the entrance door in relation to other landmarks; notes on any hazards; and directions for how to find the toilets are also included and can be downloaded directly into calendar apps. This additional layer of information empowers people to know what to expect when they arrive at the event, which ultimately increases the likelihood they’ll purchase a ticket and attend.Wow. We’re inspired by this purpose-built, purpose-driven brand. We welcome you to Colorado, Humanitix team, and we look forward to seeing you continue to grow!Vladimir Jones is Colorado’s original independent, integrated advertising agency, with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs. We believe in brilliant brands and love making the world love them as much as we do.
