Give Them Armor, Rebrand and Strategy
GTA is a platform that facilitates the transfer and transport of crisis-related supplies between those that have supplies such as masks, canned goods, and sanitation items and those in need. Our “community classifieds” act as bulletin boards allowing community members to easily identify parties in need, quickly connect peer-to-peer, and deliver immediate support for local communities in real-time.
The Challenge
During critical times like the covid pandemic, there lacks a platform for users to connect, communicate, offer support, or ask for help within close geographic proximity or identification of one another that is specific to a community’s immediate ecosystem. Give Them Armor is a digital marketplace for connecting community leaders with vital resources from donors who are willing to give. The Solution: A Robust Platform For Connecting Community Leaders With Vital Resources Not Limited To Supplies, Education, And Information During Critical Times.
Problem
GTA had a definite purpose: Safely transfer and transport PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) from small businesses to our local hospital heroes. After a month of operations, GTA scaled operations from the Inland Empire exclusively to delivering PPE to hospitals in the greater Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties along with most of Las Vegas. However, within the first few weeks, our group determined additional/ alternative communities that could benefit from a similar service to GTA’s original value proposition to local hospital heroes. Examples of these communities included people in Los Angeles that are at high risk due to age/pre-existing conditions, low socioeconomic status, especially those areas with high unemployment & high COVID-19 contraction rates, as well as homeless veterans populations.
Mission
Our mission was to help these communities via strategic partnerships with local leaders to determine and deliver the needs of their communities. However, this channel proved to be considerably more difficult (and potentially unreliable) than expected due to the limited availability of many community leaders. We believe a platform between parties who have crisis-related supplies and those in need of crisis-related supplies could be forged, with marketplace designs similar to Craigslist.com.
Grab
Give Them Armor is a nonprofit organization that
- Empowers Community Leaders With Tools And Resources To Take Action During Critical Times
- Connects Those In Need and Those With Resources In Real Time
- Allows For Individuals and Businesses To Commit and Offer Resources
- Facilitates The Safe Transfer and Transport of Goods and Services Between Parties
Market Opportunity
There are currently 1137 non-for-profit organizations listed in Los Angeles annotating “emergency” in their services, however only 9 results are found for “emergency response services” three of which are focused on medical services. The other six organizations serve a variety of issues but not specific to critical needs or resources.
Problem
During critical times there lacks a platform for users to connect, communicate, offer support, or ask for help within close geographic proximity or identification of one another that is specific to a communities immediate ecosystem.
Solution
This GTA marketplace would allow local community leaders and individual members to post crisis-related items available for donation and match with local leaders and individual members in need of specific items. Rather than searching for free items on Craigslist, OfferUp, and Letgo, GTA’s marketplace is designed to deliver a convenient, safe digital alternative to conduct community-based, peer-to-peer disaster relief donation exchanges. We have received positive feedback from potential members on both sides of the marketplace, which is encouraging. The next steps are to build the marketplace (based on the wireframe mockups by the GTA team)
- recruit suppliers and local in-kind donors
- promote GTA to potential money donors/requesters
- and identify the required time/money to build the marketplace.
Competitive Advantage
GTA is available to individuals and businesses who wish to support or donate their resources and or time during critical moments of need. The platform also serves a digital location for community members to connect and discuss activities and actions that will serve their cause.
Currently a platform of shared resources has not been identified specific to the volunteer community. By applying real-time communication and transparency on our platform, we are increasing volunteer engagement beyond a static site.
