Our story

FirstGiving was founded in 2003, just two years after London lawyer and investment banker Zarine Kharas became fascinated by the power of the internet to provide low-cost, no-risk service to charities and founded JustGiving, the UK-based pioneer of online fundraising. Together, FirstGiving and JustGiving form The Giving Group, a technology company dedicated to expanding the world of giving.

Since then, the Giving Group has set about democratizing online fundraising, helping nonprofit organizations and their supporters raise over $1 billion for charity. In the last 18 months alone, U.S. nonprofits have raised $77 million through FirstGiving.

Our online fundraising solutions allow nonprofits to do what they do best – providing mission-based services and research to deserving recipients – without worrying about technical development, server maintenance, credit card processing, or any of the other headaches we handle on their behalf.

Meet the Team

Karsten Robbins

Karsten Robbins

CEO

Karsten is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for products that delight and an established track record of bringing innovative solutions to market. With a background in the technology and consumer products industries, he brings a customer-focused lens to FirstGiving. In his free time, Karsten enjoys family, food, and travel.

 Dina Pradel

Dina Pradel

Head of Product and Marketing

Dina stays up at night thinking about how to build simple, engaging products that people passionately want to use. Her last two start-up companies were sold to Time Inc's Digital Style and Entertainment Group and Viacom's MTV. Dina's been a Big Sister for six years, and a foster mom to rescued Springer Spaniels.

Faces of FirstGiving Faces of FirstGiving

We're a passionate, committed, and savvy group who care about fighting cancer, clean water solutions, humane animal treatment, and many other causes. See below for a snapshot of who works at FirstGiving.

Learn more about the team