Bonterra is technology for the greatest good as it helps nonprofits, charitable foundations, and socially responsible companies raise more, give more, and get more for their missions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bonterra Chief Revenue Officer Ben Cohen to learn more about the company.
Ben Cohen’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Cohen said:
“I’m a tech executive with a passion for rallying teams — both internally and externally — around a common mission. Over the past decade, I’ve had the opportunity to work with more than 50 enterprise software companies where I’ve always been deeply interested in both the business and the mission side of things. My focus is to drive the organization toward its north star, helping us block out the noise of ‘it can’t be done’ and working alongside our clients to rapidly achieve success.”
“Throughout my career, I’ve concentrated on achieving three core things: evangelizing a message of hope and optimism to inspire the market, organizing our teams and processes to be efficient in delivering that message, and ensuring we deliver with conviction, meeting our clients wherever they are in their journey. Ultimately, it’s all about growth, opportunity, and efficiency.”
“My main responsibility at Bonterra is ensuring that our message is delivered with conviction and clarity. Delivery isn’t just about words to me; the best companies are ones that bring their messaging to life through actions, deployments, and overall behavior as a company. I focus on making sure the message we send out to the market resonates — identifying where it might fall flat and adjusting accordingly.”
“I’ve led the effort to break down silos that traditionally exist in companies, aligning teams like marketing, branding, messaging, and product into one cohesive unit. Many companies strive to reach this point, but few succeed. For me, it’s about ensuring that everything we do is rooted in our core values and that we truly sell on the value we bring, not just on messaging alone.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Cohen explained:
“As a social good tech company, Bonterra’s core products are designed to create an ecosystem connecting nonprofits, corporations, funders, and supporters — all with the shared goal of making the greatest positive impact for the causes they are working to support. What sets us apart is the trust and alignment we build among these diverse groups, fostering better collaboration.”
“By allowing nonprofits to harness the troves of data they possess on their causes, donors and more, we offer unique insights enabling organizations to focus on intervention models with the highest likelihood of success in their communities, delivering the best outcomes in the shortest time frame. Additionally, our tools help organizations explain their missions on a more personal level, tailoring communications to funders and supporters. For funders, we provide data-driven insights that allow them to better track how their investments are driving progress toward their goals.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Cohen and the team faced in building the company? Cohen acknowledged:
“The nonprofit leaders we are trying to reach are in the trenches of their organizations day in and day out, trying to do as much good as possible. An executive director of a soup kitchen isn’t as focused on software solutions as they are on ensuring they’re getting food to as many hungry people as possible. Our customers’ attention is always in a million different places, so our team is dedicated to showcasing tech-powered efficiencies and insights to serve even more people in need more sustainably.”
“By focusing our messaging on the broader vision, more organizations are seeing the long-run value of our ecosystem, which is more valuable over time than pushing messaging about a singular product we offer.”
Evolution Of Bonterra’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Cohen noted:
“Since launching, Bonterra has made significant strides in evolving our technology. One of the most notable developments has been our move to the AWS platform within just six months, a transition that has allowed us to become enterprise-grade, connect our products more seamlessly, and leverage AWS’s 75,000+ engineers to continuously develop better solutions for our customer base.”
“Beyond that, our teams are now focused on how each product contributes to the overall social good ecosystem, rather than just the individual performance of one tool. We’ve also been actively acquiring companies to add more data, actions, and participants into our system, which enriches the ecosystem further. Within these data troves are the answers to getting more donations, more grants written, and more effective philanthropic work.”
“But we understand that technology alone isn’t enough; coaching, capacity building, and coalition building are just as essential. We help nonprofits overcome the fear of adoption and accelerate their ability to use technology effectively to drive impact.”
Continuous Virtuous Cycle
Can you explain the continuous virtuous cycle? How do you see this cycle working with Bonterra’s products? Cohen pointed out:
“Our goal at Bonterra is to create a ‘continuous virtuous cycle’ revolving around people feeling like their contributions — whether it’s time, effort, recruiting, or financial support — are making a real impact. We focus on ensuring that individuals see tangible results from their giving. We’re in a phase where we’re homing in on understanding why people give, what they expect in return, and how we can follow up with them in meaningful ways.”
“Technology brings nonprofits so much potential for scalability, allowing us to dive deeper into and create solutions that reflect back to donors the true impact of their involvement. However, giving can be complex — it’s hard for people to figure out what causes matter most to them and how much they should give.”
“That’s where the concept of microgiving comes in, where even small contributions of time, money, or influence can have a measurable impact. Unfortunately, while giving from the top 1% is increasing, it’s declining elsewhere. So, we’re looking at ways to tap into microgiving — whether it’s a dollar, recruiting a friend, or volunteering an hour — and make that feel just as meaningful. Our products are designed to help facilitate that cycle, ensuring that every contribution feels valuable and drives sustained engagement.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Cohen cited:
“One of our most significant milestones has been unifying our vision and being able to clearly articulate our ‘right for existence.’ I’m most proud of how Bonterra helps impact society for good across so many areas — whether it’s through nonprofits, elections, holding corporations accountable, etc. Our focus has been helping society give in ways that drive real, measurable impact in as fast a timeline as possible. Not just in terms of dollars exchanged, but through meaningful change.”
“We’ve also aligned our efforts with our ‘3% by ‘33’ vision — increasing the 50-year stagnant 2.5% of GDP charitable giving to 3% by the year 2033 — which serves as a key driver for everything we do. This goal is why our ecosystem matters, as it allows us to deliver impact in diverse and powerful ways.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Cohen about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“I’m always inspired by the nonprofits we work with that realize they not only need technology to further their goals but also fully embrace all it can do for them. Local nonprofits see so much unlocked for their causes when they introduce technology to their day-to-day work.”
“One of my favorite recent success stories is with Mission Blue, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the ocean with an Emmy-winning Netflix documentary urging the protection of our marine environments. I grew up surfing in Southern California and I spent more days by the ocean than I can count. Working closely with an organization working to protect this place that’s brought me so much joy and has meant the world to me. Using Bonterra’s technology platform, Mission Blue was able to streamline and enhance its donor engagement and fundraising efforts by organizing its data more efficiently, tracking donor interactions, and better communicating its mission to supporters. That means more of our oceans are protected and continuing the mission of their founder, Dr. Sylvia Earle. By improving donor engagement and harnessing the power of their data, Mission Blue took a large step towards its goal of protecting a third of our oceans by 2030.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Cohen assessed:
“Estimating the total addressable market for Bonterra is complex due to the many layers involved in what nonprofits and governments are working to solve.”
“In reality, there’s potential to address billions of dollars when you consider all the money that goes into social welfare, addressing insecurities, workforce development, refugee support, and other societal challenges. A significant portion of global resources is aimed at protecting and helping each other, but much of this ecosystem hasn’t yet been digitized. The insights and discussions that technology could be driven by technology are still restricted by traditional, on-the-ground methods.”
“If we achieve our ‘3% by ‘33’ goal, we could put $576 billion in social good back into the world, which gives you a glimpse of the true market potential we’re looking at.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Bonterra from its competition? Cohen affirmed:
“What sets Bonterra apart is that we’re not just a technology provider — we’re a driver of meaningful change. Our focus isn’t solely on building products; it’s on creating an ecosystem that empowers organizations to do good more efficiently and at scale. We’re driven by our ‘3% by 2033’ goal to bring about billions of dollars worth of social good to this world. That amount of money could have an unbelievable effect on our planet.”
“Our technology enables this, but it’s our mission and the values we align with that truly differentiate us. We help our partners not only access the tools they need but also coach them through the process, build their capacity, and support their journey in a way that extends beyond just using software. We’re committed to fostering a culture of hope and optimism, helping our partners deliver real, measurable outcomes in their communities.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Cohen emphasized:
“Continuing to deliver the message of impact with conviction always hovers at the top of my goals list. Allowing digital tools to get into the hands of nonprofit leaders and visionaries that make an impact on a hyperlocal level and giving them the ability to use technology to their advantage is something we continually strive to do.”
“Growing our partnerships with the world’s best technology services and companies is also vital to our future goals. So is continuing to collaborate with AWS to offer advanced cloud capabilities to nonprofits and growing partnerships with incredible organizations that empower and innovate nonprofit engagement like GivingTuesday. We’re also committed to expanding corporate donor impact through partnerships with platforms like GoFundMe, who we recently teamed up with to launch a donor-matching campaign with our corporate and grantmaker customers to directly support relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. We’re passionate about building an ecosystem that gets donor funds into the hands of nonprofits making major impacts in communities and most aligned with their passions and beliefs.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Cohen concluded:
“I’m always excited to talk about AI, its ability to revolutionize global giving and nonprofit operations, and the ethical standards driving Bonterra’s implementation of AI into our products and services. We have published our AI ethics publicly and are continuing to educate our customers on its applications and limitations, as well as listen to their concerns and curiosity about AI in nonprofits. It’s something Bonterra will continue to push boundaries on so that, ultimately, our customers are gaining the most from AI to make the most significant impact in their communities and increase donations and relationships with donors.”
