GiveCamp is a weekend-long event where technology professionals (designers, developers, database administrators, marketers and web strategists) donate their time and talent to provide software solutions for local non-profit organizations. Since its inception in 2007, GiveCamps have provided services worth over $1 million to several hundred charities nationwide.
This video from GiveCamp in Birmingham, Alabama demonstrates the transformative power of GiveCamp for volunteers and non-profits alike.
At GiveCamp, there is an expectation that “What happens at GiveCamp stays at GiveCamp;” therefore, all source code must be turned over to the charities at the end of the weekend (developers cannot ask for payment), and the charities are responsible for maintaining the code moving forward (charities cannot expect the developers to maintain the codebase). As a result, the proposed work must be scoped appropriately so it can be completed by teams of developers and designers in the span of the weekend. Teams of volunteer business analysts typically work with candidate non-profit organizations well ahead of the GiveCamp to ensure their expectations can be met at this event.