GiftDrive / Company Spotlight
GiftDrive is a no-cost online platform designed to help nonprofits run donation drives and wish lists for in-kind and physical items. Their mission is to make giving easier, more transparent, and more impactful for all parties involved. In 2025, they served over 100 non-profits across New England, helping those organizations raise over 5,300 in physical items. In this Q&A, we speak with co-founder Logan Vaughan, a Williston, VT local, UVM Junior, and longtime VCET member, about the company’s origins, the impact, and what’s to come.
Nicole: Hi, Logan! Thank you for sitting down with me today. To jump right in, have you always considered yourself entrepreneurial?
Logan: I wouldn’t say so. I definitely got more ingrained in the entrepreneurial space when I got to college. I actually worked at a library, which is the exact opposite, but I’ll say I’ve always liked challenges, so problem-solving and working towards goals are traits I’ve always had in me.
Nicole: I love hearing stories like this. We call you the “accidental entrepreneur”. You worked at a library, which tells me you enjoy reading. Do you read a lot of business books nowadays?
Logan: Reading is more of an escape for me now and allows me to take my mind off of things I think about the rest of the day. My mom tried to give me leadership books and entrepreneurship books, but I’d rather read something like a mystery novel instead of something that’s aligned with what I’m doing in the classroom or what I’m doing in my job or my business.
Nicole: You started a company in your second semester of freshman year. What was that like? And how did you have time to do that while studying, familiarizing yourself with campus, and meeting new friends?
Logan: It was a wild ride. In my freshman year, I was someone who just wanted to get involved in everything. I knew going into college, I wanted to actually do something with my education, not just go through the motions. I joined a lot of different UVM clubs, went to a lot of social events hosted by the school, and got really involved in the campus. The one that stuck out to me most was the entrepreneurship club. When I showed up, I was like, ‘Wow, people here are actually doing something.’ And that’s how I quickly met the co-founder of my first business, Ethan Israel, where we started Campus Storage Solutions.
Nicole: It’s rare to find a co-founder and start a business so quickly. How did that relationship form?
Logan: I had an idea that I pitched to the club, which was a maple creemee cart on Church Street. Little did I know that he was selling grilled cheeses in his dorm room. So after hearing my pitch, he approached me and said, ‘I was thinking about putting a grilled cheese cart on Church Street. What if we came together and did a maple creemee grilled cheese cart?’ So we got together and instantly knew this was a horrible idea. But we made that connection. And then a couple of weeks later, Ethan had a new idea, which was Campus Storage Solutions. So since we already made the connection, we decided to run with it.
Nicole: Fast forward, Campus Storage Solutions had great success. But then you started a new company, which is why we’re sitting here today: GiftDrive. What problem made you decide to start GiftDrive?
Logan: GiftDrive started because of an experience I had two years ago. My girlfriend and I tried to donate through a local Angel Tree program at Walmart. What we thought would take thirty minutes turned into four hours. Items weren’t clear, sizes were wrong, products were out of stock, and after finding the items, we had to drive donations to Burlington. So what we thought would be a quick, fun process ended up being a whole afternoon that was honestly stressful.
Nicole: I would assume this is a universal problem. How did you think you could conquer this?
Logan: In the nonprofit space, you want to have the most frictionless donation experience. So after having that first experience, I wondered what it’s like on the receiver’s end. I ended up talking to the person who ran the Salvation Army in Burlington. They pulled out a big binder. And said, ‘This is all of our data. These are all of the children in need.’ Everything was on paper. They said they didn’t use technology. ‘We don’t know who’s donating. We don’t know when a donation is coming in. We don’t even know if we are going to meet our goals,’ So I started reaching out to homeless shelters, food shelves, and humane societies, and they all said the same thing when it comes to physical donations. After two years and hundreds of conversations, I knew the disconnect between the donor and the nonprofit was the root of the problem.
Nicole: For someone hearing about GiftDrive for the first time, what is it, and why does it matter right now?
Logan: GiftDrive is a no-cost platform to help nonprofits fundraise for donation drives and wishlists for physical goods. It’s an easy way for nonprofits to list what their needs are and share with their donors and potential new donors to fundraise for goods. This matters because nonprofits, now more than ever, are not getting the resources and help they need, and there really isn’t as much innovation in that space compared to other spaces. 81% of new donors prefer to give a physical gift, a physical good. And right now, there are really no easy processes and no easy ways for that to happen.
Nicole: If I were to walk into Walmart and see the Angel Tree, in my mind, I would immediately think, “I can just do that online.” What has been the most challenging part of turning GiftDrive from an idea to a product?
Logan: The time it takes. The amount of time it took to build up a team, build the software from scratch, and interview hundreds of organizations for all the feedback I could get. Corinne, Miro, and I are building across many different facets of the business, and we have to stay focused on all of them. At times, it feels like everything could fall apart, but it’s worth it. When I see a new organization sign up and watch them bring in $1,000 in donations, it’s powerful. This past fall, a few organizations were especially successful. One of them is the Lamoille Family Center. They ran a holiday drive collecting items for children in Lamoille County, Vermont. After the drive, they had raised about $8,000 and collected over 400 items. When it was over, they told us that not only did they nearly double the donations they received compared to the previous year—after running this program for 20 years—but they also saved $6,000 from their own budget that they would have needed to spend to meet demand. Because of GiftDrive, it cost them nothing, and that direct impact was incredible to see. That’s what makes all the time, effort, and challenges worth it.
Nicole: You know this question is coming, but what’s next for GiftDrive? What’s the vision?
Logan: The vision is to help as many people and organizations as possible. For us, that means getting in front of as many organizations as possible—through conferences and direct outreach. We’re bringing on interns this summer to expand outreach beyond Vermont because there are significant needs across the country, from homeless shelters in LA to disaster relief efforts in the South. The goal over the next year is to scale—get it in front of the people who need it most—while continuing to learn and build.
Nicole: How has your experience as a UVM student influenced your entrepreneurial path?
Logan: It’s been amazing. Going to UVM, I didn’t realize how many opportunities there were, especially in entrepreneurship. We have resources like ARC [Academic Research Commercialization Program], VIA [Vermont Innovation Accelerator], the professors who run pitch competitions, and so much more. And then there’s the support from the community, like being ingrained in VCET, Hula, LaunchVT; we even pitched at Rumble in the Kingdom Pitch Competition in St. Johnsbury this past fall and ended up taking home the grand prize. There’s so much happening here.
Nicole: You’ve been a long-time member of VCET. Why have you stuck around?
Logan: The people here are amazing. There’s so much experience in the community and a real willingness to help. The fact that you spent time looking at Campus Storage Solutions back when Ethan and I only had the idea on a napkin meant a lot, especially since you were one of the first people we ever told. It was a very rough idea, and you encouraged us to move forward and try it out. That kind of engagement and support from VCET is incredible, especially for students and people who have no idea what they’re doing. Taking the time to work with me and Ethan is something you did out of genuine kindness, and that’s not something you find everywhere.
Nicole: We mean it when we say the entrepreneur is our North Star. It’s what makes this community so special. Okay, last question: If another UVM student is sitting on an idea right now, what would you tell them?
Logan: The only way to get started is by starting. And this goes for everything, too, not just a business idea, but if you want to do anything, you’re never gonna do it unless you start doing it. And no one knows what to do. So just start here. No one has any clue. Just start doing whatever you think is right, and you’ll find your way, and you’ll meet other people who can help you and support you. And then eventually you have something that makes an impact. And that’s where you go. That is entrepreneurship. Just figure it out and if you never start trying to figure it out, you never will. So just start doing it.
Nicole: So, how easy is it for a nonprofit to sign up? Do they just make an account and then, easy?
Logan: You just go to giftdrive.org, press ‘Create a Drive’, and then it’s a five-minute process for setting up your drive. You can instantly publish it.
Nicole: Any final thoughts?
Logan: I always like to say this at the end of whoever I’m talking to, that if you know a nonprofit that takes in physical items that might have a need for something like GiftDrive, please let them know about us. Thank you, Nicole and the VCET team, for having me!
