AOL Platforms ANZ will welcome the Enablr team to its Sydney CBD offices today as the first recipient of its AOL DeskAid initiative, designed to support early stage non-profit companies in Australia by offering office space, mentoring and a range of additional perks.

Enablr is a non-profit online fundraising platform, which provides an alternative to for-profit fundraising organisations in the market by offering a free or low cost alternative to assist with peer-to-peer, corporate and event fundraising needs. The platform is due to launch before the end of 2016.

Enablr’s founder, Christopher Mulcahy, and two colleagues will have full time access to AOL’s office in Clarence Street, Sydney with high-speed Wi-Fi, printing supplies and use of meeting rooms and the benefit of one hour’s support and mentoring each month from each of the 25 ad-tech AOL experts in the form of ad support, website troubleshooting, marketing insights and leveraging partnerships to assist.

“Making a difference is in AOL’s DNA so we are proud and excited to be able to support the Enablr team help overcome many of the challenges inherent in starting a non-profit company,” said Mitch Waters, managing director of AOL Australia and New Zealand.

“We had some terrific applicants but the AOL team felt that they would be best able to support Christopher and his team as they launch Enablr and aim to disrupt the fundraising sector within Australia.”

The Enablr team will also receive the full range of perks that the AOL team enjoy, including weekly access to Pilates teacher, free bicycles for intercity commuting, bi-weekly boot camp, use of ping pong table and showers and change rooms.

“The support of AOL DeskAid is going to make a fundamental difference to the launch of Enablr. As a non-profit start up it would be impossible to have access to the office space and quality of mentoring that is being gifted to us and we expect it to boost the trajectory of our launch and go-to-market phase, “said Christopher Mulcahy, founder and CEO of Enablr.

“As a former corporate employee myself, it is great to see an organisation like AOL give back to the non-profit sector in Australia.”

Waters concluded, “AOL continue to support a number of charitable initiatives each year but we also recognised that we could make a real difference by offering the use of our facilities, time and expertise.