In this episode of The Funding Files, Anna and Matt interview Lani Evans, the first CEO of Thankyou Payroll, a New Zealand-based payroll intermediary with a social enterprise model.

Lani shares her journey helping scale the company, raise early-stage funding, and later support an equity crowdfunding campaign. The conversation highlights the lack of funding when you’re just getting started, values-driven business model, challenges of raising capital for social enterprises, and the innovative approach they took to philanthropy through the Thankyou Charitable Trust (now Generous Ventures). They also explore how equity crowdfunding empowered their community of supporters and aligned with their ethical principles.

The episode reflects on lessons learned, creative marketing, and the eventual success of returning dividends to shareholders — a crowdfunding world first according to Forbes.

Lani also gives insights into her new venture, Fundsorter, which uses AI to support not-for-profits to find and apply for funding here in Aotearoa – which just launched to the public this month!

Learn more about Thankyou Payroll: https://www.thankyoupayroll.co.nz/

Check out Fundsorter: https://www.fundsorter.com/

🔑 Key Themes & Takeaways:

1. Bootstrapped Beginnings

Thank You Payroll was founded using government subsidies meant to promote digital payroll filing.
The company initially offered services for free, but later introduced nominal pricing after realizing that customers distrust “free” services.
Early funding came from personal sources — including founder Hugh living on a benefit — and friends and family investment totaling less than $50,000 before crowdfunding.

2. Human-Centric Leadership

Lani brought in skills around community building, operations, and values-based leadership.
The startup emphasized approachability and trust, using humor and personality to stand out in a typically bland industry.

3. Social Enterprise Model

From the outset, Thank You Payroll aimed to be a “win-win-win” business: benefiting customers, the government, the environment, and the wider community.
A portion of revenue (not profit) was donated to a separate charitable entity — Thank You Charitable Trust (now Generous Ventures).

4. Innovative Philanthropy

Instead of traditional grantmaking, they used participatory funding: past recipients helped decide future grants.
Accountability was built through community events and storytelling, not formal reports — fostering transparency and collaboration.

5. Equity Crowdfunding

In 2017, they raised ~$500,000 from ~200 investors via PledgeMe.
Chose crowdfunding due to misalignment with traditional investors who couldn’t accept non-maximized profit motives.
Equity crowdfunding allowed broader participation and retained the company’s social mission without compromise.

Thank You Payroll paid dividends (a rare milestone for crowdfunded businesses) and is now in a successful exit process.
Crowdfunding helped strengthen operations, identify risks, and unify the leadership team.

6. Advice for Other Founders

Don’t be afraid to be different — embrace your personality and values in your business model.
Consider partnering with existing charitable organizations instead of creating new ones to avoid redundancy and complexity.
Be prepared: fundraising takes longer and requires more focus than most expect.