(2021) Founding a Billion-Dollar Purpose-Led Business — Bryan de Lottinville, Founder of Benevity

Revisiting the Story of Benevity with Founder Bryan de Lottinville

In this revisited episode of Purposely Podcast, Mark Longbottom returns to a 2021 conversation with Bryan de Lottinville, founder of Benevity.

Bryan is a purpose-led founder whose work has had a significant influence on how companies think about employee engagement, giving, and corporate responsibility. In this conversation, Bryan reflects on the ideas that led to the creation of Benevity, the decisions that shaped its growth, and the belief that business can play a meaningful role in enabling social good.

Benevity went on to scale globally and was ultimately sold for around a billion dollars, but this episode focuses less on the outcome and more on the thinking behind the journey — from reimagining corporate giving to building a platform designed around employee choice and participation.

• Bryan’s background and the origins of Benevity

• The limitations of traditional corporate giving models, and why change was needed

• Designing technology that enables and encourages employee participation

• Leading and scaling a purpose-driven business

• Maintaining culture through growth, disruption, and Covid

• Reflections on leadership, wellbeing, and long-term impact

• Where purpose-led business is heading next

• Why purpose was always central to Benevity’s model

• How democratising giving changes behaviour and culture

• The realities of founder leadership at scale

• Lessons for leaders working at the intersection of business and impact

Benevity has supported the Purposely Podcast as a sponsor for the past three years. Thank you to Bryan de Lottinville for the conversation and for his ongoing contribution to the corporate purpose movement.

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