EXP Summary — From Crisis to Championship Culture

When EXP—The Opportunity Engine, a youth education nonprofit—came to Give River, the pandemic and subsequent layoffs had left their team exhausted, disconnected, and struggling with rock-bottom morale. Give River designed a streamlined 30-day Season focused purely on peer recognition in Slack. The results were unprecedented: 100% team participation with double-digit improvements across every metric—wellbeing support (up 14%), recognition frequency (up 11%), connection to colleagues (up 17%), and mission alignment (up 10%). The CEO reported that the Season became "the catalyst for a real culture shift" that continued building momentum throughout the year, with the team becoming more open, collaborative, and willing to pitch in.

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Client Testimonials

Mary Tran, CEO

“Give River was the catalyst for a real culture shift. Our team became more open, collaborative, and willing to pitch in — and it even raised the passion for our mission, which was already high. We had 100% participation in our first Give River season, and the impact was undeniable. The experience sparked lasting culture change and inspired us to launch a second season.”

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The Challenge

EXP was in crisis mode. The organization had been hit hard by compounding challenges:

The Perfect Storm:

• Pandemic impact: Team exhausted from navigating COVID disruptions
• Layoffs: Recent workforce reduction left survivors demoralized
• Rock-bottom morale: Energy completely depleted
• Disconnection: Team members felt isolated from each other and the mission
• Burnout epidemic: Employees struggling to find motivation

Key Pain Point: “Our team was in a really tough spot. The pandemic hit us hard, then we had to make layoffs, and our team was just… exhausted. Morale was at rock bottom.”

What they needed: A catalyst for rapid culture transformation that could re-energize a burned-out team and rebuild connection without adding more work to already overwhelmed employees.

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Key Takeaways

Best for organizations that:

• Are recovering from crisis (layoffs, pandemic, major change)
• Have burned-out, disengaged small teams
• Need rapid culture transformation (30-90 days)
• Want measurable proof of impact
• Seek high adoption rates without forced participation
• Need simple implementation without overwhelming features