SAN FRANCISCO, December 19, 2017
With the addition of compassionate crowdfunding giant YouCaring to its tenant list, the Merchants Exchange Building and Event Center is truly getting back to its roots. The tech company—a certified B Corporation—represents an exciting new chapter in the building’s long history of charitable and philanthropic activity.
YouCaring is joining a tradition more than 100 years in the making.
On April 28, 1910, the Merchants Exchange building hosted what may still be the city’s most epic fundraising event, raising more than $100,000,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars in less than two hours to fund the Panama Pacific Exposition as a symbol of the City’s rebirth after the 1906 earthquake.
Since then, the Merchants Exchange Building and Event Center has been a hub for charitable and nonprofit activity, from hosting gala fundraising events in the Julia Morgan Ballroom to serving as home to powerhouse nonprofit tenants such as the Asia Foundation and CARE.
With the addition of YouCaring—which signed a lease for 6,600 square feet of space on the building’s 12th floor—the Merchants Exchange is burnishing its rich legacy. The hot, six-year-old fundraising platform—which has skyrocketed in popularity on the back of J.J. Watt’s hurricane Harvey’s relief efforts—has helped its users raise more than $900 million in support of medical, personal and charitable causes since its inception.
We’re thrilled to welcome YouCaring to our family,” said Frank Holland, Executive VP of Clint Reilly Landmark Properties. “Not only are they an extraordinary organization and a great fit for our portfolio, they share our values and we’re excited to help facilitate the good work they’re doing.
We are thrilled to move into our new office space in the beautiful and historic Merchants Exchange,” said Maly Ly, YouCaring’s CMO. “As we continue to grow our team and support more people faced with personal and medical hardship, we were looking not just for a new office space, but for a community with a similar ethos of giving and social impact.