Mobile Game Funds College Student’s $97K Loan
San Francisco (PRWEB) November 23, 2015 -- Givling, developer of gamified crowdfunding apps for social good, today announced it has paid off a second student loan in the amount of $97,000. Upon being informed of the pending payoff, Midwestern University optometry student Tobin Hale opted to donate a third of the money to provide some immediate relief for the next ten students in Givling’s queue.
“At first I thought it was too good to be true, but signing up for Givling has led to one of the greatest blessings my family has ever received,” said Tobin Hale. “It is only by the grace of God that we have survived financially as long as we have. To show my deep thanks, I’m donating a big part of this payout so Givling can provide immediate support to others in its queue. It is my hope that this will help more students shake off their financial burdens to keep them from getting discouraged and failing to reach their full potential.”
Givling’s fun, fast-paced trivia game is the first ever form of gamified crowdfunding that incentivizes players (or “funders”) to play for cash awards and million dollar potential while helping others pay off their student loans. First launched in 2015 as an online-only game, Givling just recently announced its availability for iPhone® and Android™. The developer had already paid off one $32,000 student loan, leaving Manhattan Christian College student Kevin Foster debt-free, before tackling Tobin Hale’s loan. The faster Givling grows, the faster it can pay off other loans and the more it pays out in cash awards to players.
“I have made a lot of sacrifices to finish school while supporting my wife and three small children so that we could one day count on a stable future,” continued Hale. “I thought after graduation I would have to take the first job that came along just to make ends meet. Thanks to Givling, I can focus on finding work in my chosen field and provide quality eye care to my community.”
The student debt crisis affects two thirds of all college graduates, surpassing one trillion dollars at the national level and weighing down on the nation’s economic growth. Many consider these loans to be deliberately confusing, which later forces grads to choose work over careers to keep up with monthly payments and rising interest rates that strangle their career potential before they even get started.
“The student debt financial structure is a huge wrong in our country that needs to be corrected,” said Givling Founder and CEO Lizbeth Pratt. “Even if a loan holder doesn’t default, if that student doesn’t land the exact right salary immediately upon graduation, it’s almost impossible to climb out of debt. They can’t buy a house. They can’t start a family. And to the detriment of the community, they can’t pursue the career in which they would truly excel.”
How Givling Works:
• Play Givling to take part in daily cash awards and million dollar potential while funding the student loans in Givling’s queue.
• Each round of trivia play costs 50 cents, which funds both the awards and student loans. Everyone gets one free play every 24 hours.
• Players are randomly grouped together into three-person funding teams that play for combined scores. The more true or false trivia questions answered correctly, the higher they score as a team. (Players win as a team, but cash awards are based on individual scores.)
• Signing up automatically adds players to the Givling queue for a chance to pay off an outstanding student loan. You don’t need to play to have your loan funded.
• Players without a loan can submit a friend or family member’s loan in their place.
• Givling gives away 90 percent of all proceeds, which are split evenly between rewarding winners (daily cash awards and million dollar potential) and paying off the student loans in its queue.
Connect with Givling:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
About Givling
Launched in March of 2015, Givling sprung from a very simple idea: merge crowdfunding and gaming to help solve a major financial problem while rewarding funders for their generosity. Givling is an online trivia game in which players (or “funders”) pay 50 cents to compete with one another for the chance to win cash awards and million dollar potential. The more people pay to play, the more money Givling collects to help pay off the student loans of those in Givling’s queue. Givling gives away 90% of all proceeds to pay champions and student loans in queue. Givling can be played in all US states except Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland and Tennessee.
Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc.
Crisel Ortiz, MSR Communications, +1 (415) 989-9000, [email protected]
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