How Every.org uses Vowel to build a better remote culture

The team at Every.org switched from Google Meet to Vowel to keep a searchable record of all their meetings. The result? A flexible and collaborative remote work culture where anyone can get the context they need, when they need it.  

The old way: undocumented meetings

Every.org started as a donation platform for individuals, but the founders quickly saw an opportunity to help other nonprofits by allowing them to accept payments via crypto, stock, mobile, peer-to-peer fundraisers, or “mix and match” methods. Since launching in March 2020, the platform has accepted more than $20M in donations.

The team started with Google Meet for video calls because it came bundled in Google Workspace. But as a fully remote company, they wanted an easy way to record and transcribe meetings — something you can’t do in Meet without an add-on. 

“We tried various tools that you’d connect to your Google Meet meetings and they’d record or transcribe, but they were never that good — and usually very expensive,” says Rahul Gupta-Iwasaki, Every.org’s co-founder and chief product officer. “When we came across Vowel, we realized we didn’t need to worry about any of that. It’s all there, integrated, and it works really well.”  

The new way: knowledge is recorded and easy to search

Because Vowel is browser-based (like Meet) and connects to Google Calendar via a Browser Extension, Every.org’s team of 12 switched meeting platforms easily and started hosting all their internal meetings on Vowel, from Monday syncs to leadership calls. 

They’ve even made it an informal rule that all pre-planned meetings — ones where the context would be useful afterward — should be recorded.

Vowel has become a huge part of our company infrastructure, where you can miss a meeting and know that it’s been recorded. I’ve had to miss plenty of meetings due to conflicts or time-sensitive deadlines, but I know I can always go back and pick up that critical context.

The team is also a big fan of the in-meeting emoji reactions — Rahul points out they’re much more fun to use in Vowel than in other video conferencing tools. 

“We have Monday syncs where everyone shares what they’re working on or what they did on the weekend. When you’re seeing a lot of random emojis float up and fade out, it feels really fun and whimsical.” 

Powering flexibility and collaboration for a growing team 

Every.org is on a major growth trajectory, on track to accept $30M in donations in 2022 — a huge leap from the $1M the nonprofit raised in 2020. They’ve also introduced a Charity API that anyone can use to create innovative giving experiences. 

As they scale donations and add team members, it’s important for the team to keep a strong remote work culture that favors flexibility and collaboration. They appreciate Vowel’s shared notes for this reason, which allow anyone to jump in at any time and contribute, taking the burden off of a single notetaker.

All of our work happens over video calls. I’d say you could spend up to 30 minutes after a meeting trying to remember what you said and taking proper notes. With Vowel, we don’t have to do that anymore, which saves us valuable time and ensures we’re all on the same page.

That level of documentation, stored alongside recorded meetings and transcripts, is what keeps the team coming back. 

“I think previously, it could feel like you had a ton of people who didn’t necessarily need to be in the meeting, or you felt pressure to attend every meeting in case you missed something important,” says Rahul. “With the Vowel recording, it’s a non-issue to skip a meeting unless it’s one you really need to be actively participating in."