Turning Water Bottle Refills into Impact at nSight 2026
nSight 2026 attendees raised $5,000 for the Surfrider Foundation by scanning a QR code each time they refilled their conference water bottle, turning an everyday habit into ocean protection funding.
The activation logged 772 refills across the conference, preventing 4.63 lbs of ocean pollution and avoiding 748.84 lbs of emissions, with a leaderboard fueling friendly competition among attendees.
Designed by nVolve, nCino's employee-led volunteer organization, the program reflects two core values working together: Do the Right Thing and Always Have Fun.
A simple QR code, a refillable bottle, and 772 scans later, nSight 2026 attendees raised $5,000 for ocean protection during their conference week.
Our water bottles go everywhere we go, refilled without a second thought. At nSight 2026, our annual industry conference, we decided to turn that everyday habit into real impact.
Giving back is in the fabric of nCino's culture. nVolve, our employee-led volunteer organization, coordinates community service projects around the world throughout the year. For nSight, the nVolve team wanted an approach to giving back that fit naturally into a busy conference week, tied to something attendees were already doing: filling up a water bottle.
Every scanned refill at the venue logged a donation toward the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waterways, and beaches. By the end of the week, attendees had collectively raised $5,000.
With nCino being founded and headquartered in coastal Wilmington, North Carolina, this cause connected to something close to home. Ocean and beach health is part of daily life for a lot of our people. That made Surfrider a natural fit, and the nVolve team found a way to make supporting them feel just as natural for nSight attendees.
How It Worked
At registration, attendees picked up a free nSight water bottle, each with a unique QR code on the side. The next step was personalization. Attendees decorated their bottles with provided stickers showing their segment and country of origin, turning the giveaway into a way to connect with other attendees from across the industry and around the globe. Then, they created a profile on Fill It Forward, the impact-tracking platform built around reusable bottles.
Fill stations were placed all around the venue. Each time attendees refilled at one, they scanned the QR code on their bottle to log the refill and trigger a donation to the Surfrider Foundation. On their profile, attendees could watch their personal impact tick up in real time. They could see refills logged, energy saved, emissions avoided, and dollars contributed. A behavior people already do without thinking — fill up, sip, repeat — became a way to fund ocean protection.
The Impact
According to Fill It Forward, attendees logged 772 refills across the conference. That added up to:
436.95 kWh of energy saved
748.84 lbs of emissions avoided
23.16 lbs of waste diverted
4.63 lbs of ocean pollution prevented
In total, $5,000 was raised for the Surfrider Foundation, supporting their work to reduce plastic, protect the ocean, defend coasts and climate, expand beach access, and keep our water clean. A spirited leaderboard tracking top refillers ran alongside the activation, and the gamification amped up engagement across the week. Attendees could see where they ranked and how much they'd personally contributed, turning scanning into a friendly competition and a collective momentum that continued to build across the conference.
Living Our Values: Giving Back and Having Fun
One of nCino's six core values is Always Have Fun, sitting alongside Do the Right Thing. This activation pulled together a few things that matter to us: doing the right thing, having fun while we do it, and showing up for the communities we're rooted in.
“There's always something special about watching our customers light up when they see what we've put together each year at nSight. When the people we serve want to be part of it too, that tells me we're doing something authentic and it’s a reminder to keep building every day to further empower our communities.”
— Kyle Metzger-Gee, Corporate Social Responsibility Lead at nCino
Thank you to everyone who scanned, refilled, and bumped someone else down the leaderboard at nSight 2026. Our oceans thank you, too!
