| 7 min read Fundraising Strategy
Crowdfunding has become an essential tool for raising money for everything from the cost of living crisis to new research and products.
At GoFundMe, we know there are many fundraising sites out there. When thinking about the top crowdfunding sites, there are a few things to consider including site features, community and fee structures. Before we dive into the top crowdfunding sites, here are five key considerations to keep in mind as you compare platforms.
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What to look for
With such a crowded market, it can be difficult to know exactly what to look for from crowdfunding sites.
Here we break down what to look for when considering which platform you’d like to use.
Ease of use
Before you start a fundraiser, navigate through the site. The best crowdfunding sites make you want to spend time on their pages, learn more and get involved. If a crowdfunding site is difficult to use, choose a different one.
Some of the things you want to look for are:
- How easy is it to find a specific fundraiser?
- How easy is it to donate?
- How easy is it to start your own fundraiser?
Customer support
Does the site offer email support, live chat or a phone help line? Remember that your friends and family members will be donating money and they might need help, too. It’s important for the people behind the site to be honest, responsible and available.
Tools for spreading awareness in your community
Take a look at the social networking tools the crowdfunding site offers. The best ones have easy-to-use tools that make it easy to share your fundraiser on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, email and more. Because your social network is a vital piece of your crowdfunding effort, features like these are essential.
Crowdfunding fees comparison
A platform fee is when a crowdfunding site takes a percentage of all the money you raise through your fundraiser. Typically, crowdfunding platform fees range from 0% to 12%. Look out for punitive fee structures. Some platforms increase fees if you don’t meet your goal. Others have an all-or-nothing model, meaning you only receive the money you raised if you meet or exceed your goal.
Payments
When you’re crowdfunding you want it to be really easy for friends and family to donate, especially when using their mobile phones or tablets. Take a look at the donation experience to check if the site you are looking at offers Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal and is optimised for mobile payments.
Keep these five key factors in mind as you review the top crowdfunding sites in each category.
Personal crowdfunding and fundraising for charities
There are some crowdfunding websites you may have already heard of.
Here we take a look at some of them and break down some of the myths and facts about them.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform for individuals, teams and not-for-profits with £15 billion raised and hundreds of millions of donations per year. It’s the first and only platform with a donor protection guarantee, which means you get a full refund in the rare case something isn’t right. GoFundMe has Customer Care agents available seven days a week. Take a look at honest GoFundMe reviews.
Fees: GoFundMe is powered by donors. There is no platform fee and standard payment processing fees of 2.9% plus 25p per donation, or 1.9% + 20p per donation for charity campaigns.
JustGiving
The well-known fundraising site allows users to create personal or charity fundraising pages.
Fees: JustGiving has subscription fees for charities and a 5% Gift Aid processing fee on top of 1.9% + 20p per donation processing fees for charity fundraisers and a 2.9% plus 0.25p per donation fees for personal fundraisers.
Crowdfunder.co.uk
This site allows users to create fundraising projects for charities, businesses or individual use.
Fees: Projects run by individuals or organisations pay fees of 3.6% of the total donations. Organisers wishing to make use of the advanced platform must pay a 3% platform fee, too. Crowdfunder also charges a transaction fee of 2% plus 30p per pledge on EU cards or 3.9% plus 30p on non-EU cards. The platform fees are free for charities.
Crowdfunding for creative projects
Not all crowdfunding is the same. You may be looking to crowdfund for a specific, creative project in mind.
Bearing that in mind, there are several platforms that could help with this.
Here we take a look at all the options for you.
Kickstarter
Creators seeking funding for particular projects can use the site to bring the project to life. Creators (ranging from individual designers and inventors to large corporations that want to test new product ideas) offer backers rewards, such as a small piece of the project, the first available prototypes or the products that they are raising money to manufacture. You must raise all the funds you need or get nothing.
Fees: service fee of 5%, along with 3-5% + £0.20 per transaction for payment processing. All or nothing.
Indiegogo
If you want help at every stage of your creative or entrepreneurial project, this site offers tools to help you get the job done, from pre-launch to crowdfunding and distribution. You can choose either all-or-nothing or flexible funding.
Fees: platform fee of 5%, along with 2.9%*+£0.30 per transaction for payment processing. They have an international transfer fee of £25.
Patreon
This platform allows you to gather recurring patronage for your art or other creative projects in the form of monthly subscriptions from fans. Patreon encourages users to offer rewards to fans as a way to repay them for their support.
Fees: they have a Patreon fee of 5-12%, along with 2.9% plus 0.30p for payment processing. Micropayment have a 5% fee.
Equity crowdfunding
There’s also spaces available for equity crowdfunding.
From investing, to helping entrepreneurs there are different platforms available to suit different needs.
Fundable
Fundable focuses on helping entrepreneurs, startups and companies raise capital from the public through business crowdfunding. The site allows users to offer either rewards or equity in return for financial support.
Fees: $179 a month, along with 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction for payment processing.
WeFunder
If you want to grow your existing business, WeFunder can help. Your investors receive a small stake in your company and the platform aims to increase their emotional investment in your success.
Fees: it’s free to start a company profile but they charge a service fee ranging from $7 to $75 depending on the investment size and 7% of total funding volume for Regulation Crowdfunding For Regulation D they charge up to 20% Carried Interest and for Regulation A+ Wefunder does not charge any fees.
Crowdfunder US
This equity crowdfunding platform allows businesses to sell shares to accredited investors. Crowdfunder has a network of 15,000 venture capitalists and angel investors.
Fees: subscription models range from $299 per month to $999 per month.
Seedinvest
As an equity crowdfunding platform, Seedinvest allows startups to raise funds from individual investors and venture capital firms. Entrepreneurs must meet their minimum funding goals before investments are made final.
Fees: they have a 7.5% placement fee with a 5% warrant coverage or equity, plus a $0 to $10,000 fee for escrow, marketing and legal expense reimbursem*nts.
Niche crowdfunding
Crowdjustice
The only crowdfunding site designed for legal cases.
Fees: 3% + payment processing
Localgiving
The site for local community groups.
Fees: No platform fee for donations under £200. Donations over £200 are subject to a 5% fee. There are various processing fees for other cards, listed below:
- 1.0% + 16p for UK debit cards
- 1.4% + 16p for UK credit cards
- 1.4% + 20p for Paypal accounts
- 2.4% + 26p for International cards
- 2.9% + 26p for American Express
Choose the crowdfunding platform
Use this list of the best crowdfunding sites to find the platform that works best for your project or cause. For more crowdfunding inspiration, take a look at these fundraising tips and ideas. Start your fundraiser today.
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