Deciding on a platform to collect donations is a huge decision that should not be taken lightly. Depending on the predicted number of donations, dollar amounts, and campaign type, donation collection is truly not one size fits all. Some important aspects to keep in mind are:
What type of fundraising you will be doing?
- Are you raising money for a cause? GoFundMe and Fundly may be good options for you
- Are you raising money for a creative project? Kickstarter and Indiegogo are specifically designed for this purpose.
- Are you a nonprofit? Fundly can assist both organizations and individuals in nonprofit fundraising.
- Are you none of these? Individuals and even businesses (such as this savvy law firm) have reaped the rewards of crowdfunding
How will the platform charge you?
Platforms usually have both a platform fee and a payment processing fee. The industry standard for platform fees is just around 5% with an additional processing fee. The processing fee is usually a percentage of total funds and a set amount per donation. Your needs will vary greatly based on whether you are expecting to receive many smaller donations or fewer larger ones.
How do you collect funds?
Some platforms, such as Kickstarter, allow users to collect funds once a goal has been met. Others, like Fundly and GoFundMe, allow creators to keep the money they raise. Indiegogo even lets users choose between the two.
As always, double check with the platform you are using as their terms and conditions could change at any time.
