Fundraising sites
To finance your own personal project, you were advised to organize an online fundraiser. However, being your first experience of this kind, you are not sure how to proceed and, in particular, which platform to rely on to illustrate your project and raise the money necessary to start it. For this reason, you did some research on the web and ended up straight on this guide of mine.
That’s the way it is, am I right? So let me tell you that today is your lucky day. In the next paragraphs of this tutorial, in fact, I will list a series of fundraising sites that could be for you. For each service mentioned, it will be my job to show you the main features and provide you with all the information you need to create your account and organize a new fundraiser.
If that’s exactly what you were looking for, let’s not go any further and get to the heart of this tutorial. All you have to do is set aside five minutes of free time to devote to reading the next lines and carefully follow the directions I am about to give you. By doing so, I assure you that you will be able to identify the site that best suits your needs and create your first fundraiser. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- Best fundraising sites
- GoFundMe
- org
- Other fundraising sites
Best fundraising sites
If you are looking for fundraising sites, you should know that there are several services that allow you to organize an online collection, both to finance personal projects and to raise funds for organizations or charities. Below you can find some solutions of this kind: despite the good reputation of the services you find indicated, I still recommend that you always check the reliability of the platform you intend to “lean on” , perhaps by reading the reviews and experiences of other users on sites like Trustpilot and doing Google searches.
GoFundMe
One of the best fundraising sites you can consider is GoFundMe. It is one of the most popular platforms of this kind that allows individuals, groups and non-profit organizations to create real campaigns through which to expose their project, indicating the minimum objective of funds to be raised in order to achieve it. It is also available as an application for Android devices (also on alternative stores, for devices without Google services) and iOS / iPadOS.
The service in question allows you to register for free and create new fundraisers without spending a cent. The only commissions provided are applied to donations made by credit or debit card ( 2.9% of the donation amount plus 0.25 euros ), which are necessary for the management of payment cards and the secure transfer of funds.
If you believe GoFundMe is a valid solution to organize your fundraising, connected to the official website of the service, click on the Create a campaign button, at the top right, enter the required data in the Name, Surname, Email address and Password fields and press the button Come on .
In the new screen that appears, type your phone number in the appropriate field, put the check mark next to one of the options available between SMS and Voice call and click on the Send code button , to obtain a code necessary to verify your identity: enter , then, the code in question in the Verification code field and press the Verify button to complete the registration.
At this point, click on the Create a new fundraiser button , specify your country of residence (eg Italy ) and the postal code of your city in the appropriate fields and, using the drop-down menu What are you raising funds for? , indicate the category of your fundraiser (eg. Animals and Pets , Celebrations and Events , Education , Dreams, Hopes and Wishes , Travel and Adventures , Weddings and Honeymoons etc.).
Then click on the Next button , indicate the minimum amount you would like to collect with the campaign you are creating in the field Enter the goal amount and press the Next button again .
On the Add a photo and video screen , click the + button , select an image from your computer and press the Done option , in order to upload and associate it with your campaign. Alternatively, you can attach a YouTube video by entering its URL in the Add a YouTube link field and clicking the Use video button . In both cases, then click on the Next button to continue creating your campaign.
At this point, enter the title of the fundraiser in the appropriate field and, in the section Why are you raising funds? , add all the information related to your campaign. In particular, I recommend that you insert a short presentation and explain your project in detail, specifying who will benefit from the funds raised, how they will be used and all the answers a donor would like to have before making a donation.
To view the final result, click on the Preview button of the campaign and, after making sure that you have correctly entered all the information you deem appropriate, click on the Next item . Finally, on the You are almost done screen , check that the data displayed on the screen is correct, enter any missing data and press the Complete Fundraising button , to publish your first campaign on GoFundMe.
Now, click on the Next button and, in the new screen that appears, click on the Copy button to copy your fundraiser link and manually share it with the people of your interest. Furthermore, by clicking on the options you prefer between Facebook , Messenger , Twitter , Email and WhatsApp , you can share your campaign on social networks, via email and / or WhatsApp.
To manage your campaign, on the other hand, click on your name , at the top right, select the option Your fundraisers from the menu that appears and press on the Manage item relating to the campaign of your interest. On the newly opened page, you can change your fundraiser settings ( Edit and Settings ), post new updates ( Update ) and share your campaign ( Share ).
Also, in the Donors and Donations sections , you can view the people who contributed to your campaign and the donations received. Clicking instead on the option Fetch , you can specify the data required to withdraw the funds.
If you change your mind, please note that you can delete a fundraiser at any time. To do this, access the campaign of your interest, select the Edit and Settings option , click on the item Delete fundraiser , type the message “Delete” in the appropriate field and press again on the option Delete fundraiser , to confirm the your intention and permanently delete the campaign. To find out more, I leave you to my guide on how GoFoundMe works .
Perhaps not everyone knows this, but Facebook also allows you to create fundraisers, choosing between a personal campaign or a fundraiser in favor of a charity. In both cases, the creation of a campaign is totally free and, only for personal collections, a commission is applied (in Italy it is 1.53% of the amount of the donation plus 0.31 euros ) on each donation, necessary to cover the processing costs. It is also possible to organize a fundraiser from smartphones and tablets, using the Facebook app for Android (also available on alternative stores , for devices without Google services) and iOS / iPadOS .
If you believe Facebook is a valid solution for organizing your fundraising, connect to the main page of the famous social network and, if you have not already done so, log in to your account: then enter your details in the Email or telephone number fields and Password and click the Login button . If, on the other hand, you don’t have an account yet, my guide on how to create a profile on Facebook might be useful .
At this point, select the Fundraising option located in the left sidebar (if you do not see this item, click on the Other option first ), click on the Collect donations button and, in the new screen displayed, choose whether to create a campaign in favor a charity or a personal fundraiser .
In the first case, all you have to do is choose the organization you are interested in, specify the amount to be collected and the expiration date from the campaign. If you wish, you can also change the title and description of the automatically generated fundraiser. Finally, click on the Create button and that’s it. Please note that all donations received will be sent directly to the charity you have previously chosen.
If, on the other hand, you have chosen to create a personal fundraiser, select the category of your interest ( Medical care , Company , Animals , Family , Education , Travel , Volunteering, etc.) and, in the new open page, enter the title and description campaign in the fields What is the title of your fundraiser? and Why are you raising money? .
Then specify the country where you are raising money (it must be the country where your bank is located) via the Where are you raising money? Drop-down menu . , indicate the amount to be collected in the appropriate field and, in the When should your fund campaign end? , set the expiration date of the campaign you are creating.
If you wish, in the Cover image section , click on the + button , to customize the cover image associated with your campaign by choosing one of those available in the Available photos section or by uploading one from your computer, by clicking on the Upload new photo button .
Finally, click on the Create option , enter all the personal data requested in the Mandatory Information screen (necessary to verify your identity and start receiving donations) and click on the Send button . Keep in mind that all fundraisers created with Facebook are public and visible even to those who don’t have an account. However, only registered users can make a donation.
To manage your campaigns, access the Fundraising section again , select the Your activities option and rewards on the fundraiser you are interested in. At this point, you can edit the previously entered data and information and get the link to share the campaign ( Copy Link or Share ). By pressing, instead, on the three dots icon and selecting the Configure payments option , you can enter the bank details to receive any donations.
If, on the other hand, you want to delete a fundraiser, click on the three dots icon , select the Delete fundraiser option from the menu that opens and, in the new screen that appears, press the Delete button . To learn more, you can take a look at my guide on how to do a fundraiser on Facebook .
BuonaCausa.org
BuonaCausa.org is a platform that allows you to organize online fundraising, crowdfunding campaigns and even to make an online petition . It is completely free and does not charge any commission costs, not even on individual donations. The only costs to be incurred by donors are those relating to the payment method chosen to make the donation (eg the cost of a bank transfer provided by your bank or the fees applied by PayPal for the transfer of money).
To organize a fundraiser on BuonaCausa.org , connect to the official website of the service and click on the Register button , at the top right, to create your account. In the new screen displayed, indicate if you are a natural person , an association or organization or a company , enter all the required data, put the check mark next to the item I have read and accept the Terms and Conditions and click on the Register button .
Once this is done, access your e-mail box, locate the email sent by BuonaCausa.org and click on the link contained within it, to verify your identity and activate your account. Then press the Login button , at the top right, enter the data associated with the account you just created in the Enter your email address and Enter password fields and click the Login button again to access your account.
At this point, select the Your profile tab, click on the Edit option relating to the Profile Image item and click on the Choose file and Upload buttons , to select and upload an image from your computer to use as a profile image on BuonaCausa.org , which is necessary in order to create a new fundraiser.
On the same page, in the User validation and Credit data sections , you will also need to send and validate your identity document (necessary to verify your identity) and enter the data relating to the payment method ( PayPal , Bank transfer and Postal Bulletin ) on which you wish to receive the donation amount.
Once this is done, go to the section Your causes , click on the item Create a new cause and press the Select button relating to the Fundraising option . In the new open page, enter the title of the campaign in the Title field of the cause , specify the URL of the page relating to your fundraiser in the Address field of the cause , select the category of your interest (eg Animals , Social assistance , Cultural heritage etc. .) through the appropriate drop-down menu and click on the Proceed button .
In the Contents screen , enter the required data in the Place of case , Description and Due date fields and insert any photos and videos by clicking on the Edit / Add options relating to the Image Gallery and Video items .
Then click on the Edit option relating to the Goal option to specify the amount you would like to reach with the fundraiser and click on the Proceed and Finish buttons to create and publish your fundraiser. I remind you that until you have completed the verification procedure of your identity, as I have indicated above, you will not be able to receive donations.
By accessing the section Your causes , you can view all the fundraisers (and any donations received) and the petitions you have created: by clicking on the Edit option relating to the campaign of your interest, you can change its data and information, while clicking on the Delete option twice in a row you can delete the campaign in question.
Other fundraising sites
In addition to the solutions that I indicated in the previous paragraphs of this guide, you must know that there are other sites to tell funds. Here are some that might be right for you.
- Splitted: is an Italian site that allows you to create an online event and organize a related fundraiser. It allows you to create both charitable collections and solidarity projects and personal campaigns. Also in this case, the creation of a fundraiser is totally free, while the transaction management fees are 2.8% of the deposited sum (1.9% for solidarity fundraising). For more info, I leave you to my guide on how to collect online with Split.
- Growish: is another valid platform that allows you to organize free personal fundraisers or online collections of various kinds (eg to organize a trip or a wedding). For each donation up to € 20 there is a commission of € 0.50, while for donations of a higher amount a commission of 2.90% is applied. In both cases, it is possible to choose whether to bear the costs in question or to charge them to the donors.
- Collettiamo: allows you to create a real digital envelope for free to raise funds for personal projects, with donors who can make payments by credit card or prepaid card. When the digital envelope has reached the desired amount, it is possible to use all the funds raised on Collettiamo’s partner sites (eg Amazon ) without any commission. Alternatively, it is possible to receive the money by bank transfer to a current account: in this case, there is a commission of 2.9% on the amount transferred.
- Kickstarter: it is the ideal solution for those looking for a platform to create crowdfunding campaigns, that is a collective fundraising that provides a reward for donors in the form of products and services that have a value equivalent to the amount invested by the lenders. The service is free and has no cost if the campaign does not reach the minimum set goal (in this case the money is returned to the donors). In case of success, however, there is a commission of 5% on the total proceeds and 3% plus € 0.20 for each donation (5% for donations under € 10). To find out more, you can check out my guide on how Kickstarter works.
