What are the advantages of crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a great way to raise funds for yourself, your business or causes you’re passionate about without many of the challenges that other forms of fundraising present.
You can crowdfund for any cause and any amount, with zero pressure. Whether you’re raising money for reasons big or small, there are so many advantages of crowdfunding. Let us walk you through it.
1. Crowdfunding is free for the fundraiser
One of the main benefits of crowdfunding is that it’s free and easy to set up.
You can set up a GoFundMe as an individual, group or organisation.
And best of all – creating a fundraiser is free. There is no fee to start a GoFundMe and no limit to how many you can create.
Start by creating a GoFundMe account, where you’ll just be asked to provide some basic information such as your name and location, before you can start creating your page.
You can then set your fundraising goal and explain to people how much you hope to raise with your crowdfunding campaign – it’s that easy.
The platform is easy to navigate and so it’s easy to add pictures or even video to tell your story.
GoFundMe does not charge a platform fee so crowdfunding organisers can start and run fundraisers without any cost – meaning you don’t need to set up any payment methods before you begin.
It’s really that simple – you can use GoFundMe to tell your story just how you want it.#
2. You can reach a large audience of potential donors
One of the advantages of crowdfunding is that it’s really easy to share your story. You can also reach a global audience of potential donors and you are not limiting yourself in how far you can go.
GoFundMes are not limited to just being shared in the area you’re from. Take this fundraiser, for example. Donors from 100+ countries donated to help on this fundraiser, with shares all over the world.
Sharing your fundraiser is an important part of crowdfunding. It’s how you can gain attention to your cause and, crucially, donations.
You can start by sharing your fundraiser on your personal social media channels, before sharing with friends and family.
You can also share it with the wider community by encouraging others to share it through their social media platforms. A whole host of tips on how best to use social media to crowdfund can be found here.
You can also add your GoFundMe page to your own personal site or business page.
3. You don’t need to rely on large donations
You may have read about crowdfunding success stories, where a large donation helped fundraisers reach their target amount.
One big donation could have elevated their campaign or attracted press attention perhaps – but this isn’t the case for everyone.
The average donation amount on GoFundMe is actually $50. Smaller donations are often what helps campaign organisers reach their target so this means spreading the word is very important.
Many crowdfunding campaigns are successful through lots of single donations. The ‘power of the crowd’ can really help to boost up donations and can often lead to a big total.
As long as you continue to share your campaign, you could see a good deal of smaller donations and this could help word spread further.
4. You can crowdfund for almost any cause
One of the biggest benefits of crowdfunding is that you can fundraise for any cause you want, big or small.
People using GoFundMe can crowdfund for just about anything. This could be medical expenses, friends and family, education costs or simply just a charity which is close to their heart.
GoFundMe is also a good platform to crowdfund for your business – from coffee to chip shops, nurseries and everything in between You can take a look here at other success stories for business crowdfunding.
As well as raising funds for larger charities, you can also fundraise for yourself and for something which could help you out individually.
It could also be for something local to you – perhaps a playground, community centre or even an event.
There are some causes which are restricted on GoFundMe as per our terms of service though.
5. It’s a safe, secure way to raise funds
Another advantage of crowdfunding is that it is safe and your well-earned funds will remain safe.
There are numerous safety and security measures on GoFundMe that are put in place to make sure fundraisers, and donors, are safe online.
GoFundMe features the very best in secure payment encryption technology. Your donors’ online payments are safe, and your money is stored securely until you’re ready to request a withdrawal via electronic bank transfer.
Once your GoFundMe starts receiving online donations, you can easily request a withdrawal at any time. Withdrawing money does not affect the progress meter displayed on your fundraiser.
If someone gives you a donation outside of GoFundMe, or you would like to reflect your own contribution, you can add an offline donation.
One quarter of our global staff are dedicated to trust and safety, and we also have the GoFundMe guarantee. This means you’re guaranteed a refund in the rare case that something isn’t right.
If you’ve raised funds that are no longer needed and haven’t transferred them to your bank yet, you can refund your donors. This action is irreversible, so once you decide to issue refunds, you won’t be able to undo it.
There are currently 19 countries that we can send funds to, and the person withdrawing the funds must meet the withdrawal requirements from that country.
Take advantage of crowdfunding
So, you’ve seen how easy, fast and safe it is to get crowdfunding – so why not start raising money for loved ones, that good cause you’ve always wanted to help or even your business.