6 Platforms That Do Crowdfunding For Nonprofits
The crowdfunding industry continues to grow and expand as a means of soliciting donations, product sales, and investments. It’s only natural that nonprofit organizations are looking to get into the crowdfunding game too. In taking advantage of a crowdfunding platform’s fundraising and social media tools, nonprofits can bring their message to a much wider (not to mention younger) swath of the population than would otherwise be possible.
However, it’s not a simple matter of picking from a list of interchangeable platforms and getting started. Not all crowdfunding websites are created equal. Some crowdfunders are purely for creative/business projects and cannot be used for nonprofit fundraising, while other platforms specifically cater to the nonprofit market. Some platforms don’t let you collect the money you raise unless you hit your funding goal amount, while others let you keep whatever you raise regardless. Some platforms charge a percentage of what you raise as a fee (and some charge more if you fall short of your funding goal), while others charge a flat monthly fee to use their services. Some platforms facilitate the giving of rewards to your donors, while others do not.
As you can see, your choice of a crowdfunding platform matters. We here at Merchant Maverick want to help you cut through the dizzying array of crowdfunding sites available by highlighting the crowdfunders best suited for nonprofit fundraising.
Table of Contents
A Warning Before You Begin
It’s vitally important that you familiarize yourself with the laws regulating nonprofit fundraising in the state or states in which you will be operating. You may well have to register your charitable nonprofit with the state before you begin soliciting donations. If you’re looking to crowdfund for your nonprofit and you’re confronting these questions for the first time, I recommend starting with the information provided by the National Council of Nonprofits and going from there.
It’s easy to find yourself unwittingly running afoul of fundraising laws if you’re unaware of them, so take caution!
1. GoFundMe
GoFundMe is best known for hosting campaigns related to personal medical expenses and other tragedies. That’s what has propelled GoFundMe to become the world’s top crowdfunding platform in terms of dollars raised (more than $5 billion and counting). What’s less well known is that GoFundMe hosts nonprofit crowdfunding campaigns as well. On the subject of nonprofit campaigns, GoFundMe states the following:
Raise money for a 501(c)3 or registered charity in the US, the UK, Australia, or Canada. Supporters will see charity details and a badge on the campaign.
If you are raising money for a charity and wish them to use it for a specific purpose, we recommend that you get in touch with the charity before raising funds on GoFundMe to ask if they are able to accommodate that.
To launch a campaign for a charity, the outfit you’re fundraising for must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the US, UK, Australia, or Canada. It must also be registered in the PayPal Giving Fund database. If your 501(c)(3) nonprofit isn’t in this database, GoFundMe outlines how you can rectify that on its support page.
GoFundMe’s nonprofit campaigns do not carry a platform fee. When GoFundMe started phasing out its 5% platform fee, it initially did so only for personal campaigns, leaving the 5% platform fee in place for charity/nonprofit campaigns. Thankfully, GoFundMe finally came around and eliminated the 5% fee for nonprofit crowdfunding as well.
That’s not to say GoFundMe donations are fee-free, however. A 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee will apply to each donation made in US dollars. Similar processing fees will apply to donations made in other currencies.
GoFundMe provides the following primer for those interested in starting a crowdfunding campaign for a nonprofit organization.
2. Mightycause
Since its founding in 2006, Mightycause (known as Razoo prior to 2018) has been something of an all-of-the-above crowdfunder, hosting crowdfunding campaigns for nearly any cause under the sun: business, personal, team, and, yes, nonprofit crowdfunding. However, with its 2018 rebranding as Mightycause, the company is now solely devoted to facilitating crowdfunding campaigns for small and mid-sized nonprofits.
For your nonprofit to directly raise funds on Mightycause, it needs to be registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity in the US. However, if your organization doesn’t yet have 501(c)(3) status or is based outside the US, you may still be able to use Mightycause for fundraising. To do this, you’ll need to find an organization willing to act as your fiscal sponsor. Mightycause provides information on to how to do this on its website.
Like GoFundMe, Mightycause does not charge a platform fee. Back in the Razoo days, the company charged a 4% platform fee, but, thankfully, this was eliminated in the company’s rebranding. What’s more, Mightycause charges a smaller payment processing fee than GoFundMe and most other competitors. Mightycause states that the average payment processing fee is 1.08% plus $0.29 per donation. While the fee can be higher than this, Mightycause guarantees that your payment processing fees will never be higher than 2.2% plus $0.29 per donation, which is still a lower rate than you’ll pay with GoFundMe.
If you want more than what Mightycause’s standard crowdfunding package provides, you can sign up for Mightycause’s Advanced plan. Let’s compare what you’ll get with Mightycause’s Standard and Advanced plans.
Standard Plan
- No monthly fee
- Organization profile for year-round giving
- Unlimited fundraising campaigns
- Unlimited peer-to-peer campaigns
- Donation widget for your website
- Matching grants
- Customizable donation levels and labels
- Recurring donation management
- Donor data collection
- Social media sharing and integration
- Real-time donation reports
- Team and event management
Advanced Plan
- $99 per month
- All of the above, PLUS:
- CRM for supporter management
- Donor management
- Digital marketing and email messaging
- Text-to-give
- Volunteer management
- Embeddable donation form
- Advanced analytics
- Data integration
- Advanced donor data collection
- Donor surveys
- Custom branded donation receipts
The advanced plan isn’t cheap, so if you’re considering going this route, it’s best if you have some experience with nonprofit fundraising and have a reasonable expectation of funding success. If you do, the advanced package offers a pretty compelling deal. Your organization will be able to host its crowdfunding campaign — one operating under its brand, not that of Mightycause. Plus, you’ll have access to the advanced campaign features listed above.
Donors who contribute to nonprofit campaigns will immediately be emailed a receipt which can be used to claim a deduction on their taxes.
Read our full Mightycause Review
3. FundRazr
Declaring themselves “Canada’s leading crowdfunding platform,” FundRazr has facilitated the raising of over US$140 million in their near-decade of existence. FundRazr hosts crowdfunding campaigns for personal causes, business causes, and, yes, nonprofit organizations. The company also has a great reputation among both campaigners and donors. FundRazr is one of the few crowdfunding outfits that proudly links to its Trustpilot page. That should tell you something.
FundRazr goes into exactly who can raise money on its site for a nonprofit organization on its support page. Essentially, if you’re not an Authorized Officer of the organization in question, you’ll need to submit a Letter Of Subordination that expressly authorizes you to fundraise on behalf of the organization.
A regular FundRazr crowdfunding campaign — whether it be for a personal cause or a nonprofit — is free aside from the 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction taken out in payment processing fees. Like GoFundMe and other cause-oriented crowdfunding platforms, FundRazr eliminated its platform fee. If you want a higher level of features and support, FundRazr offers a Pro plan with an “Advanced Professional Toolset,” much like Mightycause.
Here’s what you get with FundRazr’s free plan vs. the paid Pro plan:
Free
- No platform fee or monthly fees
- Great looking, responsive fundraising pages
- Advanced social media sharing
- Perks, tickets, wishlists
- Automatic campaign updates
- Secure payment functionality
- Unlimited campaigns
- Unlimited team members
- Simple peer-to-peer fundraising
- Custom tax receipts
- White label branding
- Website integration
Pro
- 5% platform fee
- All of the above, PLUS:
- Sophisticated peer-to-peer, events, multi-tier
- Repeatable micro-projects
- Subscription micro-projects
- Recurring donations
- Third-party projects
- Sponsored campaigns
- Charity ecommerce (storefronts)
- Advanced analytics
- Embedded donation forms
- Campaign approval workflows
- Delegated campaign management
Note that instead of charging a monthly fee, the Pro plan will see Fundrazr taking 5% of what you raise as a platform fee.
4. CrowdRise
For most of its existence, following its founding in 2010, CrowdRise was a crowdfunding platform for both personal causes and charity/nonprofit fundraising. However, in early 2017, CrowdRise was acquired by GoFundMe. CrowdRise now directs all would-be personal campaigners to GoFundMe while focusing solely on crowdfunding for nonprofit organizations.
CrowdRise details the following requirements for using their services:
In order to become a CrowdRise nonprofit, [an organization] must first be a registered 501c3 in good standing with the IRS or a Canadian charity in good standing with the CRA, and have a valid listing on GuideStar (US) or Canada.Ca (Canada).
If you’re looking to launch a crowdfunding campaign for a nonprofit and you don’t want to pay a platform fee, CrowdRise simply directs you to launch a GoFundMe campaign. If you want more features and support than you’ll get with GoFundMe, CrowdRise offers a paid plan called Essential. With the Essential plan, you’ll pay a 5% platform fee (along with 2.9% + $0.30 in payment processing fees). In exchange, you’ll get access to the following features:
- Unlimited campaigns
- Ticketing and registration
- Extensive donor data
- Basic branding
- Multi-team fundraising
- Deductible emailed receipt
5. FirstGiving
FirstGiving is a fundraising platform wholly devoted to nonprofit crowdfunding. With FirstGiving, there’s no “free” fundraising option — you must either subscribe to Panorama Pro or Panorama Premium to raise funds for a nonprofit with Firstgiving. More on that later.
According to FirstGiving:
All donations made through FirstGiving are processed through our charity partner Global Impact, a 501c3 nonprofit, and are fully tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
No word on whether donors get sent a tax-deductible receipt or not.
Here are the two Panorama subscription packages offered by FirstGiving and what each gives you in terms of features.
Panorama Pro
- $600/year
- 5% platform fee
- Event registration (performance fee of 1.5% applies)
- Fundraising communication tools and widgets
- Online auctions and mobile bidding events
- Event management
Panorama Premium
- $1,800/year
- 5% platform fee
- All of the above, PLUS:
- Donor management tools
- Volunteer registration and engagement
- Segmented mailing lists and customizable SmartLists
- Data flows directly into the Dashboard — no import/export
- Integrated with QuickBooks, Constant Contact, and Mailchimp
- Donor management tools
FirstGiving is a costlier nonprofit fundraising option than the other platforms I’ve listed in this article. Make sure that FirstGiving offers you something you can’t get anywhere else before deciding to sign up with them.
6. Fundly
Fundly isn’t one of the better-known crowdfunding sites out there, but with over $330 million raised in its decade of existence, Fundly deserves a look.
Fundly charges a 4.9% platform fee for all crowdfunding campaigns as well as 2.9% + $0.30/transaction for payment processing. Hopefully, Fundly will join GoFundMe and others in dropping their platform fee for nonprofit campaigns in the future, but until then, the fee applies.
Fundly has very little information regarding nonprofit campaigns posted to its website. For details such as how the platform’s nonprofit campaigns work and whether or not your donors will be sent a tax-deductible receipt, you’ll have to contact the company.
A Note Regarding Indiegogo
If you’ve cruised the internet looking for crowdfunding platforms that cater to nonprofits, you’ve probably seen Indiegogo listed as one such platform. However, this was before Indiegogo sold its charitable crowdfunding division, Generosity, to YouCaring (YouCaring was subsequently acquired by and absorbed into GoFundMe). You can no longer launch a nonprofit crowdfunding campaign with Indiegogo.
Final Thoughts
Crowdfunding for nonprofits isn’t as straightforward as crowdfunding for a business or a personal cause. Thankfully, modern crowdfunding platforms make it easier than ever to navigate the legal complexities to help nonprofits raise money, whether you’re an officer of the nonprofit or not. Just be careful and make sure you’re doing everything by the book!
Jason Vissers
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Thanks Jason for the great reviews.
What about Classy and Firespring? You chose not to speak about them because they have a platform fee?
Would Mighty Cause offer the same options as Classy for instance?
What about the CRM integrated in Mighty Cause? How does it compare to Salsa Labs or Charity Proud?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
Regards,
Delphine
Hi Delphine,
Thanks for the kind words! Unfortunately, we haven’t reviewed all the platforms you’ve mentioned, and so we wouldn’t feel comfortable advising about which is best. If you land on a great solution, feel free to stop back in and let us know how it worked out for you. Best of luck!
Beautiful review…
We are an llc currently fiscally sponsored by Pathways for Veterans,(5013c). We are doing this until we can get enough funding to get our own 5013c.
We provided weekend workshops for teen and parents (Toolkits for Life) that help to deal with stress, depression and anxiety.
Which platform would you recommend?
Thanks,
Debbie
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Debbie, GoFundMe, Mightycause, and FundRazr are all good choices because all three allow for crowdfunding under the fiscal sponsorship of a nonprofit organization and all three have no platform fee. Hope this helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Jason,
I’m the VP and board member of a 501 c 3 chorale organization that’s been in existence since 1977 in Washington State. We have 35 members right now that pay $40 dues per season. We have two seasons per year. We have a lot of in-kind donations to help us monetarily, but we also get a few grants each year that helps sustain our organization. We have a few thousand dollars to help us launch each new season. We have been invited to Washington DC in 2021 to sing at the John F. Kennedy Center, along with community choirs from all over the United States to celebrate and honor our Veterans on Memorial Day. It will cost roughly $2,000 per person for 3 days and 4 nights. That would cover round trip transportation, hotel, most food and a couple of select tours. We are made up of primarily senior citizens. (83% of us.) We are so honored to be asked to participate in such an incredible event. What would you suggest that would be the best source of fundraising to help us with expenses for this wonderful organization?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Trudy,
I’d suggest looking into GoFundMe, Mightycause, and FundRazr. All three are good choices because they allow for nonprofit crowdfunding and there is no platform fee. Best of luck to you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Jason,
Our organization is a 501c3 non-profit, but we are still classified as a private foundation and not a public charity. (Our lawyers have said that all non-profits start out as private foundations, and then the transition to a public charity takes 60 months.)
What recommendations do you have for us for a crowdfunding campaign? We will not be listed as a public charity, and can’t be in GuideStar, etc.
Thanks!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Linda,
Our understanding is that an unregistered nonprofit (one without 501c3 status yet) can crowdfund if they find another nonprofit willing to act as their fiscal sponsor. So, with that, we would suggest looking into GoFundMe, Mightycause, and FundRazr, as all three crowdfunders allow for nonprofit charity fundraising and all three do not charge a platform fee (just payment processing fees as all crowdfunding sites do)! Some crowdfunders still charge a 5% platform fee but these three do not. I hope that helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing such important information. I’m the founder of women fighting cancer and we filed the paperwork in Florida. Or programs have been proven to work and have reached 15.000 families in 5 countries during the pilot project (that was under another foundation and in Denmark).
I have desided to take it to the next level, and have great funding possibilities asap we have the 501,c3 status. It will cost 3000 dollars to hire a professional company to help file the paperwork, and I will raise the money under my own name not the foundation because I’m not sure about the rules.
My network is global and I should be able to raise the amount quickly.
Which platform do you recommend me to use?… Thank’s a lot in advance
Susan Binau
http://www.womenfightingcancer.org
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your question! We’d suggest looking into GoFundMe, Mightycause, and FundRazr, as all three crowdfunders allow for nonprofit charity fundraising and all three do not charge a platform fee (just payment processing fees as all crowdfunding sites do)! Some crowdfunders still charge a 5% platform fee but these three do not. We wish you the best!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Jason,
Thank you for such a thoughtful and helpful review! We just filed our nonprofit paperwork last week but need to start fundraising ASAP. Do you know if any of these sites will grant you nonprofit status based on just the submittal or paperwork? Or, will take donations in good faith until our status is finalized? Thanks in advance!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Seair,
As we understand it, nonprofit status has to be established with the government and can’t be granted by these sites.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Look at Chuffed.org
Thanks for the fabulous write up.
Please recommend a crowdfunding site for a 501(c)(3) community theater based in California USA.
We need $15,000 to obtain the equipment necessary to screen motion pictures.
Content will be original material created by local filmmakers, public domain productions, and occasional titles available on DVD using a one time license.
We are grateful for your consideration.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Richard,
Thanks so much for your kind words! Any of the platforms recommended in this post would be just fine for your community theater, with the exception of YouCaring. You have lots of great options! We wish you the best of luck with your fundraising efforts!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi- Thank you for your reviews and info. We are creating a training center in Northern Thailand for hill tribe people to become Chefs capable of employment in large hotels. We’ve been doing it successfully for a long time (over 7 years) but want to formalise it and increase the number of students. We raise funds locally but its not enough to equip a training facility. We are not a registered charity or non profit although we don’t take a profit. It seems we have two problems – 1st we are in Thailand and second we aren’t a registered charity. Any suggestions would be really helpful Oh – we do have a paypal account linked to a Thai Bank account
Thanks
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Manoon,
I’d suggest looking into Indiegogo. You may also want to check out GlobalGiving, though we haven’t yet reviewed them, so we can’t give an opinion on them one way or another, but they do appear to host crowdfunding campaigns around the world, including Thailand. Best of luck to you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi, what is the advantage to using a crowd funding platform versus designing a funding page on your own website?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Joe,
Unless you already have a large and devoted following, you’d be operating at a disadvantage. Anyone can put up a link to their PayPal on their website and ask people to donate, but without the publicity, site traffic, and the ability to automatically give rewards to those who send you money, it would be pretty challenging to make a personal fundraising website work as effectively as a crowdfunding website. Best of luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Dear Jason, we are a small nonprofit organization and are in need of funds to help us in creating our horse sanctuary and educational center in Mexico.
I am overwhelmed by the search for the best platform.
Can you advise me please?
We want to create the page in English.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Beate,
Indiegogo looks like it would be a good option for you! You may also want to check out GlobalGiving, though we haven’t yet reviewed them, so we can’t give an opinion on them one way or another, but they do appear to host nonprofit crowdfunding campaigns around the world, including Mexico. We wish you all the best with your horse sanctuary!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Jason,
Help!
What do you recommend as the best crowdfunding platform for public school teachers (grades K-12) who want to raise money to fund a small classroom or school-wide project?
Some context. I work for a 501(c)(3) organization that manages 18 high-need schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (i.e. Los Angeles’ K-12 public school system). Our schools remain part of LA Unified–for example, the teachers are paid by LA Unified and not by our nonprofit–and LA Unified isn’t designated as a 501(c)(3).
More context. Our schools are located in high-poverty communities — they don’t have parent-led, affiliated 501(c)(3) fundraising arms to rely on. Also, the nonprofit for which I work directly doesn’t have the staff capacity to run these small campaigns under our auspices.
What crowdfunding platform would you recommend that teachers themselves can use?
Thanks in advance!
Nancy Peponis
Partnership for Los Angeles Schools
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Nancy! I would recommend that they use either GoFundMe, Mightycause (formerly Razoo) or FundRazr — these platforms are set up to accommodate charitable campaigns run by individuals (as well as those run by nonprofits). Furthermore, these platforms don’t charge a platform fee (the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo take 5% of what you raise) so the only fees paid will be payment processing fees, which typically come out to 2.9% + 30 cents from each donation.
I hope this helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Jason, I operate a Non-Profit educational Institute in Jamaica and I need to raise some funds to help finish a hospitality training center in Jamaica. What is the best platform to use in this venture? Thanks very much!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Angela,
We suggest looking into Indiegogo. We aren’t aware of any other comparable platforms offering crowdfunding that would be available to a Jamaican organization. Good luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
we are a small 501(c) animal rescue in south texas that we get all our funding from donations. What crowd funding besides GoFundme do you recommend. It seems all non profits go through them and would like to think outside the box for another resource. Thank you
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Karen,
I’d suggest taking a look at Indiegogo, Mightycause (formerly Razoo) and/or FundRazr.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Any updates to GoFundMe dropping the 5% (or in general)?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Chrystal! Thanks for your question! In fact, yes, GoFundMe has dropped the 5% platform fee for charity fundraising. Just keep in mind that although the platform fee no longer exists, a payment processing fee of 2.9% + $.30 per transaction still applies.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi,
I m Dinesh from india from middle class family i m looking to start a video games tournament website ( Ex: PUBG , Fortnite , etc ) along with the tournament streaming youtube channel. I have searched for loan in almost all banks but no one response and not ready to fund me for me. I m looking for fund not as donation. This is business so I can share my revenue or repay the fund. I Need your assistance to build my dream project.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Dinesh,
Thanks for writing! Since it sounds like you want to offer equity, I’d suggest you check out Indiegogo and look into starting an equity crowdfunding campaign.. You could also contact Fig, though they specialize in video game making and not video game websites/video streaming. Best of luck to you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
We from South Africa we want to start regional TV station we want your help
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Sipho,
I’d suggest taking a look at Indiegogo. They are one of the few big platforms (that we know of) that hosts Africa-based campaigns.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
we are starting a community radio station we need your help
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Nkululeko, what can we do to help?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
This a good review of the beginner options for nonprofits on crowdfunding. A lot of nonprofits learn after using them, however, is that too much of their fundraising is eaten by very high percentage-based platform fees, high merchant fees and these sites don’t offer the other e-commerce options nonprofits need like event ticketing. These sites often are branded under the platform’s brand and put your campaign into direct competition with other nonprofits and individuals raising money. The next step for many nonprofits after these platforms is to acquire software that allows them to run their crowdfunding campaigns with their own branding, linked off their own website and linked up to their own merchant processing. The nonprofits save money with lowered platform and merchant fees (many choosing interchange plus merchant accounts) and they can consilidate their different types of e-commmerce fundraising under one platform.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.