Kickstarter VS GoFundMe
You can raise business funds on Kickstarter or GoFundMe. A few key differences (rewards, fees, types of campaigns) will help you decide which one works better.
If you’re familiar with modern crowdfunding, you probably know that Kickstarter is generally known for crowdfunding campaigns that support people who make things such as tech gizmos and fantasy board games, while GoFundMe tends to be more for personal causes. While this is essentially accurate, it’s worth drawing some finer distinctions between the two.
In this GoFundMe vs. Kickstarter post, we’re going to compare and contrast these two platforms in greater detail.
Table of Contents
Kickstarter VS GoFundMe: Key Differences
Both Kickstarter and GoFundMe let you leverage the viral power of social media to raise funds. With both platforms, money donated to a campaign will have a portion of that money taken out in fees. That’s where the similarities end, though.
Let’s run through the main differences:
- Kickstarter only allows crowdfunding for creative projects. Unlike GoFundMe, all Kickstarter campaigns are screened before they can go live. To be approved, your project must create something that can ultimately be shared with your backers upon the successful completion of your campaign.
- GoFundMe is a platform for charitable crowdfunding. While GoFundMe doesn’t prohibit business fundraising, most of its campaigns are about raising money to help people pay their medical bills and/or cope with personal tragedies and disasters.
- While both platforms let campaigners give rewards to their backers, with Kickstarter, rewards-giving is mandatory. With GoFundMe, rewards-giving is optional.
Which Platform Is Best For Your Crowdfunding Needs?
If you’re looking to launch a crowdfunding campaign, should you go with GoFundMe or Kickstarter?
Choose GoFundMe If…
- You want to raise money for a personal cause/emergency/tragedy, whether it be yours or that of a friend or family member
- You want to raise money for a business/entrepreneurial venture but want to avoid paying a 5% platform fee
- You want to raise money for a business/entrepreneurial venture but want to keep whatever you raise, regardless of whether you reach your funding goal
GoFundMe
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Choose Kickstarter If…
- You want to raise money for a business/entrepreneurial venture using the crowdfunding platform that’s most optimized for such ventures
- Your project involves producing something that can be offered to your backers in exchange for their support
- Your project is creative in nature (art, tech, film, board games, etc.)
Kickstarter
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Kickstarter VS GoFundMe: In-Depth Comparison
In this section, we’ll discuss the main differences between GoFundMe and Kickstarter in the following areas:
Final Thoughts
As the two leading crowdfunding companies, Kickstarter and GoFundMe, target different audiences, it wouldn’t make much sense to name a winner and a loser in this comparison.
However, by highlighting the similarities and differences between the two outfits, we hope to give you a better sense of which platform you should use, depending on your funding needs.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. While crowdfunding may not be a comprehensive solution for startup undercapitalization or medical hardship, it’s the only option available in many cases.
Crowdfunding lets us harness the internet to solicit money for our small businesses and our own needs. It’s a tool available for all to use, so by all means, use it!