This post was written by Michael Parks and initially published by Mosaic, a platform that makes it easy for anyone to directly invest in community-scale solar energy projects.
Crowdfunding is growing fast: in 2011, a comprehensive review put the industry’s size at $1.5 billion, and projected that it would grow to $2.8 billion by the end of 2012. Crowdfunding is also becoming more diverse: platforms now exist that make it possible to put money towards everything from equity investments in businesses to interest-bearing loans for solar energy to donations for music, film, and art projects.
Many new crowdfunding platforms are also aiming it to make it easy to fundraise for campaigns or non-profit organizations. Here are four sites that can help you get your project off the ground:
While Indiegogo is a broad-based, big-time platform (a la Kickstarter), it also maintains a serious commitment to funding social change. The site has a special section dedicated to “causes” and a vibrant community of funders with an interest in changing the world.
How to Launch a Campaign
Indiegogo does not screen its campaigns. Launching a project simply requires creating a profile page, with a video, summary, fundraising goal, and deadline. Campaigns keep what they raise (though there is a catch—see below) even if they don’t meet their goal.
Advantages
Indiegogo has a big community.
Disadvantages
Indiegogo has a low bar for posting a campaign, meaning there can be a lot of competition for eyeballs. Also, for campaigns that don’t meet their fundraising goal, the percentage paid back to Indiegogo jumps to 9%.
Total Fees
4-9% + 2.9% for third party payment processing
Razoo
Razoo focuses specifically on web-based philanthropy for non-profits, calling itself “a movement of people who want to make generosity a part of everyday life.” In addition to the usual crowdfunding tools, Razoo offers widgets for organizations seeking to collect donations on social networking sites or mobile devices. The site also hosts Giving Days in which non-profits compete to fundraise the most over a short period.
How to Launch a Campaign
Razoo only allows fundraising for formally registered 501(c)(3) organizations. Getting started requires registering your organization and creating a page with basic organization information. You can then seek donations for the organization as a whole or launch campaigns for specific goals.
Advantages
Razoo has relatively low fees, an active community, and incredible tools for official non-profits.
Disadvantages
Only registered non-profits can use Razoo.
Total Fees
4.9% (2.9% until April 1, 2013)
Co-founded by actor Edward Norton, Crowdrise brings together social networking, fundraising, and a lot of hilarious copy writing.
How to Launch a Campaign
Crowdrise only raises money for registered 501(c)(3) organizations. If your organization is registered with the IRS, anyone (including you) can create a fundraising page to raise money for it. Organizations can have multiple fundraisers at work at once.
Advantages
Crowdrise is hip and active, and has oodles of celebrity engagement.
Disadvantages
Only registered not-for-profits can raise money. Fees are high for the industry and complicated to calculate.
Total Fees
7.5-9%
Rally aims to make it super simple to raise money and build support for social causes. The company also has one of the more elegant platforms in the crowdfunding world.
How to Launch a Campaign
Anyone can launch a “Rally.” You’ll need high-res images for your project page, a video if possible, and a brief campaign description.
Advantages
Beautiful campaign pages and an active, growing membership base. Relatively low fees.
Disadvantages
Rally only features a few of its campaigns on its homepage—most of the work of building support for your fundraising effort is up to you.
Total Fees
5.75%
Comments
Michael Bernstein wrote on 03.25.13, 12:41pm:
You should include OpenFire (http://openfi.re), a new platform for projects that aren't clearly for- or non-profit, but that have a social benefit aspect.
Full disclosure, I am using OpenFire for my campaign to create an open seed data catalog: http://openfi.re/goals/a5fb2b5969be1bc9bb135ab8130393e1
Sharon Ede wrote on 03.27.13, 7:14pm:
Thanks so much for this helpful piece! One thing that would be great to include in this taxonomy is who can use the platforms - for example, unless you have a US bank account, you can't use Kickstarter.
There is also www.startsomegood.com, and www.pozible.com from Australia - open for any nation to use.
Amy Wilson wrote on 05.14.13, 5:31pm:
Kickstarter doesn't fund nonprofits, that's why they're not included in this discussion. :)
Sharon Ede wrote on 05.14.13, 5:53pm:
Ah! So they won't even allow crowdsourcing for nonprofits ie. if a nonprofit wanted to put a specific project up?
Thankfully, there are other platforms that do allow this - and you don't have to be a US citizen to use them << kind of frustrating, since as an Australian I have chipped in to several projects on KS, but am ineligible to list any...
Jacks Smith wrote on 05.15.13, 1:06am:
Crowdfunding is an alternative way of raising finance for a business, project or idea. You'll learn what possible customers really think.
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Great overview! I'm surprised Kickstarter didn't make the list, but I really like the attention to the three lesser known options.